Voters Say Yes To Wittman, No To Stormwater Referendum

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Signs like this one popped up all over James City County Tuesday morning.

The voter registrars in Williamsburg, James City County and York County all reported larger-than-anticipated turnouts for a non-presidential election year. The first sign the crowd was bigger than predicted? Williamsburg Registrar Win Sowder ran out of “I voted” stickers long before the polls closed at 7 p.m.

In Williamsburg, about 38 percent of the registered voters cast ballots; about 49 percent of James City County’s total voters cast ballots; and about 45 percent of York County’s voters cast ballots. In each locality, the number of registered voters had increased in the two years since the presidential election. Williamsburg has 9,197 registered voters; James City County has 48,987 and York County has 44,321.

In 2008, the Historic Triangle’s voter turnout was just above the state average of 74.54 percent; 79.9 percent of James City County’s voters cast ballots that year, compared to 77.54 percent of Williamsburg’s voters and 76.14 percent of York County’s voters.

The Races

The closest race wasn’t for an office at all — it was for a bond referendum in James City County that would have helped fund stormwater projects. The referendum failed, with 64 percent of county residents voting against it. The referendum was supported by 58 percent of absentee voters, however.

If approved, the referendum would have allowed county government to borrow up to $30 million to pay for needed stormwater improvements. Some of the stormwater projects needing funding are based on federal and state mandates, while other repairs include fixing the county’s aging infrastructure and addressing flooding problems.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to put the referendum on the ballot earlier this year, but in the last days before the election, members split over whether they supported the referendum. Members Jim Icenhour and John McGlennon both came out in favor of the referendum, but fellow supervisors Jim Kennedy and Bruce Goodson did not support it. On Tuesday morning, voters passed new red signs reading “Vote No to More Debt” as they drove to their polling precincts.

After polls closed on Tuesday night, both Icenhour and Kennedy said they didn’t expect the referendum to pass. “Scare tactics are usually effective,” Icenhour said. “People often want something done, and don’t want to pay for it.” He predicts nothing related to stormwater spending will pass until after next year’s election, when the Republican members of the board will be campaigning.

Kennedy said Tuesday’s vote showed that citizens are watching government spending right now. “They sent this message, and I’m listening loud and clear,” he said, adding that Icenhour and McGlennon should listen, too. Kennedy said he spoke to many voters Tuesday, and the “trickery by my Democratic colleagues weighed heavily on the people I spoke to.”

Voters throughout the Triangle cast votes for their congressional representative, with incumbent Rob Wittman, R-1st, keeping his seat with 65 percent of the total vote. Only in Williamsburg did his Democrat challenger, Krystal Ball, take the lead; she received 51 percent of the vote in the city.

In James City County, School Board Member Jim Kelly was unopposed in his race and won the seat with 97 percent of the vote; 119 voters chose to write in candidates. Kelly was chosen by the Williamsburg-James City County School Board to fill former member Mary Ann Maimone’s seat in the Berkeley district last year after she had to leave early due to familial obligations. To keep the seat following his appointment, he had to be elected to finish her term. At the completion of Maimone’s original term next year, Kelly will again have the option to run for the seat, this time to begin his own term.