Deshundra Jefferson, the Democratic candidate for Chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said she agrees with Republican candidate Jeanine Lawson that the lame-duck board should not vote upon contentious data centers land use cases.
Jefferson said the issue is important to her, which is the reason she spoke at today’s board meeting. She did not mind Lawson calling her to support the resolution during her media conference because she believes it is a good idea.
“Jeanine Lawson and I have been clear about where we stand on land use,” said Jefferson.
However, Jefferson would prefer the board alter the language of the resolution to clarify it is only applying to data center development outside industrial areas, not any “contentious” land use projects.
“Anything can be made contentious,” she said, so she would rather the resolution say: “Do not take up any land use cases that area near homes, schools and national parks.”
Jefferson said the resolution could be applied too widely and too politically. It could prevent voting on affordable housing; that is one concern Democratic supervisors have.
She said she is in conversations with stakeholders, supervisors, and members of her party. She is well aware they come to the table with different points of view and different approaches, but they will need to communicate to work together.
Nevertheless, she assures county residents she is sticking by the commitment not to approve data centers being built near homes, schools and parks.
“That’s a critical part of why I ran,” she said. “I’m not going to abandon the commitments that I made.”
She believes she did receive a mandate in the primaries that the voters do not want data centers near their homes, schools and parks.
“I won Brentsville and Gainesville by wide margins, and I did not have nearly the same resources [as the lead party candidate], but I made sure that I was knocking on doors. It was a hard-fought victory, and land use played a critical component,” she said.
JULY 12- Update: The Democratic majority on the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors voted against the resolution, so the board will still be able to vote on contentious land-use issues during its "lame-duck" session.
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