Sarah R. "Sally" Kurtz*

Office sought: Catoctin Supervisor
Party: Democrat
Age: 64
Residence: Lovettsville
Web site:
http://www.sallykurtz.com
E-mail:
sallykurtz@aol.com

* Incumbent

Occupaton: Past head nurse, special education teacher, business co-owner.

Education: BA, special education, Hood College; graduate (RN), North Carolina Baptist Hospital School of Nursing.

Elected offices/civic activities: Member, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, 2000-present; past member, League of Women Voters and Loudoun Rural Economic Development Task Force.

Questions & Answers

Q: Do you support the transportation package passed by the General Assembly this year? What other ideas do you have for generating money to pay for road improvements in Loudoun?

A: I support the fact that the General Assembly has accepted more responsibility for funding a statewide transportation system. Northern Virginia voters are well aware of the fact that we don’t get back anything close to what we send down to Richmond in taxes. Our economic powerhouse needs money for transportation improvements to sustain our economic boom, and despite the best efforts of the governor and parts of the General Assembly, one major effort we got was permission to raise taxes on ourselves, without direct ability to elect the Authority imposing the taxes. I had hoped that the General Assembly would have fulfilled its responsibility and concentrated more on user fees. Virginia still has the lowest gas taxes of all surrounding states while a one penny increase in the gas tax would have covered the expected return on the bad driver fees imposed only on Virginia drivers. Loudoun is using all its options for generating money for transportation - proffers from developers, public-private agreements and during this Board’s term, approving local bonds for Loudoun road construction. I would certainly approve using tolls for improving interstate routes such as Route 7, Route 15 and Route 9 were Loudoun allowed to do so.

Q: Did you sign the Board of Supervisors' ethics agreement? Would you sign it if elected? Why or why not?

A: Yes, I did sign the Board of Supervisor’s ethics agreement and will again. Additionally that ethics agreement needs to include a specific prohibition against elected officials accepting campaign contributions from those having land use proposals and business before the Board.

Q: What is the appropriate role for local government in enforcement of federal immigration laws, and how do you view the current debate in Loudoun on the issue of illegal immigration?

A: The introduction of illegal immigration into local Loudoun politics right ahead of two General Assembly commissions established to study the impacts of illegal immigration on both State and local governments is noteworthy, and I do hope that reasoned discussion and cool heads will prevail as Loudoun examines this national issue. Loudoun County’s Administrative staff report shows that Loudoun upholds state and federal laws pertaining to legal status. Loudoun’s Social Services departments abide by the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act that identified the federal programs forbidden to be provided to illegal immigrants – food stamps, temporary assistance for needy families, energy assistance general relief, and Medicaid programs. Our Sheriff’s Department participates in the State Criminal Aliens Assistance Program and is in the process of working out a memorandum of understanding with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department under the 287(g) section to deport convicted illegal immigrant criminals, after they serve their term. I am certainly willing to examine expanding that inter-agency program and encourage the Sheriff’s Department to further focus on forged document mills which exist in Loudoun County. Loudoun already uses two regulations to address overcrowding in homes used as boarding houses. These regulations function well for Zoning enforcement and if complaints are on the rise, I support making sure Loudoun’s enforcement department has sufficient personnel to respond. Loudoun also upholds federal laws to provide services that it must, regardless of legal status – those of fire and rescue, law enforcement, corrections, treatment of mental illness, protective services, foster care, juvenile detention, and public education. At this point Loudoun has assumed the appropriate role for local government, the one it’s allowed by state and federal law; it enforces the federal laws, addresses overcrowding in homes used as boarding houses, and uses the federal ICE 287 (g) program to assist in deportation of convicted criminals. There is little doubt that the failure to pass federal immigration reform legislation has cost localities, amounting to unfunded mandates. I am willing to try to collect those monies and send a message to every member of Congress at the same time. Chesterfield County, Virginia estimated their costs; Loudoun can also. It would send a clear message to Congress if Loudoun were to prepare an invoice of those costs and send it to every member, requesting payment. Why not? Board discussion of illegal immigration will continue in a narrow field – the County’s procurement requirements, additional review of the Overcrowding Ordinance, and those services to the poor deemed to have Board discretion. Hopefully the tone will remain civil, productive and realistic; without sending a chill to the thousands of legal immigrants in Loudoun or being cruel to anyone in dire need of basic protections.

Q: Do you support the county's current comprehensive plan and the notion that Loudoun should be suburban in the east and rural in the west, with a transition area in between? If not, what do you think is a better approach?

A: I do support the county’s current plan for suburban, transitional and rural areas. Those three areas offer the greatest diversity of housing, working and living options for raising a family. That same diversity of living areas and the high quality of Loudoun’s school system will keep Loudoun attractive to companies looking to bring jobs to Loudoun. I would even say in the long term with Loudoun located at the edge of the nation’s capital, by retaining a rural productive, commercial farmland area, Loudoun has retained its capacity to produce food for a metropolitan population of millions. Rural economic growth, which rewards the entire Washington metro area: food close to home, historic appreciation and rural recreation close to home, provides a Green Belt that all wise metro areas strive for and the rural, historic tourism that complements it so well. Our Comprehensive Plan is directed to a 20 year view of the county, and these three geographic areas retain the very cultural and environmental character that makes Loudoun such a beautiful high quality place.

Q: Do you believe that any additional steps are needed to control the pace of growth in Loudoun? What would you do to create more of a balance between new homes and new jobs in the county?

A: Additional steps are needed to control the pace and character of community growth in Loudoun. While Loudoun is without local authority from the Virginia General Assembly to enact an adequate public facilities ordinance that would allow Loudoun to delay projects until adequate roads and schools are in place, Loudoun can use better planning to control growth. Loudoun’s state approved option is the County’s General Plan, backed by appropriate zoning. That General Plan is what creates the balance between new homes and new jobs. It allows the Board to review land use proposals for a balanced mix of homes, retail, and office uses. In 2003 I supported Loudoun’s tightly controlled growth plan. It not only controlled growth but it offered valuable property and home protections for Loudoun’s limestone area, its rivers and streams and its steep mountainsides. It was enacted after a public process and well analyzed. It tied realistic public transportation infrastructure to residential growth. It was fiscally sustainable and had also planned for transit to Dulles. Unfortunately it was not upheld by the majority of this current Board and the zoning for two-thirds of the rural area of the county was doubled to that of western Fairfax County with all the associated traffic directed east onto inadequate commuter routes. The state recommends a Plan review every five years. That timeline is now. I will initiate a public review to produce a plan with zoning that ensures well balanced, fiscally sound, environmentally healthy development.

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