The three contenders seeking to represent the Braddock District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made their case to voters last night (Wednesday).
A capacity crowd packed Braddock Hall to hear from the aspiring successors to James Walkinshaw, who resigned after winning election to Congress in September.
Ken Balbuena, a former county appointee and North Springfield Civic Association president, is the Republican nominee in the race, while Braddock District school board representative Rachna Sizemore Heizer secured the Democratic Party nomination earlier this month. They were joined at the forum by independent perennial candidate Carey Chet Campbell.
The special election, scheduled for Dec. 9, will allow somebody to fulfill the remainder of Walkinshaw’s term, which expires in 2027.
Affordability crisis
Calling affordability a “huge issue” in Fairfax County, Balbuena has made addressing commercial vacancy rates one of his top priorities, arguing that filling or replacing vacant offices and businesses — perhaps through mixed-use developments — will help lower taxes.
“The land [value] is decreasing, so the tax burden is getting put onto the residential taxpayers,” Balbuena said.
Sizemore Heizer called for widespread improvements to the Braddock District’s economy, saying that she had a “vision and a plan” to do so that “takes advantage of the businesses we already have here.”
“We can use mixed use [development] so people don’t have to commute … but that’s a small solution,” she said. “You can’t do mixed use without having an economic base. That’s your own economy.”
Citing a book by economist Donald Shoup, Campbell argued that addressing the affordability crisis starts with doing away with the minimum parking requirements currently imposed on most new construction.
“If we can get rid of our minimum parking requirements … we can lower our housing costs and lower our development costs,” he said.
Lake Accotink preservation
With Fairfax County facing an ever-dwindling window to address the sediment accumulating in Lake Accotink, Sizemore Heizer said that she would prefer to preserve the lake, but again deferred to what Braddock residents want.
“My goal is to preserve the lake as much as possible, because it is a resource,” she said. “… Whatever the solutions we propose, we [need to] have robust community engagement because, at the end of the day, it’s not my lake, it’s your lake, and we need to make sure your voice is heard.”
Campbell emphasized that the task of saving the lake would only be beneficial with the support of the full Board of Supervisors instead of having the Braddock District alone spearhead the efforts.
“The next Braddock District supervisor has to bring everybody else on the board along, and ultimately, the whole county, unless people want to impose that cost on ourselves here in the Braddock District,” Campbell said.
Balbuena echoed Campbell, acknowledging that the future of the lake was not solely a Braddock District issue.
“It’s important to save the lake, whether it’s securing bonds and put into a referendum … We have to do something, because it’s not only for Braddock District, it’s also for Franconia District and the rest of Fairfax County,” Balbuena said.
Gun rights
When asked whether or he would support defending county ordinances banning guns from libraries, parks and rec centers, Campbell offered a succinct answer: “Yes, sir. Thank you very much.”
Balbuena noted that his political party is “all about the Second Amendment,” but that common sense is needed on this issue.
“Having weapons in places that are not necessarily somewhere they should be is not necessarily the best thing to do,” Balbuena said. “Having them in libraries does not make sense. Having them parks where there’s children around does not make sense. It’s a safety issue.”
Sizemore Heizer highlighted efforts taken by the school board during her tenure to ban guns from all school buildings, not just the schools themselves.
“I’m very proud of that because safety comes first,” she said. “Of course, I would uphold that.”
Tysons casino
Each of the candidates said they would support holding a referendum on whether to bring a casino to Tysons, but ultimately conditioned their support on feedback from Braddock residents.
“I take my job of representing you seriously, so until I hear from you that you want a casino, or even that you want to vote on a casino because people didn’t even want that, then I’m not in favor of it,” Sizemore Heizer said.
Campbell, who himself is a longtime union member, highlighted the value of jobs that come with any development project, but conveyed skepticism about the long-term benefits of a casino for the local workforce.
“I’m not sure that this is the way,” Campbell said. “Those temporary jobs, union construction jobs to build the casino, they will come and they will go. And the question is, where does that leave us?”
After mentioning concerns about traffic near the proposed casino site, Balbuena noted that all Fairfax County residents — not just those in Braddock, or even in Tysons — ought to be able to have their voices heard.
“It was my way of doing things: giving people the power to be able to have a decision that affects the entire neighborhood,” Balbuena said about his time as a civic association president. “[I want to] give the power back to the people to have a decision that affects the entire county.”
