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Race for Aquia seat is Stafford's hottest

October 31, 2005 1:06 am

By RUTH FINCH

Little fairy princesses and vampires aren't the only ones asking for candy this time of year.

"We want Kandy," is the campaign slogan for Kandy Hilliard, 44, a Democrat running for her second term representing the Aquia District on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.

Her opponent, Republican Paul Milde, 38, is warning voters not to pig out on Kandy, a reference not only to her co-opting Bow Wow Wow's 1982 hit song, but also to her dicey relationship with a certain fiberglass hog.

Puns and put-downs like this are traded each campaign cycle, but in this year's board election, the nastiest and most personal insults have come from Stafford's Aquia District.

If Milde's not rehashing Hilliard's unpopular defense of the county's decision to require Virginia Barbeque to remove a Hampshire porker from the roof of its restaurant, Hilliard is reminding voters of Milde's past convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, accessory to burglary and reckless driving.

But beneath the jabs lie the same basic quality-of-life issues that have weighed on voters' minds for years: schools, taxes, traffic, environmental protection and above all, growth.

Hilliard stands proud of her record of opposing projects that would bring additional houses. But Milde is criticizing her for taking a $500 campaign contribution from a developer, Joe Samaha, who has a proffer amendment pending with the Planning Commission.

Milde also accuses her of dragging her feet on keeping Crow's Nest, an environmentally sensitive area in eastern Stafford, out of developers' hands.

And he objects to Hilliard's consideration of a project that would bring needed soccer fields--and 280 townhouses--to the Courthouse Road area.

"It's not a good deal for the county," Milde said of the soccer-field proposal. "I think there are places we can find $5 million for the soccer complex without having to trade the density."

Hilliard said she considers it her job to weigh the pros and cons of any proposal that comes before her.

"I am looking for a way to build those soccer fields fairly soon and I will consider any proposal that brings that idea forward," she said.

As for the campaign contribution, Hilliard points to Milde's investment in a condominium project near Onville Road in North Stafford.

"He has a community actively under construction as we speak and he calls me the developers' darling?" Hilliard said. "Of all the board members running, I have the most consistent record for not increasing density."

The candidates also differ in their approach to traffic control.

Hilliard's plan focuses on encouraging people to stay out of their cars by building more sidewalks, installing more traffic-calming devices in neighborhoods that ask for them, encouraging walkable communities and expanding the FRED bus system.

She counts among her accomplishments this term the expansion of bus service to North Stafford, and she wants more routes, especially to serve students with after-school jobs.

"In a community like Stafford, bus service is critical for people who are too young to drive or older people who have had to give up their license or any people who, at this stage in the game, can't afford gas," she said.

Milde said he has never met a constituent who is clamoring for better bus service. He wants to require developers to help build roads. He also said adequate roads must be an integral part of the plan for new development and infrastructure has to be in place before developments are approved.

Hilliard, a former Parent-Teacher Association president, said she considers herself more of a friend to the school system than Milde, who sends his children to private schools.

She faults him for asking the Board of Supervisors to give the school system less money than it had requested.

"It's harder for him to have a sense of what kids experience," she said. "He hasn't sat in a lunchroom so packed the kids can hardly hear themselves talking. I know there are kids in closets instead of classrooms and there are schools with no teachers' lounges, they are so crowded."

Hand-in-hand with Hilliard's support for schools is her willingness to raise taxes, Milde said. Last year, she voted to set the real-estate tax rate at $1.04, 13 cents above the equalized tax rate, to more fully fund the school budget. Hilliard's proposal failed and the tax rate was set at 97 cents.

She also advocates a stormwater utility, which would charge landowners a fee based upon how much of their property is paved.

"My opponent is a liberal Democrat," Milde said during a recent candidate's forum. "She may have moved to the center for this election, but her record is clear. She is a liberal."

Hilliard counters that by questioning how Milde can fulfill his campaign promise to restore trust and accountability to the office when he didn't come forward with information about what she calls his "extensive criminal background." She said some rank-and-file Republicans have pledged their support to her because of Milde's past.

Milde was convicted of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute in 1986. He was 18 years old and had just graduated from high school. He said he went to rehab and cleaned up his act while out on bail and awaiting trial.

He was sentenced to six years in prison, five suspended, but served only 12 weeks in the Prince William County regional jail before he was released on parole.

Later, in 1994, at age 27, Milde was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to an attempted burglary.

Milde said those charges stemmed from his role as a men-tor in Narcotics Anonymous. One of his proteges confessed to him an attempted burglary.

But when the police asked him for information, he said he could not in good conscience give it because the support group is anonymous.

Milde said explaining his past problems is the first thing he tries to do when he meets voters.

"I say to everyone, I'd be happy to talk about what I've been doing for the last 20 years or what I plan to do for the next four," he said.

To reach RUTH FINCH: 540/735-1971 rfinch@freelancestar.com