I have two children just entering their young careers as students in the Stafford County Public School System.  Their education and continued success is my first priority (along with their continued safety): 

• It will be my duty to work at keeping our schools competitive and working towards meeting AYP each and every year.  
• It will be my duty to ensure that the Board of Supervisors and the School Board reinstitute respect, cooperation and dialogue when working on the business of our children.
• I will work to provide full funding for all county schools.
• I will work to ensure appropriate funding for teacher salaries to keep them in line with our neighboring jurisdictions
• I will work to provide a very strong voice for our parents and our teachers while on the Board of Supervisors.
• I will work to provide our schools strong advocacy in an environment that pushes education to the bottom of the priority list.

Click here to see the 2009-2010 AYP and accreditation results for Stafford County Public Schools.

Click here to see the 2008 Per Pupil Expenditures Report (by County and City) by the State Department of Education to see where Stafford County falls in comparison to surrounding jurisdictions.

• I will work to provide our Sheriff's Department and our Fire and Rescue Operations the funding and resources they need to not only perform their duties safely but to also keep our families and our community safe. 
• I will work to provide funding for performance and retention incentives to all of our public safety personnel to keep our dedicated career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel and law enforcement officers right here in Stafford County.
• I will work to ensure that Stafford is not just a training facility for teachers, firefighters and police officers, but a place to hang a teacher's or recruit's hat when searching for a community with the possibility of long-term future.

Click here for the September 2009 Public Safety statistics from Stafford County.

• Having two children that play soccer in the Stafford Area Soccer Association (SASA), VA Youth Football and the Rappahannock Swim League (and soon the Stafford Baseball League!), I know that we have some serious challenges ahead with field and pool allocations. 
• I have a vested interest in making sure we have the resources we need to make sure our kids are never turned away from any activity.
• I will work to make sure we are looking at every opportunity and possibility to fund additions to our field and pool inventory.

Click here to see information on the November 3, 2009 Parks and Rec Bond Referendum

• Balanced budget: - A budget in which revenues equal or exceed expenditures. A balanced budget is thought to be positive for a government, as it means that the government is not taking on any (additional) debt in order to conduct its operations. 
• In the last three years our county books failed to pass with clean audits - it's time to get our financial house in order and I will help make that happen.

• I will work with our state representatives to bring back the issue of development impact fees to ensure that all responsible development includes financial assistance to localities to expand and support the public services such as police, fire and education that unbridled development impacts.
• I will fight to ensure that any infrastructure that impacts the safety and security of our community WILL be pushed to the top of the County's priority list when a safety issue is present.

• I recognize that the BPOL tax increase is a policy mistake that was pushed through on a party line vote that took place at 3am.   My first pledge is to not conduct any business or entertain votes at such an absurd time, but especially not measures that have such an impact on our county’s business community. 
• I propose to work with the other members of the Board to examine how we can lessen the negative impacts of the new tax on existing businesses.  It is imperative, however, that any change to the existing tax not result in 2010 budget cuts to our county’s most vital services–its schools, sheriffs’ department and fire and rescue operations.
• Most importantly, I would work with my fellow Supervisors and the residents of Stafford to begin a grassroots effort to work with our leadership in the General Assembly to change how the BPOL is structured so that it can be used to strengthen and grow business here in Stafford.   Repealing BPOL is a mere bandage – this issue needs to be addressed at the General Assembly level and we need to work with our local Chamber, our business leaders and our leaders in Richmond to get this licensing tax amended once and for all so that it isn’t an issue for Stafford’s small business owners and the Board of Supervisors every election cycle.

• Clean water is the number one neccesity in sustaining life and good health - I will work to encourage investment in keeping our waterways clean and healthy for our children and our marine life.
• I will insist on instant and deliberate notification to all county residents of any environmental challenges that compromise the safety of the residents of this community.