Candidates Debate Growth, Immigration

By Sandhya Somashekhar (Contact)

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Four candidates for the Loudoun Board of Supervisors last night faced off in a tense debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, which went on despite the conspicuous absence of Supervisor Stephen J. Snow (R-Dulles).

The candidates, representing the Broad Run and Dulles districts, sparred over illegal immigration, health care, growth and various other issues brought up by a panel of local journalists and some of the roughly 150 people who came to view the debate.

Stevens Miller (D), seated next to an empty chair that presumably would have been filled by Snow, assailed his opponent for the campaign contributions he receives from “developer friends” and for favoring tens of thousands of new homes in the Dulles South area. Miller also accused Snow of being unresponsive and disrespectful to his constituents.

“Look Mom, I finally scared off a school bully!” said Miller, an Internet security expert and amateur radio enthusiast, during his opening comments.

Snow and at least one of his fellow incumbent Republicans, Mick Staton Jr. (Sugarland Run), decided last week to drop out of the League of Women Voters debates. Snow and Staton said they were doing so because of the league’s decision not to hold debates for most of the state legislative candidates in the Nov. 6 election.

The league has responded that it did not have the time or money to organize more than five debates for an election in which Loudoun voters will be casting ballots for five state delegates, two state senators and all nine members of the Board of Supervisors.

Some of Snow’s critics had a different explanation for his absence. On the sidewalk in front of Stone Bridge High School, where the debate took place, Ashburn resident Glenn Maravetz had placed a chicken in a cage with a sign that said, “IT’S SNOW JOKE, I’M AFRAID TO DEBATE.”

In a written statement today, Snow dismissed Miller’s critique as the product of “a world of paranoia and pseudo-solutions that will do nothing to address the real concerns of the voters of the Dulles District.”

All three candidates in the Broad Run district attended the debate, including Republican incumbent Lori L. Waters, who said, “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” During the debate, Waters cast herself as “a different kind of Republican” and an advocate for slower growth in the county.

But in her closing statements, her Democratic opponent, Phyllis Randall, painted herself as the “true moderate” compared with Waters, a social conservative and former anti-tax activist.

“We have got to stop electing extremists on this board,” Randall said. “We have got to stop electing extreme liberals or extreme conservatives. It really is time for true moderation on this board and we have not had that.”

The four candidates present displayed divergent attitudes toward illegal immigration.

Waters has proposed asking nonprofit organizations that get county funding to declare whether or not they help illegal immigrants, a move that has been opposed by some Loudoun nonprofits. During yesterday’s debate, Waters also reaffirmed her stance that illegal immigrant children should be excluded from county-funded after-school programs.

The position drew a sharp rebuttal from both her opponents. Randall said Waters’ proposal on after-school programs seemed “a little bit cruel” and could end up costing more money if the children end up on the streets instead of in a structured environment.

Independent Jack Ryan said he supported stepping up law enforcement against illegal immigrants who commit crimes but not cutting some services.

“I do not support taking away food from the needy and taking away from our nonprofit organizations,” he said. “It’s not saving that much money and it’s really hurting the people who need help the most.”

In most of his remarks, Ryan focused on drawing more white collar jobs and high-end offices to Loudoun.

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