Two open County Commission seats will be up for grabs this November. In the Harpers Ferry District, four Democrats are facing off in the May primary. The winner will face an unchallenged Republican and an Independent in the District’s race. In the Kabletown District, two Democrats are vying for the right to face a Republican who does not have a primary challenger. Here is The Observer’s introduction to the candidates.

Paul Ashbaugh

Harpers Ferry District, Independent

His Top Issues

1.Taxes. “Jefferson County residents are overburdened with taxes,” he says. “The Commission needs to work with the state to lower the burden.”

2. Affordable Housing. Ashbaugh says impact fees on new housing are making life in Jefferson County too expensive, especially for young people. “It’s like driving a stake in the heart. Impact fees should be put on a referendum ballot.”

3. School administration. “The Commission should have more interaction with the school board,” he says, acknowledging that West Virginia’s County Commissions have a limited role in school administration.

Paul Ashbaugh sees his run for County Commission more like a crusade than a run for a seat on the county’s governing body. Running as an Independent, Ashbaugh is out to banish so-called No-Growthers in both parties. “No Growthers have taken over the County Commission,” he says. “All of them—No-Growthers.”

Some people say Ashbaugh, a developer, is running for office to protect the interests of developers in the county’s new zoning ordinance. You can almost hear Ashbaugh say: Darn tootin’ I am. And why not? He says the backlash against growth has a reached a point where people think “anyone involved in the real estate business doesn’t deserve a seat at the table.”
Certainly, Ashbaugh is known to many Jefferson County residents as a combative developer. And clearly he takes pride in being a fighter for what he calls conservative principles. “I want to show Republicans what conservative really means. The Republicans on the Commission now are a bunch of liberals.”

He plans to introduce a Bill of Rights for Jefferson County that would, among other things, exempt senior citizens from the school bond. “Race track money could subsidize the difference,” he says. If it sounds un-conservative to tax a big corporation so you can cut taxes for someone else, Ashbaugh is unbothered by it.

With population growth, how should we plan for the future of emergency services?
All-volunteer services are working and are still meeting our needs. “At some point in the future, we might have to go to paid ambulance service. For fire departments, we might reach a point where we have paid firefighters during daytime hours,” when many volunteers are at work out of the county.

How will we deal with potential budget shortfalls caused by declining real estate values?
The current commission, he says, “will try to come up with another tax.’”

On annexations by towns.
“If the town wants it, they should be able to do it,” he says. “I’m not crazy about the idea of pipestemming (where towns annex properties connected to town only by road).” But he says pipestemming is the result of the County Commission forcing builders to go to friendlier territory.

 

Ed Burns

Harpers Ferry District, Democrat

His Top Issues

1. Chief Financial Officer for County. Financial planning and bonding issues should be a top priority. “The county has $30 million in the bank, and we’re not equipped to use it.”

2. Human Resources Manager. “The county needs a staff leader to manage issues we’re not handling, like accessibility and workplace violence.”

3. Set Priorities. “The county needs to set priorities and establish its needs, then put financial plans in place to address those needs.”

4. Let the County Administrator do her job. “Leslie Smith is doing a great job at doing a lot of little things well. She is overwhelmed. [The Commission] tasks her to write this letter, that letter, this and that. Let her do her job.”

Ed Burns considers himself a good-government, common-sense kind of guy. He talks more about how county government works than about its specific policies. Before Burns retired from the federal government, he traveled abroad frequently—and got to see the work of the County Commission from thousands of miles away. “I started watching the  meetings on the internet. They spent so much time talking about nothing and doing nothing. Nothing ever came to a conclusion,” he said. He saw county taxes going up, and residential impact fees were bringing in revenue, but he didn’t see improvement in county government. “What am I getting for my money? I’m not getting my dollar’s worth from this bunch,” he said.

He would try to improve the relationships between the county and the towns by using his experience in mediation and crisis intervention. “We need to start by getting the counties and towns talking,” Burns said. “The contentiousness has to stop if we’re going to progress as a community, and leave our kids and grandkids a place we’re proud of.”

To Burns, the draft zoning ordinance and pipestem annexations are symptoms of a problem. “That ordinance they put out in November should never have hit the street,” he said. “It shows how inept the current Commission is to allow a document so obviously flawed, one that they knew would meet such opposition, to be released.” The plan, he said, might make sense for an urban county, but not Jefferson. “That’s why some residents want a ballot initiative to approve the ordinance. They don’t trust the commissioners,” he said.

With population growth, how do we plan for the future of emergency services?
“Now is a good time to start thinking about how to deal with fire, ambulance, and EMS in the future. There are many terrific models to look at. We should be sitting down right now with fire chiefs, ambulance chiefs, and begin to quell the turf battles that will inevitably come up. And start talking about the future.”

How will we deal with potential budget shortfalls caused by declining real estate values?
“We should be devoting a lot of effort in our economic development authority,” said Burns. He favors recruiting what he calls solid employers to the county. For example, he wants to recruit biotechnology companies. “Because we have so much open space, it lends itself to facilities that need a border around them for security.”

Greg Lance

Harpers Ferry District, Democrat

His Top Issues

1. Fair Taxation. “Property taxes must reflect the true value of the homes we live in. We need to be fair,” he said. “When values go up, taxes go up, but when they go down, taxes should go down.”
2. Zoning Ordinance that is clear and fair. “The big question is how will we make it workable for everyday citizens.” People need to know that if they follow the rules, their building applications will be approved.
3. Fiscal Responsibility. “Because things are good now, people are not thinking about reality.” The reality, says Lance, is that Maryland will likely legalize slot machines. Jefferson County’s take from slots could fall from $7 million a year to as low as $4 million.

Greg Lance sees a gaping financial hole on Jefferson County’s horizon, and he doesn’t see anyone coming to grips with it. A declining tax base due to a sluggish real estate market is just the tip of the iceberg, says Lance.

“The only thing that has saved us is video lottery money. That money has given us money that we wouldn’t have. That money is available to get us out of a jam—and there is a good chance we will be in a jam,” Lance said, referring to the possibility of slots casinos opening Maryland.

Of the draft zoning ordinance he says, “It goes way too far. It’s too extreme on some things, such as the base footage of houses on certain slopes. And you can’t cut trees down [on slopes] except for the base of the house. Everything you want to do has to be approved by the county.”
Lance was a County Commissioner in 1987 when the current zoning ordinance was enacted. The ordinance contains a provision known as LESA (Land Evaluation and Site Analysis), which was popular a generation ago, but is rarely used as a zoning tool today. “I think LESA has worked,” said Lance. “But as we move forward, we need to modify the documents.”

Lance says he is concerned with contradictions in the ordinance. Take, for example, the goal of preserving farmland. “The document makes it impossible to stay in farming,” he says, because it creates obstacles to on-farm commercial activities like farm stands. “You need a site plan to do anything. That process can cost thousands of dollars and take six months to a year to get approved.” Lance also thinks the draft is too cumbersome. “You could go through the whole process and still not get approval. It does not give clarity. Under LESA you at least know what you had to do to get approved.”

Lance also does not like the emphasis on large lot zoning in the agricultural districts. “Our young people already can’t afford to live here,” he said.

With population growth, how do we plan for the future of emergency services in the county?
“At some point, we might have to go to a daytime paid service. But who’s going to pay for that?”

On potential budget shortfalls.
“The face of government will be totally different because of the lack of revenue. A lot of things we get for free will have to be paid for.”

On annexations by towns.
“The ones that have occurred are a direct result of the County Commission’s position on growth. These annexations occur because of the permitting process. Charles Town and Ranson didn’t run out to get these properties, the landowners came to them.”

 

Steve Pace

Harpers Ferry District, Democrat

His Top Issues

1. Smart Growth, Affordable Housing. It’s important, he says, “that our own people can afford to stay here. And we need walkable communities.”

2. Fiscal Responsibility. No doubt we’re going to need more police, more services. The question is how to budget for it and how to manage it.

3. Diversify Jobs in the county. “Wouldn’t it be great, if instead of commuting, we had a tech company, like AOL or Oracle, that had a satellite office here? It would cut down on gas consumption, cut down on commuting, so we can spend time on family.”

Steve Pace isn’t a guy who lies awake at night pondering the minutiae of the proposed zoning ordinance. To Pace there are management and financial issues poised to overwhelm county government if something isn’t done soon. He got an inside view of Jefferson County government last year when his company, a benefits management firm, suggested ways to save the county money while improving the employee benefits program.

“We could have saved the county $465,000 in taxpayer money without cuts in benefits. We would have added benefits and a group disability plan. We could have doubled their life insurance and had better dental,” he said.

According to Pace Jefferson County government has the highest medical premiums of any entity he’s ever seen—public or private. “Their family rate was $1,775 per family.” For Pace, this typifies problems in county administration. “They are not fiscally responsible,” he said.

When he looks at county administration, Pace sees micromanagement by elected Commissioners and no clear chain of command at the staff level. “The Commission sees its job as whatever comes across their desks,” says Pace. “Everything seems so new, like it was just invented. They reinvent the wheel on every issue, rather than reaching out to people in other counties who have gone through similar circumstances.”

“No one is managing the day-to-day operations of the employees,” according to Pace. “No one is accountable. No one who understands human resource law.” The remedy, he says, is for the county to hire a human resources director and a chief financial officer. The human resource position actually was on the table last year, he says, but the Commission used the money to hire a dog warden and buy a dog truck.

Diversifying the local economy is high on Pace’s list.
When asked what role the County Commission can play in this, Pace sees the commissioners as recruiters and ambassadors in trying to lure companies in the technology sector to Jefferson County. “It means the commissioners have to get off their butts and go see these companies and talk to them.” For starters, says Pace, the county might reinvent Bardane Industrial Park. “Maybe it should be Bardane Technology Park,” he says.

On annexations by town.
“If things were done right five years ago with zoning, we would not have the issues we do.” Of the legal case between the county and Charles Town, which was decided by the state’s Supreme Court, he says, “For the county to get involved at that level, at that level of expense, is the wrong direction.”

Lyn Widmyer

Harpers Ferry District, Democrat

Her Top Three Issues

1. Stronger employment base. “We need to lay the groundwork to bring employers that are career-oriented so that we are not such a D.C.-based economy.”

2. Green Infrastructure. “We need a green infrastructure plan that includes parks and recreation. We need a plan to protect and enhance our natural resources—a plan that has public buy-in.”

3. Zoning and Capacity. We should be taking the ordinance section by section. Then we need to work with the state to figure out where we’re going to provide traffic capacity.

Lyn Widmyer is a planner by trade, having spent a career as a planning supervisor at the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. So you might expect her to be a fan of a sweeping approach to implementing the county’s new zoning ordinance. Not so. She prefers an incremental approach that allows a lot of public input in the process from the start.

“I adamantly disagree that the whole county should be rezoned at once,” Widmyer said. “First we should look at agriculture and mountain zones. We should deal with the concerns that those residents have voiced. We need to move through this in an orderly way.”

Widmyer says the agriculture zone in the ordinance needs to have more commercial uses. “If we’re going to promote agriculture, we have to stop restricting the uses of agricultural land.” She also favors provisions that allow farmers to sell off some lots, but says, “We need to figure out how to serve them with water and sewer.”

By working zone by zone on the specific elements of the ordinance, Widmyer says the county could focus on allowing everyone affected to have a say in creating the plan. It would also give the Commission more time to focus on getting it right.

“The business zones are too auto-dependent, and they do not seem to have a distinction between heavy industrial and light industrial,” Widmyer says. “They are not mixed-use zones. They seem to be single-use zones. And there is no logic to the amount of development they allow.” Clearly she is comfortable in the trenches, but she is wary of one-size-fits-all zoning.

One change Widmyer supports: Abandon the LESA system now instead of awaiting the new ordinance. “It already allows for rezoning by a complicated system,” she said.

Widmyer sees a need to modernize county government. She wants to see budgets that more closely reflect county priorities, and she wants budgets to take revenue projections into account. “We need a process to have a better idea of what each agency needs,” she said.

One of her loftier aspirations for the county is down to earth. “I would like people to be able to walk from the Shenandoah to the Potomac to the Opequon on a linked greenway,” said Widmyer. By focusing on quality of life issues, she thinks County Commissioners can help attract employers that believe in Jefferson County’s future. In turn they can help transform the county from one completely dependent on the Washington, D.C., economy into one that has a stronger employment base.

On annexations by towns. “If a town wants to annex property, as long as the use is consistent with the county plan, the annexation should proceed.”

On potential budget shortfalls. “Jefferson County has a six-year capital improvement plan. Now we need to decide from the list of projects, and we need to match anticipated revenue with that list. When you’re in a time of declining revenue, it’s important to tighten up the process. We should have a public input process on the big projects.”

 

Kit McGinnis

Kabletown District, Democrat

Her Top Issues

1. Better management for local government. “We need to modernize government and its budgeting process.” Says we should “use the budget as a policy document by cutting budgets in certain areas and expanding budgets in other areas.”

2. We should focus on building vibrant local economies, “first by determining what our niche should be.” We should “look at our critical mass and assets” to take advantage of what we have that makes Jefferson County distinctive, so we’re not trying to duplicate the strategies of other counties in our region.

3. “We need to plan for the future, but preserve our environmental and historical assets.” We do this, she says, by engaging citizens in determining what they want the county to look like in the future.

Kit McGinnis has a Master’s degree and experience in regional planning, but more often than not, she talks about the importance of encouraging entrepreneurs and promoting Jefferson County’s small-business economy. That’s her M.B.A. coming out. To McGinnis, planning is as much about creating economic engines as other planning issues like the environment and where the houses go.

“One of the county’s environmental problems is that we have a D.C.-based economy,” said McGinnis. “And jobs that exist here don’t pay enough for people to afford to live here. It’s a double commute,” she says—people who work here live elsewhere, and people who live here often are forced to drive to better-paying jobs.

McGinnis says she has looked at a lot of economic development plans. Successful ones attract businesses based on quality-of-life issues. “Our competitive advantages include our environmental and historic resources. Businesses look at open space, environmental and recreational opportunities, and historic resources. These are our huge advantages,” she said.

McGinnis sees Shepherd University, American Public University, the National Conservation Training Center, and others as a “confluence of critical mass of industry” that could transform the local economy. With these assets Jefferson County could create something like the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, built around a vision that fits our history and geography.

“The Economic Development Authority can have a big impact on what we do to attract new businesses,” she said. “We tend to think that if we just get commercial development, our problems will be solved,” she said. “It takes an effort and a strategic plan to implement something different from the status quo.”

To McGinnis, the new zoning ordinance should bring clarity for businesses and builders so that they know what to expect. Then the marketplace can play its role more effectively. To her the draft ordinance is too cumbersome and does not adequately take advantage of Jefferson County’s assets. “We can preserve the past, and not repeat history’s past mistakes. Or we could hit the repeat button and become what every other county in the D.C. area has become.”

On potential budget shortfalls. “I don’t know the specific answer yet. The whole budget process needs to be modernized. When you look at the budget and how it’s laid out, it’s impossible to understand. The departments don’t have to give forecasts based on revenues. That should change.”

On annexations by towns. “If builders and businesses feel like the only way to get a fair shake is to seek annexation, they will. There is too much rancor between the towns and county. The County Commission ought to have more say over whether Charles Town and Ranson annex because they are pieces of the puzzle. But cooperation is the key. I want to reach across the table to people who might oppose my ideas.”

 

Patsy Noland

Kabletown District, Democrat

Her Top Issues

1. Transportation. “We have to do a better job of providing transportation, including roads, by working with our state and federal delegation.

2. Schools. We need to work with our school board to improve the schools. I think the County Commission can advocate and work with the school board to attract teachers.

3. Affordable housing. Good zoning is a first step. “We can look at programs that provide affordable housing for teachers, police, and other public employees. But first, we need to agree on a definition of affordable housing. There has to be some sort of structure in determining how it’s going to be dealt with.”

The word that comes up most when you talk with Patsy Noland is “fairness.” As an elected official in Jefferson County, she works daily with county staff. One of her goals as a Commissioner would be to make sure employees are treated fairly. When she talks about revising the county’s draft zoning ordinance, she talks most about making it fair to people who have to live by it.

“The current County Commission represents a select few,” said Noland. “They do not represent the majority. I think they represent their special interest groups: No Growthers.” Noland said she doesn’t want to come off as pro growth, “because I am not. I think we can have it all.”

Noland says the county needs a good zoning ordinance. “There needs to be areas designated for schools, for recreation, for agricultural use. And for wildlife. For all of that. I don’t want to see rooftops all over the county,” says Noland. “But done in a way that’s fair to the landowner and people next door.”

Among the biggest problems facing county government, according to Noland, are structural problems in management. “The Commission has a lot of leeway on who reports to them. And the problem is that the people who report to them don’t report to anyone else. I believe the county administrator should be the person to whom the Commission employees and department heads report.”

Says Noland, “The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. That is the purpose of the county administrator. It is within the authority of the Commission to make the county administrator the boss.” In fact, according to Noland, that’s the way it was always done in the past.

Noland wants to expand the local job base. “We need better paying jobs here, a more diversified economy,” said Noland. A zoning ordinance that is too complicated will turn off potential employers, making it more difficult to bring new high-paying jobs to the county.

“I believe in zoning, but it has to be done right,” Noland says. For example, the draft ordinance is supposed to save farmland, but according to Noland it creates barriers. “We want to avoid killing the rural economy in our effort to save farmland. I think it needs to be done in a way so that a farmer can sell produce without it costing him his profits to do it.” After all, said Noland, “That’s only fair.”

With population growth, how do we plan for the future of emergency services in the county? “I would like to see the County Commission do something to generate more funds for emergency services. I think paid services would be something to think about in the future, but I hope we will always have volunteers.”

On declining tax base. “Absolutely we should plan for the future. Last year they were shooting from the hip. There was no plan. We cannot keep going at this pace. We have to start prioritizing and spending taxpayer money more carefully.”

On annexations by towns. “First of all, I think we need to ask: Why has this become an issue? Why are people wanting to be annexed? We need to get to the root of the problem before we fix it. I don’t agree with the pipestemming that has occurred. The law needs to be tweaked so that it does not provide for the right to annex a property eight miles away.”

Frank Kubic

Kabletown District, Republican

By his own admission, Frank Kubic doesn’t give answers that fit neatly into little boxes. But one thing is certain. He is the only candidate for Jefferson County Commission running to rid the county of what he calls serfdom economics. To Kubic, Jefferson County government has put a stranglehold on growth through rules and regulations. So we the people have become serfs to the masters of government. Kubic thinks the County Commission’s actions toward liberty, happiness, and property are harmful for the future. Worse, they are unwittingly zoning us into permanent recession, he says.

“The definition of a recession is no growth,” he said. “At the county level, they’re trying to eliminate growth.” That translates into trying to cause a recession, he says.

Kubic said he is not opposed to zoning per se. Land zoning, he said, was created to mitigate nuisances. Now it’s gone too far. “Now, the County Commissioners create nuisances,” he said. “People can’t use their land. They are begging for permission to live.”

Economically, the county is surviving only by video lottery revenue, he said. “I am running because serfdom economics is a disease. It’s roots are in land zoning,” said Kubic. The way to rid the county of the disease, says Kubic, is to begin dismantling the regime of over-regulation that is strangling the county.

For more information on the candidates go to:
http://jeffersoncountyclerkwv.com/voter_registration.html.