Elections over, groundbreaking for James City County government center is on this week
Good morning! Last week's election kept a majority of government center supporters on the board of supervisors. Our local Congressmen talk bipatisanship, mostly. And our civics quiz continues.
Jamews City County will break ground on its $204 million government center and library annex Wednesday, Nov. 12, the county announced today.
“We’re moving along,” Assistant County Administrator Bradley Rinehimer told the last board of supervisors meeting Oct. 28. “As builders have said to me, get ready because we’re going to be moving fast.”
Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony starts at 10 a.m. at 5231 Longhill Rd., site of the new facility.
When angry county residents turned up at a board meeting last month asking work on the government center stop until after the elections, the supervisors voted to proceed with the work, saying it could always be stopped if a new board decided against it.
Two Republican candidates for board seats, Tracy L. Wainwright and John Slokovitz, said they did not favor continuing work on the government center. But Slokovitz lost his race to incumbent Jim Icenhour in the Jamestown district.
Icenhour, vice chair John McGlennon of the Roberts district and Berkeley representative Ruth Larson favor the center, providing a majority on the five-member board. Stonehouse representative Barbara Null has voted several times against center initiatives, saying she cannot find anyone who supports it.
You are probably confused about what the final cost will be for the complex, which will be located at the intersection of Longhill and DePue Drive. The preliminary cost has decreased as a result of design changes that have shifted costs down.
James City’s approved 2026 budget includes spending $189.5 million on the government center complex and another $49.6 million on the library annex.
But Rinehimer told us the current estimate is $179 million for the center, which includes a $4 million cushion for contingencies. The library annex is currently estimated at $25 million, but Rinehimer said costs should go down from a value engineering process with contractors.
He said consultants told the county to budget between 10% and 20% of the construction costs for furniture, fixtures and equipment.
A popular skate park located on the property closed earlier this month to make way for construction. The county plans to build a new park in the Warhill sports complex and is circulating designs for comments from the skater community.
Larson said she has seen from social media commentary that the skate park “really meant a lot” and needs to be replaced.
Local congressmen pitch bipartisanship, mostly
The Historic Triangle’s two congressmen – one Republican and one Democrat – talked bipartisan consensus and “The Virginia Way” in their annual conversation with business leaders last week – until it came to redistricting and the government shutdown.
Democratic Rep. Robert C. Scott, who has represented the 3d district since 1993, and Republican Rep. Rob Wittman, elected to the 1st district in 2007, headlined the Congressional Conversation luncheon hosted by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce Friday.
They both decried the impact of the current government shutdown on Virginians and federal employees, who have been working for a month without pay checks.
Scott said 70 percent of federal employees live paycheck to paycheck.
Wittman noted that while federal employees eventually get back pay, the contractors who work for the federal government are not always so fortunate.
He and Scott both said they supported changing federal law to make sure federal employees are still paid even if Congress shuts down government.
Scott cast doubt on whether it was constitutional to require government and military personnel to work without pay, saying “we got rid of slavery a long time ago.”
Both congressmen said they work together to support the region, pushing support for shipbuilding, the military, NASA, Jefferson Labs and highway infrastructure.
Wittman said Virginia’s congressional delegation meets for lunch monthly to coordinate support for state initiatives, saying it was “the Virginia way” of doing what’s best for the state.
But the two men disagreed on the merits of a proposed constitutional amendment approved by the state’s Democratic legislature that would permit redistricting if any other state tries to change its electoral map to favor a particular party.
Scott said it was a necessary move, and said Republicans had kicked off the controversy with redistricting to favor their party in North Carolina, Texas and Missouri.
But Wittman said the proposed electoral maps he has seen would change the state’s congressional makeup from six Democrats and five Republicans to a 10-Democrat majority.
He said the current makeup works regardless of the party that controls the White House, whereas a heavily partisan legislative delegation could hurt when there is a Republican president.
The two men also disagreed about the root causes of the current government shutdown, which took place after the Democrats refused to approve a temporary budget that extends Biden era health insurance subsidies for higher wage earners.
Scott said the fault lies with the Trump administration, which he said “has decided that the spending bill is not the law of the land.... he can spend what he wants, when he wants, if he wants.”
He said unless the administration agrees to follow Congressional appropriations bills, “it is hard to imagine any Democrat” voting to end the shutdown.
Wittman said the annual shutdown problem could be resolved if Congress changed its rules to require all appropriations bills to be resolved before going into its summer recess in July.
Scott said the cost of keeping the Biden health care subsidies was relatively minor and said it was important to keep as many people insured as possible.
Wittman said the real problem with health care was controlling spiraling costs. He said the solution included more emphasis on preventive health care, and controlling drug costs by eliminating pharmaceutical middlemen and preventing pharmaceutical companies from charging Americans more than other nations pay to cover marketing and research and development.
Are you smarter than an 8th grader, part 2
Today we continue our month-long quiz on local government. Be sure to include your email address in the poll for a chance to win a free copy of E. D. Hirsch’s New Dictionary of Cultural Literary — What Every American Needs to Know.
The answer to last Monday’s quiz was: The Virginia constitution sets the powers and responsibilities of local government.
Happy Veterans Day!
Government offices, libraries and courts in our area will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 11. for Veterans Day. Most parks and garbage convenience centers remain open.
Check your local government website for details.
Banks and post offices will be closed and regular mail will not be delivered on Tuesday.
The York County Historical Committee holds its annual Veterans Day Ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 11 at noon in the Board room of York Hall, 301 Main Street.
The program will also feature the tolling of the bell, presentation of the colors, singing of the National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, and “Taps.”
All veterans in attendance will receive special recognition for their service.
Passings
Mildred Lange Spring, 98, Nov. 5.
Iris Chaffin Street, 71, Nov. 5.
Carolyn Louise (Sandy Beach) De La Garza, 75, Nov. 5.
James Reece Bailey, 94, Nov. 5.
Jack Winston Lee, LTC, USAF, 83, Nov. 7.