Three Republican candidates are seeking their party’s nomination to run for Sully District supervisor. The nominee will be selected April 25, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., at a Firehouse Primary at Westfield High. The winner will face Democrat School Board member Kathy Smith to replace the retiring Michael Frey (R) as Sully District supervisor.
Neighborhood you live in: Fair Oaks (Navy Precinct)
Occupation: Manager, Professional Services, for a large telecommunications Company
Family information:
John Guevara has lived in Sully for the last 15 years with his high school sweetheart, Marilyn. They have two sons, Peter, and Nathan, who both attend Fairfax County public schools.
Accomplishments in the community:
John Guevara was on the PTO Board at Navy Elementary for two terms and was president of his HOA for several years. Recently, he was selected as vice president of the board for Western Fairfax Christian Ministries, a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to supporting local families in need with emergency food and financial assistance. He has also volunteered his time as a youth sports coach and Cub Scouts Den Leader. He is a war-time veteran of the U.S. Army.
Organizations (volunteer or otherwise) served on:
Local HOA
Chantilly Youth Association
Cub Scouts of America
Navy Elementary PTO
Fairfax Church of Christ
Western Fairfax Christian Minisitries
Why run for supervisor?
I am running to promote an effective and sustainable county government that serves our community without further burdening us as residents.
Platform – What do you believe are the important issues facing the Sully District and what would you do about them?
Sully District has changed in all regards since it was created in 1991. Homes have sprung up in places where farms used to exist, roads now connect neighborhoods where forests once stood, and our neighbors speak one of at least 14 languages represented in our community.
Many of these changes have been positive and have served to enrich our community both culturally and monetarily. While businesses and homes in our district have been flourishing our roads and infrastructure tell a different story.
Our education budget is in disarray. Seventy-five percent of the school budget is earmarked for salaries and benefits much of which only feeds the bloated bureaucracy that is burdening our teachers. In recent reports, only 20 percent of African-American county residents and 30 percent of Hispanic county residents who took the ACT were deemed to be ready for college. This is a travesty. And yet, year after year, the answer from our local government to any of these problems is to throw more money at them. Isn’t the definition of insanity is to do the same thing again and to expect different results?
There is no doubt that our local government is caught in a seemingly unbreakable cycle of taxing and spending. The only way to get out of this vicious and unsustainable cycle is to self-audit and identify the areas where program budgets need to be adjusted and in some cases eliminated. But this takes leadership and a new kind of candidate that is beholden not to union bosses or special interest groups but instead to the people and the community they serve. This is the definition of civil service.
Our district needs a leader that is in tune with the needs of the community and not one who seeks this position for selfish reasons. The next district supervisor must be able to empathize with and relate to their constituents and work with their fellow supervisors to apply private sector solutions. I will work to ensure that residents have the services they need, opportunities for prosperity and are not hindered by onerous regulations and perpetually increasing taxes and fees that are disproportionate to population growth and inflation.
I am willing to do the hard work of leading us to a path of sustainability and prosperity and I am confident that with your support we will bring about the changes that will keep our district a great place to live.
Why should people elect you? Why are you the best person for the job?
I am the best qualified candidate with a proven record in the district of service to my country, community, and neighbors. I am the only candidate who will:
- Hold the line against and roll back increases in taxes and fees.
I believe in smaller government. Our local taxes have been steadily increasing for years, a common side effect of big government. Our representatives have refused to exercise the ability to manage out-of-pocket costs to residents by reducing the tax rate when assessed values increased. Even worse, they have created fees for services once covered by our taxes leaving residents and business with higher living and working costs.
- Employ time-tested private sector solutions to correct the county’s fiscal mismanagement. My experience in the private sector has taught me how to set priorities, develop a plan to meet them, and execute on those objectives, all while remaining within budget. We can’t, in good conscience, pass on the debt from our excesses to our children to settle. I will take a stand against the forces that call for the status quo, especially those that would negatively affect our county’s AAA Bond Rating.
- Establish a long-term plan for budget sustainability. My vision for the community is to ensure a sustainable economic landscape that attracts businesses and in doing so brings prosperity in the form of jobs and tax relief to our residential tax base. Long-term planning is the key to achieving fiscal sustainability.
- Preserve the excellence of our public school system. We have a responsibility to the children and teachers of our community to provide them with the tools they need for success. For too long bureaucratic bloat and red tape have stifled our teachers' ability to make good on the sacred trust we bestow to them.
- Promote better investment of transportation funding toward reducing congestion. We must prioritize congestion relief as an essential requirement for funding “transportation” projects. Too often our transportation dollars are used to pick winners and losers, this must stop.