Republican Challenger for Chairman Envisions County less dependent on Development

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Chris Crawford, who seeks the Republican Party's nomination for Prince William Chairman. Chris Crawford, who seeks the Republican Party's nomination for Prince William Chairman At-large, is running against incumbent Corey Stewart.

Chris Crawford is the Republican candidate competing with Board of County Supervisors Chairman At-large Corey Stewart to receive his party’s nomination.* Crawford hopes to move the county forward without relying heavily on new housing developments or rising taxes.

*Since the Republicans were denied a primary, they have announced they will hold a 'Firehouse Primary' or canvass on April 25 to choose their official candidates. 

On the Difference between himself and Stewart

Crawford said that there is little difference between his beliefs and those of the current chairman. However, he said Stewart simply has not produced the results Prince William residents desire.

“If you hear Corey and I talk, you will probably not hear much difference. But, I just look at the results, and I see something different. Nothing against Corey- I think he means well, but I have to look at the results: the year after year tax increases, the state of our school, the professional jobs that haven’t materialized. We have an Innovation Park that looks like a wheat field," Crawford said.

On Working within the Strategic Plan

Crawford promises to bring a different style of leadership to the county. He said he is goal-oriented and would track metrics, determining if the county is successfully moving towards its goals. He also expects to closely follow the county's strategic plan.

“Most people don’t even know that we have a strategic plan. We have one, and I agree with it,” he said.

Crawford explained that the strategic plan lays out a plan for public safety, transportation, education, economic development and health services.

“And there are actually metrics, hard numbers on how you are making progress. If we just would follow that," Crawford said.

On Deciding to run 

Crawford said he decided to run for Chairman since he has been closely involved in the community and believes the current leadership needs to change.

“Over the past years, I got involved in different things: political groups, advisory councils with the schools and local civic groups. I talked to people and found out that some of the things that were bothering me were also bothering other people as well.”

On Reducing real-estate taxes

One noticeable problem is the tax rate continues to rise every year. Crawford notes that anyone whose home is valued above the average home value will see more than a 4 percent increase in their real estate taxes next year. Over a five year period, it amounts to more than a 20 percent tax increase.

“I talked to enough fixed income families that have said, ‘these tax increases are killing us,’” Crawford said.

On Reducing residential development

He believes that in order to make a difference in the county, the supervisors need to take a hard look at the policies that has failed thus far.

“How did we get here?” he asked. “The residential housing development policy. It’s not that I’m against building houses, but for many years now, under Corey’s leadership, we have built a lot of houses without the infrastructure to support it.”

Crawford believes the county should already have that infrastructure in place rather than expected the developers will proffer it. The current system has meant that the county was always playing catch up. It always needed more development to build more roads and more schools just to serve the current residents. He believes it is time to break that pattern of dependency and population growth.

“Before (a new development) would get my vote, I’d have a couple questions. Is there school capacity? Is there capacity on the roads? And three, a very import thing that gets lost a lot, are we getting enough in proffers so that the houses are paying for themselves?”

However, he also said he cannot stop all development even if he wanted to, since nothing there are nearly 25,000 homes in the county just waiting to be built. That means expansion will happen, but to Crawford, it also means the county needs to be smarter about what it approves in the future.

On working with the School Board 

If the school division can no longer expect development proffers to build new schools and pay for school site, he said the School Board will have to be smarter with overseeing their budget as well.

“They are going to have to make a priority list- reducing class sizes, building schools, maybe building cheaper schools. The supervisors are the best line of defense for tax dollars in the county, all tax dollars.”

He also plans to stay informed as to what is going on with the School Board, taking the time to attend those meetings and understanding the school division's unique challenges. He believes that is the role of any involved supervisor.

“Leadership is a lot more than telling people what to do,” he said, saying it also involves, “influence those things that you don’t have direct control over.”

On Growing the business economy 

Crawford also hopes to spur more economic growth in Prince William County in order to make the county less reliant on residential taxes.

“What I do know is that we are not competitive with our neighbors. We have got to make the county more business friendly. My focus is going to be on economic development. [We need new businesses to] increase tax revenue base, increase funding for the schools and decrease commuter traffic  That’s a real quality of life issue for people.”

He currently blames a an outdating BPOL tax and a business equipment tax, which he believes is hurting new construction, for inhibiting business growth in Prince William. He also plans to phase those out or decrease them, and also to look closely at the permitting process to make sure it runs smoothly.

On loving Prince William County 

Crawford says there are so many positives about Prince William County from the landscape to the people. He hopes to be able to focus on Prince William's assets and build a stronger community.

About Chris Crawford 

Crawford is data scientist for a defense contractor in Tysons Corner who has worked in counter-terrorism as a consultant since after 911. In 2011 he, his wife and their three children moved to Gainesville where they reside today. His children attend Patriot High School, Gainesville Middle School and Glenkirk Elementary School.

To learn more about Chris Crawford’s campaign, readers can visit his website crawfordforpwc.com, as well as follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

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