Issues & Positions

• Transportation
• Immigration
• Education
• Property Taxes
• A Culture of Life
• Healthcare
• Marriage
• Gangs in Northern Virginia

Transportation

The gridlock in Northern Virginia is crippling to all. Every elected official in Northern Virginia will run on improving transportation, but the real measure is not talk, its new ideas and contributing to real solutions that will improve the quality of life in our region.

Northern Virginia sends too many tax dollars to Richmond and we receive far too little in return. Local and State government must do a much better job of addressing issues like transportation. Unfortunately, too little has been done for too long and now we have reached crisis mode. Transportation must be our number one priority.

If elected, I will use every ounce of my ability to get more of Northern Virginia's taxes to be dedicated to providing solutions to Northern Virginia's gridlock. We must look at more immediate solutions that will better utilize existing capacity. We need to implement "quick fixes" in all possible areas. Adding turn lanes and synchronizing lights can have a real and meaningful impact on commute times without waiting years before these projects can be completed. We should promote telecommuting incentives at every opportunity.

Finally, I will push for the development of real transit innovations, like building a bus system for the 21st Century. There is too much confusion about the routes and times of the current county bus system and therefore it does not provide people with a meaningful alternative to getting in their cars. Since our ability to monitor traffic flow from population centers to job centers is better today than ever before, we need to utilize a true, market based, public private partnership to implement a Bus System for the 21st Century.

Education

The quality of our schools, some of the best in the nation, is a major area attraction to families and business. We need to be mindful, however, that our children will be growing up in a global economy and they must be prepared to compete with individuals and ideas generated around the world. It is imperative that we continue to work to improve the system so that our leaders of tomorrow are prepared to succeed.

As a former teacher, I know that any education reform should focus on improving the way children learn. Any education reform should empower schools and get them the resources they need so that our teachers can target lesson plans and improve each child’s understanding of their individual and unique learning style. We also need to continue to attract and retain the best teachers. Great teachers are the foundation of a strong educational system.

We need to continue to stress educational fundamentals of reading, mathematics, and science. It’s also important for schools to promote a healthy and well rounded lifestyle through Physical Education, art, and civics.

Healthcare

As a former coach, I believe we can improve the job we are doing on educating and stressing the virtues of a healthy lifestyle. The most proven method of reducing health care costs is prevention. We must help children and adults alike adopt healthy lifestyles earlier in their lives. Doing this will have a dramatic long term effect on our society and on the healthcare system.

I am deeply concerned about the growing issue of child obesity. We need to encourage and motivate children to participate in activities and understand the importance of a nutritional diet because it will help save their lives.

Gangs in Northern Virginia

The most important function of our government is to ensure that its citizens are protected. We must be sure that local police have the resources they need to fight gang activities. I will also work with Congressman Wolf, who has been a leader in securing resources for the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force, to ensure that we understand the dynamics that are causing gangs to develop and expand in our communities.

Immigration

We are a nation of immigrants and all who come to this country legally should be respected and welcomed as they contribute to our society. However, we are nation founded on the rule of law, and illegal immigration is an important issue that all levels of government must confront. While we need a national solution, Virginia’s General Assembly must do all it can to stem the tide of illegal immigration because of the enormous pressure illegal immigrants put on state and local communities and services paid for by law abiding tax payers. As a former teacher who is married to a registered nurse, I believe the front lines of this issue, at the local level, are felt most acutely by local schools and emergency rooms. In addition to the pressure on services, it is fundamentally unfair that anyone be allowed to cut to the front of the immigration line, while those doing it the legal way must wait for their turn.

Given the importance of this issue, it is important that Virginia adopt the right set of policies. We must not, as my opponent wants to do, provide in-state tuition to illegal immigrants or build day labor centers using the tax payers' dollars. Instead, we must provide local law enforcement with additional flexibility to determine legal status in a manner consistent with all citizens' and legal residents' civil liberties. We also need to crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and if an illegal immigrant commits a felony, they should be deported.

In order to determine legal status in an even handed manner consistent with the civil liberties this country was founded on, we need to improve the state’s identification process to ensure that only citizens and legal residents can acquire valid driver’s licenses and social security cards. We need to crack down on forgeries and phony documents that give rise to anyone falsely carrying such documentation.

As a human being, my heart goes out to anyone who wants to come to the United States or to Virginia in search of a better life. However, we can not look back ten or fifteen years from now wishing that our elected officials had shown leadership and take action today. We look back longingly wishing that greater leadership had been shown on transportation ten or fifteen years ago knowing that we are paying the price for inaction as we search for solutions to the transportation crisis today. We must not make the same mistake on the important issue of illegal immigration today. We can not afford to wait for a national solution to this issue and we must adopt the right set of policies in Virginia today.

Property Taxes

Here in Northern Virginia property taxes have gotten out of control. When housing assessments went up we saw our taxes go up, but as assessments are dipping, we are not seeing a similar dip in our taxes. As your delegate, I will work to keep property taxes under control by advocating for a real dollar cap on property tax increases.

A Culture of Life

I strongly believe that we should live in a society that promotes and protects the sanctity of human life.

Marriage

I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and would not support any legislation that would erode the special place that marriage should hold in our society.