Supervisor Paul Milde believes Stafford County needs an at-large Board of Supervisors chairman--a position that Prince William and Fairfax counties both have.
A majority of his colleagues disagree, but Milde isn't giving up.
Milde hatched the idea with three or four other concerned citizens. Most Stafford residents didn't learn about it until Election Day, when representatives of the Citizen's Chairman Coalition stood in the rain to collect signatures at every polling place in the county.
The effort was billed as a "non-partisan petition" to support the creation of an at-large chairman. According to Milde, the effort netted more than 6,100 signatures that day. He has since collected a few hundred more.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 against creating an at-large chairman in Stafford.
"It is arrogant to ignore the will of 7,000 voters," Milde told the board before the vote.
"Arrogance is threatening a board member," Chairman George Schwartz responded.
Schwartz went on to read from an e-mail Milde sent to fellow Supervisor Joe Brito. In the message, Milde advised that if a supervisor voted against his proposal, he would notify those petition-signers who live in the dissenting supervisor's district.
Brito, who did vote against the measure, said he was confronted by Milde after the meeting. Milde said he would contact 1,200 of Brito's constituents because of his vote.
The motion may have brought things to a head, but controversy has swirled around the at-large chairman issue since Election Day.
Opponents of the idea contend that voters were misled--they did not actually sign an official state petition form, but a slightly doctored look-alike. Additionally, the signatures were not necessarily witnessed by a Stafford resident. Milde has admitted that many of the poll workers were hired, and some came from outside the county. During the meeting Tuesday, Brito and Schwartz suggested the process may have been illegal, although they have no immediate plans to press charges.
Milde was undeterred.
"If there is a process foul, file charges, please," he said. "Those are unfounded and completely inaccurate assertions. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise."
The supervisors' vote means the issue will not be added to the county's legislative agenda. In order to add an at-large chairman, the General Assembly would first have to craft enabling legislation that would allow Stafford to put a referendum before voters.
"We don't usually disregard such a huge voting block," Milde said. "All we are asking for is a referendum. There is not a lot of downside to giving voters the choice. I'm baffled that this board doesn't want to put it to a vote."
The issue may have died at the board level, but the petition forms are still out there.
Milde does not intend to use the signatures as an official petition but hopes they will provide support if he approaches state legislators with the idea. What the coalition has, he explained, is basically a big mailing list. It could be a powerful tool for the Citizen's Chairman Coalition at election time.
The coalition is still a bit of a mystery, although it appears that Milde is the most active member, if not in charge of the group. Milde said there are hundreds of loosely affiliated members without a formal structure or any kind of legal status. The group's e-mails are usually signed by "Jane Stafford."
"Any coalition should be able to identify itself more thoroughly," Schwartz said. "I know absolutely nothing about them."
The four supervisors who voted against the at-large chairman voiced concern that only a well-heeled politician would be able to mount such an extensive county-wide campaign.
"Big money can influence the process. It would take big money to run for a position like that," Brito said. "For someone like me with no party affiliation, it would be impossible."
Supervisors Cord Sterling and Mark Dudenhefer both supported the motion. While they didn't speak to the process of obtaining the signatures, they feel that the underlying idea is a good one.
Milde believes it is the will of the people and will continue to champion the issue.
"We will never stop this," he said. "It will be a 2009 election issue. We'll have to change the board or convince the General Assembly that this is right thing to do for Stafford County."
Brito believes the goal may be personal.
"I think [Milde] wants to be the at-large chairman, where he can dominate the board for four years," he said. "He's trying to dominate it now. It would be the worst thing that could ever happen to Stafford. He's just so divisive. A chairman needs to find common ground. We could accomplish a lot more that way."
Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com
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A bulk e-mail sent on 12/15/08 at 11:03 a.m. from "Jane Stafford" of The Citizen's Chairman Coalition As received by Supervisor Joe Brito
Dear Stafford Voter:
This coming Tuesday (Dec 16th) the Stafford County Board of Supervisors (BoS) will discuss and vote on the request of nearly 7,000 Stafford voters who signed petitions at the polls in support of an At-Large Chairman. On that rainy election day so many of you took the time to sign petitions that simply asked that you, the voters, be allowed to make the choice yourselves as to whether or not to create the At-Large Chairman's position for BoS by putting the question on the ballot next November. This request is well within the power of the BoS to facilitate.
It is our sincere hope that all of the members of the BoS would support this reasonable request of so many citizen voters, but if they don't it wouldn't be the first time that Stafford supervisors ignored the public. In the past, several supervisors have voted against this measure, but that was before the grassroots effort and the petition drive. We hope that they will change their minds and support the voters.
On average 1,000 voters from each individual election district left us their name, address and signature. Consider that in an average election for a supervisor, only about 3,300-3,700 votes are cast and the margin of victory in a BoS race is typically between 27-350 votes. We can't imagine that these supervisors would risk alienating themselves from so many verified voters, from both parties, on this issue. We will find out Tuesday. Be assured that the petition signers will be notified by regular mail and email if their supervisors vote "NO."
Stay tuned for the next update.
J.S.
The Citizen's Chairman Coalition
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An email sent from Supervisor Paul Milde to Supervisor Joe Brito on 12/5/08 at 1:17 p.m.
Joe:
You may have seen the two pieces in the Stafford County Sun on the at large chair, if not here they are. Notice that David Kerr endorses the idea wholeheartedly. I would like to be able to count on your vote to ask our legislators for enabling legislation giving us the authority to add this position to our Board.
I have the names, addresses and in many cases email addresses of about 1000 of your constituents who want you to do this. I will allow to review these names briefly if you would like verification. I would prefer not to have to launch a public advertising campaign, but I am completely committed to seeing this through.
Paul