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Roads, schools are issues in the Garrisonville District

October 25, 2009 12:37 am

BY JONAS BEALS

Both candidates for the Garrisonville District seat on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors know what life is like for many of the voters in their North Stafford district.

Incumbent Mark Dudenhefer, who is seeking a second term, "slugs" to his job with the Army Corps of Engineers. But that's only one reason he sees transportation as a key issue.

Laura Sellers slugs and sometimes drives with her father to her job in Crystal City as a social science research analyst. She agrees that transportation is a concern, but the 24-year-old graduate of North Stafford High School and North Carolina State University says improving education is her prime issue.

Aside from his personal experience with congestion and gridlock on local roads, Dudenhefer has firsthand knowledge of the importance of transportation--and especially road safety. His 17-year-old daughter Emily died in a car accident in 2004.

Dudenhefer has used his position to promote initiatives such as the Youth Driver Task Force and a transportation bond package passed last November.

"Transportation is as much a passion for me as it was the day I decided to run over four years ago," Dudenhefer said. "I feel I've accomplished a good deal in terms of making our neighborhoods safer."

He points to work he has done with the Virginia Department of Transportation to install traffic-calming measures such as stop signs in the county. With the road bond passed, he hopes to see progress on the State Route 610 widening as well as pedestrian improvements.

"These things take a very long time," Dudenhefer said. "It's a constant fight to maintain the ground you've gained and build momentum for the future."

Sellers acknowledges that the transportation network needs improvement, but her focus is education.

"Fifty-three percent of our schools are failing," she said. "Are roads really our priority right now?"

Sellers lists her priority as improving the relationship between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors. By improving communication, she hopes to increase teacher salaries and improve education.

"These are my teachers," Sellers said. "they will hold me accountable.

Along with her more tangible goals in education, Sellers would like to see more participation by young voters.

"We have a lot of commuters and we have a lot of students," she said. "My background is in youth development. I want to find ways to make the youths come together. We have a lot of youths in the county that want a reason to care. They want someone to care about them."

Along with education, both candidates would like to improve public safety in Garrisonville.

Dudenhefer feels he has already made important strides in that area, but wants to do more.

"In 2006, a Hampton Oaks home burned to the ground," he said. "We found out we had the worst response times in the county. Due to moving equipment and hiring over 50 fire and rescue personnel, Garrisonville now enjoys the best response times in all of Stafford."

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