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Bob Woodson
Announces Campaign for Supervisor
 On
June 12, 2007, Bob T. Woodson announced he is a Democratic candidate for
the Griffis-Widewater Board of Supervisor seat.
“I am taking this
step,” Mr.Woodson said, “because I am concerned about how decisions
made by the majority of Supervisors
are leading to higher property taxes year after year.
Stafford
needs an elected official that is able to bring fiscal responsibility to
the Board of Supervisors.”
Woodson, 67, served in
the Air Force and is an economist. He retired in 1996 from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics after 25 years of service. He
went to college on the GI bill, earning a BS in Economics, a BA in Urban
Regional Planning, and a MA in Urban Regional Planning.
 As
an economist with training in planning, Mr. Woodson has a unique
perspective on the consequences of the Board’s land use decisions.
“We face more taxes and more traffic as a result of past Board
decisions that have allowed residential growth to occur at an
unsustainable rate. We need to implement balanced land use policies that
promote a diversified economy, rather than relying so heavily upon
residential property taxes for revenue.”
Mr. Woodson added, “I
am particularly concerned about recent Board decisions to fast-track the
Traditional Neighborhood Development ordinance. As currently written,
this legislation will open the flood gate to dense residential
development in areas that we should be prioritizing for commercial and
industrial development.”
The TND ordinance would
directly impact the Griffis-Widewater district.
Mr. Woodson pointed out that it would allow large scale
development on Widewater, where a developer has been promoting a plan to
build as many as 12,000 housing units.
That project will require a four-lane highway directly behind
Aquia
Harbour
to provide access to it. The TND would also allow ten story buildings at
Aquia
Town
Center
.
Another local issue
high on Mr. Woodson’s agenda is addressing the failure of
environmental laws to protect creeks and other waterways from pollution
and mud. Erosion from the
Aquia Hills development has polluted Aquia Creek.
This is a situation Mr. Woodson wants corrected and one which he
does not want to see occur in other places.
Restoring integrity to
the Board of Supervisors is also important to Mr. Woodson. “I am
concerned that, more and more, the Board’s majority appears to be
voting in favor of special interest groups benefiting financially from
County policies, instead of making decisions based on what is best for
the citizens of Stafford County. It’s
time for a change.”
A lifelong resident of
the Virginia and
Washington
,
DC
area, Mr. Woodson has lived in
Aquia
Harbour
since 1988. Mr. Woodson and his wife of 33 years, Vernell Woodson, have
five grown children, one of whom currently serves in the Air Force, and
seven grandchildren. Mr. Woodson has been active in community affairs
and once served as the chair of the Stafford County Democratic Party.
See also
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