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BPOL, donations are issues in Aquia

October 23, 2009 12:58 pm

BY JONAS BEALS

A three-way race for the Aquia supervisor's seat pits two newcomers--Irene Egan and Paul Ortiz--against incumbent Paul Milde.

Both challengers see improving education as the most pressing concern for Stafford County.

While Milde has expressed a desire to support and improve schools, his interests lie mainly in fighting taxes and improving the business environment of the county.

The challengers also share a common motivation for running: Milde himself.

In the past year, Egan and Ortiz have both dealt with land-use issues near their properties and felt Milde did not support their concerns.

For Ortiz, the issue was a rezoning proposed by the Silver Cos. that would have changed residential property on U.S. 1 to commercial property near his Hills of Aquia home. He and his neighbors successfully opposed the rezoning.

For Egan, it was the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She lives in the Meadowbrook subdivision adjacent to the SPCA property. She and her neighbors were opposed to the SPCA location.

An alternative proposed by Egan during the SPCA public hearing contained elements of the final compromise permit supervisors approved.

Milde supported the Hills of Aquia rezoning, as well as the conditional-use permit allowing the SPCA.

Milde is accustomed to controversy and does not hesitate to vote his mind even if it might upset some of his constituents. That attitude seems to have gained him a legion of supporters--his campaign is one of the most financially successful in local history.

The incumbent has received more than $43,830 in cash contributions in 2009, according to campaign finance reports filed last week. Reports show Ortiz has raised $4,680 and Egan $6,628.

Milde was an unlikely candidate when he ran four years ago. As his opponents this year have noted, Milde has a legal history that includes a felony cocaine possession conviction when he was 18. He had his voting rights restored in 2002 by Gov. Mark Warner.

After spending nearly $90,000 of his own money, he won a hotly contested 2005 race against incumbent Kandy Hilliard and became a vocal member of the Board of Supervisors.

"Since they can't beat me on the issues," Milde said of his opponents, "going after my character or my campaign strategy is probably their best bet. I work hard. If we focus on the substantive issues, I'm the easy choice."

Milde, who has said on more than one occasion that he "believes government is inherently inefficient," points out that he has used his position to effect positive change in Stafford. His proudest achievement may be the preservation of Crow's Nest--approximately 3,000 acres of pristine coastal forest. By most accounts, he played a key role in negotiating the purchase of the property.

Milde has also positioned himself as the lead opponent of the business, professional and occupational license tax. He feels the fee unfairly targets local businesses and will hamper business and job growth. Milde is opposed to taxes in general, and is particularly opposed to any legislation that could hamper business growth.

"If I'm in the majority on the new board, I will work to phase out or eliminate the BPOL," he said. "It's not completely out of the question that it could be eliminated immediately."

Egan is not a fan of BPOL either but thinks it will be difficult to repeal now that the county budget has been passed based on revenue derived from it. Ortiz supports BPOL.

A retired Marine Corps colonel who works at Quantico, Ortiz has courted the veteran vote and taken jabs at Milde for accepting campaign contributions from businesses and individuals associated with the development industry. Ortiz thinks those donations have influenced Milde to make decisions that benefit businesses at the expense of homeowners.

Ortiz also notes that Milde's campaign promise to vote to overturn BPOL could impact homeowners.

"What he doesn't tell taxpayers is that if businesses don't pay their fair share, then homeowners will have to make up the difference or face cuts in county services," Ortiz said.

While he does support controlled growth, Ortiz says he offers a more balanced approach than Milde.

"Time and time again," Ortiz said, "Mr. Milde has voted for the developers that have bankrolled his campaign, and against his own constituents."

Egan, meanwhile, hopes that voters will see her as a positive alternative to the back-and-forth between Ortiz and Milde.

"I don't have a record," she said. "I'm not bringing in $80,000 in developer money. I'm running a clean campaign and trying to respect everyone. Going after each other is counterproductive."

Egan acknowledged that it has been challenging to "deal with all this green," referring to both Milde's green-and-white campaign signs and his fundraising advantage.

She believes she has the support of teachers and school parents--people, like her, who are concerned about the opportunities available to children in the county.

"I've got two dogs in this race," she said, referring to her elementary-age sons.

Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com