WHO’S NO. 1? Battlefield, Colgan and Woodbridge are top contenders at this weekend’s Class 6 wrestling tournament. PAGE, 8
February 13, 2019 | Vol. 18, No. 7 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
For John Jenkins, ‘Dale City came first’ Prince William remembers its longest-serving supervisor
“He loved kids, he loved education,” said Supervisor Maureen Caddigan, R-Potomac, who served on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors alongside JenJohn Jenkins kins for 28 years. “His kids were all athletes and he was very involved with them, but
Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
John D. Jenkins, Prince William County’s longest-serving supervisor, was sometimes called “Mr. Dale City” or “Mr. Gar-Field” because of his devotion to the community and high school at the heart of his Neabsco District.
also with our Boys and Girls Club, because he just cared about kids.” Caddigan said Jenkins cared deeply about the county, “but Dale City came first.” Jenkins died Wednesday, Feb. 6, at INOVA Fairfax Hospital after a long battle with pneumonia, which he contracted after knee-replacement surgery last fall. He was 79. Jenkins’ will be honored at a memorial service and funeral on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at the Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge.
During the days after his passing, Jenkins was remembered for his achievements during his 36 years on the board of supervisors. Jenkins pushed for the construction of the Dale City Recreation Center, the James. J. McCoart Administration Center, the G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transit Center, the county’s Boys’ Home and Girls’ home, the Hilda Barg Homeless See JENKINS, page 4
What should Northam do? Amid deepening scandal, local opinion mixed on the governor’s fate By Karen Chaffraix Times Staff Writer
From top to bottom right: Tim Webber, Donna Benn, Ginger Paulson and Bill Waller.
Despite widespread calls for his resignation just one week ago over a racist picture in his medical school yearbook, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) says he’s determined to stay in office in part to help guide Virginia through a still-undefined process of racial reconciliation. Northam, 59, is still denying he was ever in the photo, which depicts one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan uniform. See NORTHAM, page 4
INSIDE Calendar.............................................11 Classified............................................10 Lifestyle..............................................14 Obituaries...........................................13
From top to bottom left: Caroline Waters, Janice Adams, Valerie Jackson and Alice and Bill Fleming.
Opinion.................................................5 Puzzle Page..........................................9 Real Estate..........................................12 Sports...................................................7
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Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | February 13, 2019
Former supervisor, prosecutor vie for commonwealth’s attorney Staff Reports Lake Ridge attorney Mike May announced Friday he will try again this year to win election to Prince William County’s top prosecutor’s post. The Republican could face Democrat Amy Ashworth, a former Prince William County prosecutor, in November. May was the Republican nominee for the job in 2015 but lost to incumbent Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert (D). Ebert announced his retirement Feb. 5, saying he won't seek re-election after five decades in office. Ebert garnered about 53 percent of the vote in the 2015 race. May said he would return to the issues he campaigned on in 2015. “The issues that motivated me to run for this important position in 2015 are the same issues that motivate me to run today,” May said in a statement released Feb. 8.
“We have to keep our community safe and protect our neighborhoods. We need to modernize the office and make it more transparent, and we must actively engage Mike May the community to enhance public safety and crime prevention.” May’s statement said he would pursue various policies toward those goals. Ashworth, a private attorney and former prosecutor in Ebert’s office, announced her candidacy last month. Ashworth worked in the Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney Office for 11 years. She was assigned to the Special Victim’s Unit and oversaw investigations and prosecutions involving sexual and physical
abuse cases, including rape and child pornography. Ashworth is now in private practice with Farrell & Croft in Manassas. May served as the Occoquan Amy Ashworth District supervisor on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors from 2007 to 2015, when he declined to run for re-election to seek the commonwealth’s attorney’s office. Republicans have scheduled a firehouse primary May 4 to pick a candidate in the commonwealth’s attorney’s race. So far, only May is seeking the GOP nomination. The Democrats will participate in the state-run primary scheduled for June 11. Ashworth is the only Dem-
After five decades, Ebert won’t seek re-election Paul Ebert is Virginia’s longestserving top prosecutor Staff Reports Fifty-two years in office will be enough for Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert, who announced he will not seek
re-election in November. Ebert, 81, told his staff last week he will retire at the end of his current term, which ends this year. In an announcement issued by his office, Ebert said “health challenges” contributed to his decision. “Due to some recent health chal-
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lenges I have decided that, after more than a half-century of service upholding the laws of our commonwealth, I am going to enjoy my family and friends and maybe get in a little fishing,” Ebert said. Ebert, a Democrat, is nationally recognized for high-profile cases, including the prosecution of D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad, which resulted in the first capital murder conviction under Virginia’s terrorism statute and the execution of Muhammad, the announcement said. Ebert also handled the cases of Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt, whose infamous case put Prince William County in national headlines in 1993. Ebert is the longest-serving commonwealth’s attorney in Virginia history. He became the youngest person to become the county’s top prosecutor when he was elected in 1967, at the age of 30, and then became the oldest person to hold the job in 2015, when he won a 13th term. Ebert earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, now
ISSN 1050-7655, USPS 188280 Published every Wednesday by Piedmont Media LLC How to reach us ADDRESS: 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186 PHONE: 540-347-4222 FAX: 540-349-8676 HOURS: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 24-hour answering service Publisher Catherine M. Nelson, 540-300-4780 cnelson@fauquier.com NEWSROOM Managing Editor Jill Palermo, 540-351-0431 jpalermo@fauquier.com Web/Copy Editor Amanda Heincer, 540-878-2418 aheincer@fauquier.com
ocrat, so far, to seek her party’s nod. Since 2016, May has served as a managing partner of his Northern Virginia law firm, and more recently took over ownership with his wife, Amelia. Formerly known as Albo & Oblon, LLP, the firm is known today as May Law, LLP, the statement said. In addition to his nine years on the county board, May has been a trial lawyer for “almost 15 years,” his statement said, and handles criminal, civil and family matters in the circuit, general, district and juvenile courts throughout the commonwealth. May received his bachelor’s degree in government and Spanish from the College of William and Mary and his law degree from George Mason University. May and his family live in Lake Ridge and are parishioners of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. known as Virginia Tech, and a law degree from The George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C. Ebert was popular with both Republicans and Democrats in the Paul Ebert county. Since his retirement was announced Tuesday, notes of congratulation have begun to trickle in from Prince William County officials and residents, alike. “Congratulations to Paul Ebert on a long career keeping Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park safe," state Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th, said in a Facebook post. "He leaves big shoes to fill.” “I have many vivid memories of Mr. Ebert, including his coming to visit me as Santa Claus when I was a little boy,” added Paul O’Meara, a Prince William County building contractor who is running for the county board of supervisors as a Republican this year. “Thank you for your many decades of service and the indelible mark you’ve put on Prince William County.”
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Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | February 13, 2019
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Superintendent’s budget offers ‘largest pay raise in a decade’ for county teachers, staff By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
Prince William County would add 46 new school counselor positions and give teachers the “largest pay raise in a decade” under the $1.38 billion budget Superintendent Steven Walts proposed Feb. 6. Walts, now in his 14th year as the school division superintendent, proposed both “step” and cost-of-living increases for the school division’s more than 6,000 teachers, a move he said is due in part to funding included in Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposal to fund a 5-percent teacher salary increase over two years. The raises mean an average 4.8 percent salary boost during the 201920 school year for teachers and staff -- part of $24.8 million in additional money Walts proposes to improve employee compensation, which he said is his budget’s “top priority.” Walts also proposed a 2-percent bump in pay for substitute teachers and “supplemental pay” for staff and others who coach school sports teams or oversee other extracurricular activities. Additionally, there will be no increase in out-of-pocket health-care or retirement-contribution costs for teachers and staff, meaning the raises should translate to higher take-home pay. School Board Chairman Babur Lateef called the proposed budget “probably the best in 15 years.” “The superintendent and his staff have heard what the community wants, they’ve heard what the staff wants and they’ve heard what the students want,” Lateef said. “And they’ve built a budget that addresses all these concerns. They’ve included all the priorities of these constituent groups, and they’ve done it well.” Riley O’Casey, a middle school teacher and president of the local teachers’ union, the Prince William Education Association, said she was “very, very surprised” by all that Walts managed to add to the budget for the coming school year. “It’s fantastic. It really is,” O’Casey said. The budget comes about a week after more than 2,000 teachers and supporters demonstrated in Richmond Jan. 28 for better teacher salaries and increased funding for Virginia’s public schools, which receive less public funding, when adjusted for inflation, than they did before the Great Recession. “We want our employees to have better working conditions and better pay because we’re losing the best [teachers],” O’Casey said. “They are our most valuable asset.”
Budget priorities
Walts said his budget reflects six priorities: employee compensation, special education, student mental health, career and technical education, class sizes and pre-K education. In line with that focus, he proposed$5 million to add 46 school
counselor positions and four school nurse positions, allowing every school to have at least one nurse. Walts said he would also spend an additional $800,000 on career and technical education programs and “nearly $1.9 million” in funding on the Virginia Pre-School Initiative, a program for low-income children not served by the federally-funded Head Start. The budget also funds an additional $5.9 million for special-education TIMES STAFF PHOTO positions and programs. The money will add 15 new positions, including The Prince William County School Board listens as John M. Wallingford, assoan associate superintendent for special ciate superintendent for finance and risk management, details superintendent education and student services, as well Steven Walts’ budget for the 2019-20 school year. as money to buy additional communiship Center. ditions outlined in a 10-year plan to cation devices for students. • Funds to purchase land to expand eliminate classroom trailers. The additions were recommended Occoquan Elementary School and Other building and improvements in an audit of the school division’s to build a new elementary school at include: special-education services, which Potomac Shores. • New auxiliary gymnasiums at identified various shortcomings in The proposed budget relies on the Woodbridge and Gar-Field high programs and staff. county board of supervisors approving schools. The superintendent’s budget also continues an effort to spend $1 mil- • New turf athletic fields for Forest a real-estate tax rate that fully funds Park and Battlefield high schools. the school division’s five-year year lion to reduce class sizes. The money matches funding from the Prince • Two additional elementary schools plan. The supervisors have not yet disWilliam Board of Supervisors for planned for the U.S. 1 corridor and cussed adjustments to the tax rates. that purpose. The school board will hold a pubadditions adding 57 middle-school The budget also adds $3.86 milclassrooms and 13 elementary lic hearing on the budget on Wedneslion in debt-service to support new school classrooms – all aimed at day, Feb. 20 and a final work session school construction, including the eliminating the school division’s on Wednesday, Feb. 27. opening next year of the “Parkway” Reach Jill Palermo at jpalermo@ classroom trailers. elementary school. • An addition to the Kelly Leader- fauquier.com
The numbers
The budget reflects an overall increase in operating revenue next school year of about 4.9 percent, or about $51.1 million. That includes an increase of about 4.9 percent -- or $28.4 million -- in local funding from Prince William County, which is projected to rise to $612.6 million from the current $584.1 million, said John Wallingford, the school division's associate superintendent for finance and risk management. The school division is also projecting a 5-percent boost in state funding, from $534.5 million to $560.9 million next year. Federal funding to schools, however, is expected to drop by about 3 percent, falling about $1.1 million from $38 million to $36.9 million. Walts emphasized that Prince William County schools continues to operate with the lowest per-pupil funding of any school division in Northern Virginia with the exception of Manassas Park schools. Prince William County Public Schools spent $11,633 per pupil this year, according to the Washington Area Board of Education annual report. Arlington County continues to spend the most on a per-student basis in the metro region at $19,348.
New gyms for Woodbridge, Gar-Field; eliminating trailers
The budget reflects the updated capital-improvement plan presented to the school board last month. The school board has not yet finalized the CIP changes, but they include ad-
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