Brentsville’s two Republican candidates for supervisor going into the October 1 mass meeting had the chance to share their message at the September 25 Nokesville Civic Association open meeting.
Jeanine Lawson focused her message on managing growth in Brentsville. Mike Williams, who spoke on behalf of Scott Jacobs who was celebrating his 10-year anniversary with his wife that evening, explained Jacob’s vision for making Nokesville a quaint walkable community.
Jeanine Lawson
Lawson told the meeting attendees how she was raised among farmers in a small Iowa town with just 4,000 people, and thus understands the issues of people living in Nokesville.
“I love the community of Nokesville. I love the rural feel. I love that 5 to 10 minutes from here you have suburbia and then can be in a rural community,” Lawson said.
Lawson explained that she is running on a platform of managed growth, saying she wants to manage residential growth in Brentsville and “keep the Rural Crescent and Nokesville rural.”
Lawson called clustering a “catchy idea” but said it would require sewer lines which may have the unfortunate effect of opening up the Rural Crescent. However, she said she is open to talking to residents and addressing their concerns.
Lawson said her main concern as a candidate has been overbuilding in Brentsville, noting that the census reported 102 percent population growth in Brentsville between 2000 and 2010.
“Our kids are going to schools that are extremely overcrowded,” she said.
Lawson explained that currently Patriot has 20 trailers and before that Brentsville District High School had to employ one-way hallways. She said she is not completely anti-growth, but does believe it is incumbent upon Board of County Supervisors to do a better job of managing growth in the county.
“When it’s not managed, it affects our quality of life. It’s time we have a representative on this board that will protect your quality of life," Lawson said.
Lawson explained that she would like to grow the business community in Brentsville so that fewer Prince William residents would have to commute outside of the county.
Responding to a question, Lawson said she understands how much Nokesville Elementary School means to the community and she, like Jacobs and Chairman At-large Corey Stewart, would also work to see it remain within the community.
When asked, Lawson said she has concerns about the mosque coming into Nokesville because of the proposed location. She explained that Schaeffer Lane is a small neighborhood road, and not an ideal entrance or exit for the religious facility.
She is also opposes having Vulcan come into Nokesville.
Mike Williams Presenting for Scott Jacobs
After Lawson presented her platform, Mike Williams, campaign manager for candidate Scott Jacobs, presented Jacobs' vision for Brentsville.
Williams began by explaining that Jacobs was born and raised in Nokesville. After graduating college, he returned to Nokesville to start a business and have a family.
Jacobs wants to see the town of Nokesville become a hub for small businesses. He envisions it becoming the kind of place where people can go antiquing on the weekend then stop at cafes and restaurants. He hopes it will become a quaint, walkable town.
He also wants to keep the old Nokesville Elementary School within the county either as a county office or as community center. Williams said that Jacobs imagines it as a place where people could “assist children with before or after school programs.”
Jacobs also wants to make sure the Nokesville Fire Station on Marsteller Drive is preserved as a banquet hall and meeting center even after a newer station has been built. Williams said Jacobs has already helped grow the community in supporting the local business community and bringing in Nokesville's first doctor in decades, Dr. Bill Barrere of Nokesville Medicine.
Williams did not want to answer too many questions on Jacob’s behalf, but promised to publish the answers to people’s questions on Jacobs' candidate Facebook page. On the Facebook page, Jacobs said he would not support Vulcan’s application for a rock quarry.
Jacobs also said he would prefer there be less regulation on property owners' ability to tap into the public sewer system. He also said he is in favor of clustering homes on large acres within the Rural Crescent because he believes it will help to preserve agriculture in the rural crescent before all of the land becomes estates.
Neither candidate is the official Republican candidate as of yet, but one of the two will be elected at theWednesday, October 1 mass meeting at Patriot High School. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Brentsville residents who are registered voters and who consider themselves to be Republicans or are willing to sign an oath to support the Republican candidate in the special election and believe themselves to be in accordance with the Republican principles, are invited to vote in the mass meeting.
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