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Candidates speak in Spotsylvania

Spotsylvania candidates speak at forum By BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER and BETH WATERS HUNLEY

By BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER
and BETH WATERS HUNLEY

Date published: 10/8/2003

More than 100 hear hopefuls

More than 100 people turned out last night to hear from the crowded field of candidates seeking offices in Spotsylvania County.

The Spotsylvania County branch of the NAACP, the Fredericksburg Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Sorority and the Spotsylvania Education Association sponsored the forum at Courtland High School.

Audience members submitted written questions, most of them directed to candidates in contested races. Time did not permit all of the questions to be answered.

Only two of the four men running in contested 88th District House and 17th District Senate races showed up for the forum. Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, and Robert Stuber, a Republican challenging Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, did not attend, and no explanation was given for their absence.

Houck said last night's forum was the fourth Stuber has missed. "It seems like a pattern is developing here," Houck said. He encouraged the public to ask Stuber why he wasn't there, a suggestion that drew applause.

The candidates for commonwealth's attorney, incumbent Bill Neely and Republican challenger Phil Fines, fielded the most questions during the forum's first 45-minute segment.

Fines, a prosecutor in Fredericksburg, criticized Neely's use of plea bargains to settle criminal cases. He said deputies have expressed frustration when defendants charged with a several crimes plead guilty to one.

Neely said his office uses "plea agreements the same as any office does." He said 80 to 90 percent of criminal cases nationwide are settled with plea agreements.

Chuck Feldbush, a Democrat challenging Cole, did not receive many questions. But he said reducing the size of classes should be a state priority.

"Teachers can't teach 29 kids in an elementary class," Feldbush said. "I don't care who you are."

All 13 people running for the Board of Supervisors attended last night's forum, and it took them 25 minutes to introduce themselves. That left time for a limited number of questions directed to individual candidates; some candidates were asked no questions.

Most of the questions were related to the rapid residential growth in the county and the impact it has had on traffic, taxes and schools.

Many of the incumbent supervisors expressed pride in steps they have taken to manage growth. But their challengers offered an opposite appraisal.

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Date published: 10/8/2003