Don Shaw of Gainesville is the Democratic candidate for the Brentsville District Supervisor. He believes he combines vision and pragmatism to find unique solutions to Prince William’s current budgetary problems.
Should Supervisor Wally Covington resign his seat, it will spur an expedited election process. Shaw will face off against the winner of the Republican primary; Jeanine Lawson and Scott Jacobs are currently vying to be the Republican candidate.
It's about Vision and Strategy
Shaw said he has the right mix of vision, leadership, knowledge and efficiency to steer the ship of the Brentsville District in the right direction towards “what’s best for the community.”
Shaw believes he brings to the table the ability to envision a community and make that vision into a reality. After spending eight years working for the U.S. Federal Government as an Enterprise Architect, he has honed the skill of implementing strategy.
He said the job requires creating a plan and implementing the plan, all while staying within a strict budget and trying to get the “biggest bang for your buck.” In that way, he said it is very similar to being a supervisor.
Another aspect of the job is finding savings through organizational structures and communications between various agencies. He said it often required “taking those different aspects and saying, ‘well, you’re doing the same thing in two different areas.'”
Bipartisan Appeal
Besides reaching out to Democrats, Shaw expects that he can convince a great deal of independents and Republicans to vote for him. Shaw said he had been a Republican most of his life, but decided to switch parties primarily because of his desire for government to be inclusive of and respectful to all community members.
“I saw rising intolerance [in the party] especially at the national level,” he said.
He wants people to know that he is fiscally conservative, and does not propose taxing the county out of its problems.
“I definitely understand the concern, they see the ‘D’ next to my name and think, ‘Well, he’s just a tax and spend liberal,’ but I’m more about common sense and within the budget whatever that budget will be,” Shaw said.
Keeping Taxes Low While Funding Services
Because of his experience in working within budgets, he said he is much more interested in finding savings within county budgets than raising taxes. However, he is also interested in providing the necessary services people want in their community, especially good schools and public safety.
Shaw said he moved his family to Prince William County about 10 years ago. It is somewhere he had worked in the mid-90s and he liked the direction the county was headed.
However, recently he has seen diminishing services in Prince William that has him concerned.
“We've seen a decline in the schools, in services. We’ve seen development go up before adequate infrastructure was in place,” he said.
It was that concern for his community, coupled with his knowledge of implementing infrastructure that convinced him to run for supervisor. It was not an easy decision, however, and it meant leaving his position with the federal government and instead seeking private employment.
He explained that the federal government does not allow its employees to be involved in politics, even local politics, so he left the federal government and instead joined a small firm in Alexandria.
Turning Around Prince William's Decline in Educational Excellence
Shaw said he is especially concerned that, in trying to cut back on spending during the recession, the quality of education in the county has declined.
“We have the largest class sizes in Northern Virginia, and the lowest average pay for teachers [in comparison to other counties in the region], he said, and “it's starting to affect the quality of education for our kids.”
He said it is especially affecting the Brentsville District. But in many ways he said that Brentsville has become a microcosm of the entire county, because it includes areas that are suburban, rural and more urban.
Opposing the Bi-County Parkway
He wants to focus on the solutions that will really help the people of the Brentsville District, and he said the Bi-County Parkway is not a real solution.
“I see not as a real viable option for alleviating the congestion on the roads. I’m not convince the Bi-County Parkway is going to alleviate east-west traffic,” saying it does not address the real issue.
Shaw said he is “more focused on bringing jobs into the county than building new corridors for development.” He does not believe the county can pave its way to prosperity.
Protecting the Rural Crescent while Providing Flexibility
He also wants to protect the Rural Crescent, but like his opponents, he believes the 1999 plan for the Rural Crescent needs to be revisited.
He said the A1 (agricultural) designation of one house per 10 acres is taking rural to its “logical absurdity,” and was “not what the BOCS really had in mind.” That is because it carves up the land in an inefficient way for landowners, while not leaving enough open space for true agriculture.
He also wants to keep the Rural Crescent for its natural beauty and the quality of life it provides, saying “I have an affinity for open space. I grew up on a farm. I think it would be a shame to walk away from the Rural Crescent. It is a part of who we are especially in Brentsville.”
The answer, he said, is to “think about what we want.”
Shaw said he is cautious about development although he is in no way saying the county needs to halt development.
“Clearly, we can’t stop development, but we need to reorder the way development is done.”
Focusing on Proffers
He said he would work with developers to proffer schools and roads ahead of development, rather than building the communities first and putting too much strain on the schools.
He notes that this was not done in the past, which is why Patriot High School is only three years old and already students are in trailers.
He does not want to allow this to happen again. He is concerned that Pioneer Assemblage would be built along a two-lane road, saying, “I don’t know if the road infrastructure is capable of handling that.”
Bringing in New Business
Shaw believes that attracting new businesses to Prince William County has to be a big part of reducing the tax burden on citizens and keeping the work force local.
“I think the long term solution is bringing those businesses here. It does more to equalize the tax rate. The fastest way to take cars off the road is to bring in more local businesses,” he said.
A Plan for Nokesville Elementary
He also wants to keep significant community landmarks within their communities.
He thinks Nokesville Elementary School could become a business incubator. It could serve independent business owners who often work out of cafes, start-ups and the employees who telecommute. He would also want to include a mentorship program, so the individuals are not only renting space, but getting help with their business as well.
“Nokesville would be a great place for it,” he said. It could help to revive the community and encourage other small businesses to relocate to the community as well.
He also has plans to help the county budget for the services they ought to be providing.
“I hear all the talk about zero based budgeting. I have experience doing that in the federal government. It’s what your needs are versus what your wants are, prioritized,” he said.
He definitely wants the BOCS to encourage the schools to do the same.
Oversight of the School Division CIP
Shaw thinks the school board needs to act fiscally responsibly.
“Do we really need to build a pool, a stage that elevates, or are we really going to teach students?” he asks.
He wants to see the school division break down its CIP so that there can be better oversight into where the money is being spent. That way supervisors can vote for what they approve and what they do not. He notes that not doing so caused supervisors from the western end to vote against their own interest, in this case a Bristow school, in order to send a message against the over-the-top spending at the 12th high school.
“I understand why Candland and Covington voted against it, but they also voted against their better interests for Devlin Elementary School,” he said.
He said the BOCS needs to exert some oversight over the School Board, since its Board members are tasked with “the responsibility for fiscal oversight,” and he believes transparency makes government run better.
He said it's more than “perceived extravagance” when expensive schools are built, because people have to wonder, “where could the extra money have been spent other wise?”
“The common sense answer is to look at what you got and remove the waste first,” he said.
Finding Other Revenue Streams
At the same time, he said it is no longer possible to pull more money out of the schools, because it has affected class sizes and now there is no more savings to be had.
“It’s really easy to pull money for schools in good times because schools are doing well,” he said. However, now the county has dug itself into a hole and “it’s a deeper hole than we have expected.”
Common Sense Solutions
Another benefit Shaw said he brings is the ability to work across party lines.
“It’s not about ideology,” he said. “It’s about common sense solutions.”
He said he believes in the old view of politics which is that “after 5 o’clock, there are no Democrats or Republicans.”
About Don Shaw: Career, Experience and Family
Upon graduation from high school in Ashland, Kentucky, Don Shaw embarked on a career in the military. After 15 years on active duty, he transitioned from the Army to the Air National Guard in 2003 and retired five years later. He then spent almost eight years as a senior manager in the federal government before recently entering the private sector. He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from Troy University and a master of Science in Information Management from Syracuse University. His post-graduate studies are in the field of public policy at George Mason University.
Don Shaw and his family first moved to Prince William County in 1997 when the Army assigned him to the National Capital Region. They returned in 2004 to call Gainesville their home. Shaw’s wife Joyce is a Senior Executive in the Department of Energy. His three children, Jon, 22, Ashley, 22 and Christina, 17, all attend or have graduated from Prince William Schools.
Shaw is the PTSA Vice President of Ways and Means at Patriot High School, is a member of the Ruritans, the Prince William Conservation Alliance and an American Legion Life Member. His family is involved in supporting various charitable and nonprofit organizations.
Readers can find more information at shawforbrentsville.com, or follow him on Facebook to keep up with news and events.
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