Local GOP Elects New Chair

Warns of tough fight against local Democrats

Mar 01, 2025

Local Republicans selected a new chair, who warned them they face a tough electoral battle against Democrats in 2025.

Members of the Williamsburg/James City County Republican Committee voted by acclamation Wednesday night to elect Jim Brittain to serve until March of 2026.

Brittain succeeds Sue Sadler, who told Williamsburg Watch she had resigned to care for a family member who was having health issues. Brittain is a local real estate broker whose wife works for 71^st District House Del. Amanda Batten.

“It’s not going to be an easy fight” this election year, Brittain warned the group of more than 80 people who filled the Republican Committee headquarters for their first regular meeting of the year.

Democrats have targeted Virginia and New Jersey as the only two states with statewide elections coming up this year and will focus money and attention on them, said Jennifer Tierney, chair of the Historic Triangle Democrats.

Tierney, a political consultant who lives in our area but works races in California, said local Democrats had a record-breaking fundraising year in 2024, taking in approximately $120,000.

“The Coordinated Campaign, which is the field component of the statewide Democratic effort, moves into our office every year and they work our area hard in terms of door-to-door canvassing, events, phone-banking, etc.” Tierney said. “That matters, especially over the long term.”

Democrats are targeting Batten’s seat. The Republican incumbent represents Williamsburg, most of James City County and half of New Kent County. Batten came within 670 votes of losing the 2023 election to newcomer Jessica Anderson.

Anderson said those strong results got her promises of significant logistical and monetary backing from the Democrats this year.

Republicans are still looking for candidates to run for the Williamsburg/James City County School Board seats for the Powhatan and Jamestown districts.

They now need to find a candidate for the Powhatan District on the county Board of Supervisors, because incumbent Michael J. Hipple unexpectedly resigned this week.

At the meeting, Republicans heard that Windsor Forest resident John Slokovitz had registered as a Republican to run for the Jamestown District seat held by Democrat Jim Icenhour. Slokovitz is new to politics.

Besides Brittain, the Republicans also elected Peg Williams to be vice chair for Williamsburg and Joseph Gurliaccio to serve as treasurer. All three terms expire in March 2026.

Proposed James City County Government Center

James City County’s leaders have long touted the county’s AAA bond rating, which allows it to borrow money for construction projects at the lowest interest rate. But to keep it, the county’s financial advisors warn, the county will have to be judicious with its $441 million construction wish list.

Borrowing more than $260 million over the next three years “could negatively impact the county’s credit ratings” Davenport & Company warned in a report to the county this month.

County staff asked Davenport to prepare a plan to finance three projects it said were worth $260 million:

– the consolidated county government center along with a library

-- replacement of Fire Station 3

-- additional funding for a general services administration building.

But the price tag for all the requests the supervisors have received is considerably more, at $441.273 million.

James City County currently has high ratings from the three agencies that rate public debt – Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. A strong rating is necessary to keep interest costs low.

Davenport said the county had the capacity to pay for up to $318 million in additional debt over the next 10 years. But it warned borrowing that much could trigger a change in the county’s credit rating, which will increase the interest rate, which in turn raises the total cost of the projects.

County Administrator Scott Stevens walked the supervisors through a first pass of projects that might be deferred over the next five years to keep total borrowing down. Put on the list, which Stevens emphasized were not a final recommendation, were a variety of recreation projects, warehouses and several public safety projects.

Supervisors were unanimous in wanting to keep the proposed new government center, whose cost estimate has now risen to $189.5 million, consuming most of the planned borrowingn. A proposed new library would be co-located with the government center, bringing the total cost to $238.7 million.

Stevens told the supervisors at their work session this week that construction costs have surged over the past few years, making everything more expensive.

“This is not gloom and doom,” he said of the process of allocating the capital budget. “It’s just making choices based on the money we have.”

The bonds rating issue gives the county even more of a reason to reach an agreement with Williamsburg on their joint school division. Splitting with Williamsburg could cost the county access to three school buildings and a school board office that would have to be replaced.

It may also scuttle the supervisors’ appetite for keeping the 5-cent property tax credit they issued for this year after real estate appraisals surged by 20% in 2024.

Those re-appraisals are costing taxpayers more in real estate taxes, despite the tax credit.

In fact, the county’s income from property taxes jumped nearly 10% this year, the county’s finance numbers show, even after factoring in the cost of the credit relief. Eliminating the credit would give the county an extra $6.5 million in taxes from real estate owners.

Here are some key dates on the road to a budget you should remember:

Final budget recommendation by end of March

April 1: Community presentation to gather public input

May 13: Budget adoption

Left to Right: Luis Rodrigues, Elizabeth Walthall, Shauntrice Williams, Aquazia Jones, Amber Schmidt, Joy Stout, Sandra Robinson, Ben Munson, Roberta Hammel, Crisney Brooks, Virginia Staley (Julia Kocev photo)

Members of the Williamsburg Area Association of Realtors volunteered for a Build Day Wednesday with Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg.

They were helping with construction of a new home for a local family.

A team from the Realtors group swapped their usual daily routines for hammers and tool belts, working alongside the Habitat construction team.

They spent the day helping with framing, hammering, and building walls—critical steps in building the home.

"We believe in giving back to the community, and what better way than helping a family build a place they can call home?" said Crisney Brooks, 2025 President.

"This partnership with Habitat for Humanity allows us to put our values into action, creating a lasting change one nail at a time."