Council Candidates Stick to Scripts During Wide-Ranging League Forum

By Desiree Parker Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Candidates for Williamsburg City Council stuck to their main messages Tuesday during a forum hosted by the Williamsburg area’s League of Women Voters.

The format consisted of about an hour of questions from moderator Patricia Albert, with each candidate allowed one minute to respond. Audience questions were taken at the end of the debate, and candidates were given 30 seconds to come up with responses.

Voters will choose two council members on May 4.

Generally, candidates stayed close to their scripts, which they’ve had time to hone over the months since the campaigns have kicked off. They agreed on many issues, including a resounding denouncement of the proposed coal plant in Surry, a wait-and-see attitude on the new four-person rule regarding rentals in areas within the city, a focus on boosting tourism in the city, support for Colonial Williamsburg and William and Mary and support for maintaining quality education.

All the candidates also said they were strong proponents of open communication and liked that the city council was non-partisan.

Read highlights of some debate discussions below, and watch the debate on the city’s website or on rebroadcasts on Channel 48.

Council relationship with Planning Commission
The night’s first question focused on council’s relationship with the Planning Commission, and its occasional penchant for not following the commission’s recommendations (as with the new four-person rule and the proposal to allow the college to rent city hotel rooms to students in need of housing).

Incumbent Bobby Braxton said the question was the first he heard of any dissent between the two groups. “I think the working relationship is good,” he said, “it’s just our ideas [on some issues] are different.”

Sean Driscoll, a member of the Planning Commission, said it was the council’s prerogative to overturn the commission’s unanimous vote on changing the three-person rule, “but I think the city council didn’t listen to the voice of the people” regarding the issue. A focus group made up of diverse people in the community discussed the issue and told council what they thought, he pointed out.

When he heard Driscoll’s take on the issue, Braxton’s face registered surprise and disbelief.

Planning Commission Chairman Doug Pons agreed that the commission served at the pleasure of the council, and argued there should be more opportunities for the two groups to have joint meetings to discuss issues.

A recessionary budget and tourism spending
Candidates were asked how they would suggest bringing in tourism funds with a budget that was so tight, many outside agencies (like those related to tourism) saw drops in city support.

College physician David Dafashy said he supported subsidizing the tourism drivers (like Colonial Williamsburg and the college), and he recommended belt-tightening in other areas. Part of his campaign platform is an analogy between city spending during a recession and a private citizen faced with less income – both need to cut discretionary spending.

Driscoll agreed it was important to invest in the businesses that bring in revenue, and suggested monthly meetings with Colonial Williamsburg to see how they’re spending the city’s money, as a system of checks-and-balances.

Scott Foster, the only candidate who is a student at the college, agreed with his fellow debaters but held firm to one of his main platform points, which is that the city should capitalize on the tens of thousands of people who visit the city’s college population. He suggested finding ways to keep them in the city where they would spend more, and suggested promoting athletics as a means of doing so.

Pons also set forth an idea he has pushed for before, setting benchmarks and goals for tourism drivers. He suggested setting up a commission through the Economic Development Authority to look at tourism and set goals, with the intent of having the organizations that receive funding from the city agree to work towards those goals. He also agreed now isn’t the time to cut tourism funding.

Braxton said that council agreed to increase funding for the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance, which had been reduced in the original budget plan, after hearing the organization’s presentation at a budget hearing. He pointed out the chamber and Colonial Williamsburg, along with all the other major tourist destinations in the area, had given presentations earlier in the year and shared their goals and marketing plans.

Education
When asked about education priorities during tight budgetary times, all the candidates highlighted their experience with the public school system before sharing similar ideas on maintaining education standards.

Foster, whose mother is a public school teacher, said he believes money should be focused on instruction and to maintain student-teacher ratios. He also said support should be maintained for the alternative education program in WJCC schools.

With his own children in the public school system, Pons agreed that class sizes should be maintained, as should neighborhood schools that don’t take kids far away from the school nearest to them. Funding better pay for teachers was also high on his priority list.

Dafashy, whose mother is also a teacher and has worked for WJCC schools for 42 years, said money was not the most important thing. The key, he said, is an engaged student, qualified and invested teachers and administrators, and volunteers like retirees and college students.

Driscoll had a public education in the local school system, and he agreed it was important to invest in education, give teachers resources, and make sure early childhood education doesn’t fall by the wayside.

Braxton said money should be invested in the alternative education program, as well as in tangibles like books and buses.

Audience questions
One question the audience posed to candidates was how they would propose enforcing the new four-person (and still valid three-person) rule.

Pons said using the noise ordinance was the way to go, along with prompt police response, while Braxton suggested more patrols, an auxiliary police force and neighborhood watch groups that would pay attention to signs of violations.

When asked if they would support adding amendments to the new four-person rule, candidates who responded all said they’d prefer to let the new rule have time to operate first for a decent period of time before revisiting it.

A question was asked about changing the hours the city council meets, because the current 2 p.m. time isn’t convenient for most residents who work.

Braxton said they had tried changing work session meeting times to 4 p.m. which hadn’t made much difference, he thought.

Pons and Foster thought changing to evening meetings would be a good idea. “The more people who come, the better,” Pons said. “The council is just an extension of the people.”

Foster said he’d talked with residents who complained that they couldn’t make the early meeting times.

Driscoll, on the other hand, supported the current time and suggested the city “look at 21st-century technology,” and perhaps find a way to allow people to view meetings live online and participate virtually.

When asked if they would approve a letter stating the city’s opposition to the proposed Surry coal-fired power plant, all the candidates except Braxton said they’d agree to such a document because they thought the plant was a bad idea, citing health and tourism detriments. Braxton said he would wait and see what the Department of Environmental Quality said about the plant first.

Candidates were also asked if they had received funds from landlords or developers. Pons said he had, but the money would not sway his vote, and he’d already voiced his opposition to the four-person rule.

Braxton and Driscoll also said they received some funds from either real estate agent groups or builders, but both voted against the new rule, too.

When asked about tax assessments and whether they should be lowered, candidates said taxes should be based on a fair market value.

Pons said he expected they would go lower due to the economic situation, and he said the further lowering of these revenues for the city would mean a higher reliance on other revenue, like tourism, to fill the city’s coffers.