by Delegate Kaye Kory, Holly Hazard, George Waters
At the expense of admitting to our near elderly status, the three of us have a combined 105 years of residency in the Mason District. During those decades, one of us has served for 10 years on the Fairfax County School Board and 14 years in the State Legislature as a progressive Democrat. Two of us have served year after year as community organizers and fundraisers for Democrats running for every position from School Board to the General Assembly, to Governor, to the US Congress and for President. One of us was very involved in the JEB Stuart/Justice HS name change effort and another a leading advocate for animal rights. At no point has anyone ever questioned our loyalty to the Democratic Party and progressive causes.
Some posts in Blue Virginia have questioned the credentials of Reid Voss. This response lays out why we are supporting him for Supervisor. First and foremost, we believe he is the best candidate to represent our District on the Board of Supervisors. He clearly showed that in the recent candidates’ forum with an understanding of present issues that others punted on. Secondly, because he is a Democrat, and his values are consistent with those of our party. Was he a Republican at an earlier point in his life? Did he work for Republicans? Clearly so. Has the ideology of the Republican party morphed to a point where it is no longer recognizable, where MAGA adherents are in control and moderates are no longer welcome? Obviously, it has. Should the Democratic Party welcome those moderates with open arms? If we want to continue winning elections and broaden our base, we surely must.
We have had extensive conversations with Reid about his past. He has owned the areas where we disagreed and has grown significantly as a result. Relative to Justice HS, he now realizes that he was swayed by a nostalgia championed by a number of alumni. As a coach at our high school, he was also concerned about the divisiveness it may have caused among students who were working well together. He now recognizes that whatever one’s affinity was for the former name, the most important consideration is not what was, but what is (and will be) and that the children passing through those halls, all of them, should be respected and represented. They were not under many of our collective past decisions (including the school’s name), and we must all be vigilant of our biases and privilege and begin, in these conversations about equity, to listen first. He gets this. The most important question is, what does he stand for now and how would he govern as our Supervisor?
While a woman’s right to control her body is presumably not an issue that will be before the Board, he is strongly pro-choice and has said would go to Richmond to help lobby on that issue. He is a proponent of gun control. He is committed to paying our teachers and County employees a fair and competitive salary. He has already moved the Lake Barcroft community (the second civic association on which he has served) away from noisy polluting lawn and leaf operations to clean electrical machines. He is supporting the proposed Work/Live community concept in Skyline and will expand it to other areas. This will reduce the numbers of cars on the road and help small businesses start up while also requiring affordable housing to qualify. He is committed to building more schools to relieve overcrowding and reduce the ever-increasing numbers of classroom trailers in our District. He is an advocate of mental health resources and has some great ideas for revitalizing Seven Corners and Bailey’s Crossroads and was the only candidate to substantively address the Seven Corners traffic mess by discussing the proposed Ring Road at the candidates’ forum held on May 1. He supports our parks and will never agree to turn Justice Park into a parking lot. He grew up here attending our elementary, middle, and high schools all within miles of his present home. His children attend Sleepy Hollow ES. He is an entrepreneur and a good one at that. Mason would benefit from entrepreneurial leadership – in equity, housing, traffic and more.
One of his opponents has a history of negative campaigning. We are pleased that Reid has stayed positive.
We have been around the block more than once and know sincerity and leadership when we see it. For these reasons, we support Reid Voss.
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