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By RUTH FINCH
Stafford County Supervisor Kandy Hilliard, who will face re-election this fall, took a dig at her opponent's arrest record at a candidates forum Thursday.
"The Republican candidate has stated he will restore trust and accountability to the office," Hilliard said in her closing remarks, referring to the campaign materials of her opponent for the Aquia District seat, Paul Milde.
"But the observation is he has been less than open about his extensive criminal background."
Milde was convicted in 1986 of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. He was also convicted of being an accessory after the fact to an attempted burglary in 1994, and has several convictions for traffic violations.
Milde responded with a joke.
He said that the forum's moderator, William Stephens, president of the Stafford branch of the NAACP, also happened to be his middle school principal.
Milde said that as a kid, he was often sent to Stephens' office, "as you might expect with someone with my extensive criminal background."
"I don't want to address that right now," Milde said in his own closing remarks. "It's been mulled over. Enough of that."
The exchange was the most heated moment of a 3-hour forum featuring candidates for the Stafford School Board and Board of Supervisors and the House of Delegates seat for the 88th District, which includes parts of Stafford, Fauquier and Spotsylvania counties.
The forum, sponsored by the Stafford NAACP in conjunction with the Virginia Education Association/Stafford Education Association, was supposed to be free from personal attacks, organizer Ed Johnson said.
"It will be strictly focused on what the candidates would do to solve the problems," he said before the forum.
All 16 candidates for the three offices were invited to the forum. Thirteen candidates attended, including all eight Board of Supervisors candidates and five School Board candidates.
John C. Ledoux, who is running unopposed for School Board in the Aquia District, was out of town on business. Doreen Phillips, one of two newcomers vying for the Hartwood District seat on the School Board, had to attend a business meeting in Richmond.
Del. Mark Cole said in an e-mail that he had another commitment. Last month he also declined an invitation from the University of Mary Washington's Student Government Association to debate his Democratic opponent, Chuck Feldbush.
With nine candidates on the stage at once and one minute per candidate allotted for responses, there was time for only five questions for the supervisor hopefuls.
All of them said they support efforts to put more minorities in county leadership positions and raise teacher salaries. The four incumbents defended their records on growth, traffic, budgeting and beautification efforts against attacks from challengers.
The School Board candidates had time for nine questions about hiring and retaining teachers, school construction, taxes and budgeting, faculty diversity, student discipline and the state-mandated Standards of Learning tests.
The biggest difference emerged between the candidates for the Falmouth District seat.
Incumbent Robert Belman defended his record of support for the Public-Private Education Agreement the county entered into to build three schools last year.
"Eighteen months of planning went into that," Belman said. "Of the three schools, two were built successfully and efficiently and within budget. The third school, which the board took out, was Conway Elementary," which failed to open in time for the start of the 2005 school year.
Belman's opponent, Bruce Saller, said he saw the wisdom in removing Conway from the partnership.
"When we build schools, we build them efficiently and cheaply," Saller said, citing a recent efficiency report that praised Stafford for its low construction costs. "The ones built with the PPEA were the exception," Saller said. "They came in 17 percent higher than two schools built in Prince William County that year."
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