Local Republicans blame money, supporter turnout for Tuesday losses
Good morning! Local Republicans give us their postmortem of Tuesday's Democratic election sweep. York School Board sets requirements and pay range for new superintendent.
Local Republicans are not blaming Donald Trump for Tuesday’s Democratic sweep. Rather, they say not enough Republicans turned out, and they did not have the millions to put into advertising that Democrats used to flip the Historic Triangle’s two house of delegates seats.
Exit polls of Virginia voters told a different story, showing voters were reacting to Trump’s administration in supporting Democrats Tuesday.
CBS exit polls found 54% of Virginia voters said Trump was a factor in their vote for Abigail Spanberger as governor. Virginia independents, who hold the key to victory, swung 59% in Spanberger’s favor. Williamsburg Watch’s unscientific reader poll showed 88% of the 232 people who had responded as of Thursday afternoon said the election showed dissatisfaction with Trump.
Republican strategist Jeff Ryer told Williamsburg Watch that voter turnout was the key. Although our area had a large voter turnout – 66% in James City County – he said Republican voters were not as motivated to turn out because they were satisfied with the direction the country was taking under Trump.
He also pointed to the significant advantage the winners had in campaign financing: Democrat Mark Downey won the 69th district seat after spending $1.562 million, more than twice what incumbent Chad Green spent, according to the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project.
In the 71st district, Democratic winner Jessica Anderson spent nearly $3 million, triple what incumbent Republican Amanda Batten spent.
“The unprecedented influx of outside money was beyond anything ever seen before,” we were told by Jim Brittain, chair of the Williamsburg-James City County Republican Committee.
“We also had too many missteps on our own side to add to the appearance of an inconsistent state-wide ticket.”
Brittain said the government shutdown and the controversial actions of Elon Musk’s short-lived tenure as head of the Department of Government Efficiency didn’t help.
Some pundits suggested the tenor of the Trump presidency was upsetting to voters. They noted that while Americans favored border controls and supported law and order, they were put off by images of masked immigration officials arresting immigrants in courthouses and businesses, the presence of military and National Guard officials in some cities, and the business uncertainties caused by Trump’s continuing tariff battles with allies and enemies alike.
Virginia Democrats largely stuck to a disciplined combination of attacks on Trump and voters’ concerns with high prices throughout their campaign, coupled with calls for abortion rights and affordable medical care. Even the late campaign scandal of Jay Jones’ texts fantasizing about the death of a Republican leader and his children, and Democrats’ refusal to call for him to step down, failed to stop a ticket-wide victory.
York school board sets salary and requirements for new superintendent
Wanted: a new school superintendent for York County schools. Pay: $185,000 - $225,000 a year, with annual pay raises, full benefits package and car allowance.
Successful applicants will have experience as a teacher and a school principal, with superintendent experience and a PhD strongly preferred. They will have to live in York County or agree to move there within 18 months of being hired.
York County’s school board met in special session Wednesday morning to finalize the requirements they seek in a superintendent to replace Victor D. Shandor, who is formally retiring Dec. 31.
Chief Operating Officer James Carroll is currently serving as interim superintendent, while Shandor remains on the payroll, working with Carroll on his transition and allowing him to maximize his retirement pay from the Virginia Retirement System.
Whoever replaces Shandor is “(going) to have to follow a high standard,” School Chair Kimberly S. Goodwin said.
The school board members’ requirements reflected the priorities of 972 staff and county residents who responded to their online superintendent survey.
Although final compensation and benefits will be based on the quality of the finalist and their experience, the school board based its proposed compensation range based on a pay survey of other superintendents in similarly sized Virginia schools.
That pay ranges from $ 187,000 to $294,813 for a superintendent at a school system with 13,500 students, school attorney Melanie Berry told the board
Williamsburg-James City County’s school system, which is smaller than York, is paying Superintendent Daniel Keever $240,000.
The school board is now sending this information to the Virginia School Boards Association, which is leading a nationwide search for the next superintendent.
Applicants will have until Dec. 10 to fill out an application. The school board will interview the candidates in January and February of next year and select a new superintendent by February.
Senior center planned across from Fords Colony has a different business model
The senior citizen center planned across from Ford’s Colony will have a different business model from its competitors: instead of requiring a large, non-refundable entrance fee and monthly service charges, its housing units will be rental.
James City County’s planning commission voted 5-1 to recommend county supervisors approve the master plan amendment for Ford Village, across New Street from Ford’s colony.
Chair Jack Haldeman voted against the changes, saying he was concerned about traffic loads on the two-lane road and the decision to reduce the number of required memory/assisted living rooms. Vice Chair Kira Allmann was absent.
The project has been under discussion since 2008, when it was originally envisioned to contain up to 800 homes, Haldeman said.
It was greatly reduced in scope in 2022, when the plan was reduced to 470 units. These would have included 270 single and multifamily units, 75 apartments and 125 assisted living/memory care/skilled nursing rooms
Two years later the original developer pulled out, citing the economic effects of the Covid pandemic. Norfolk-based Frye Development is now overseeing the project.
The proposed amendment Keeps the number of single and multifamily homes at 270 and more than doubles the number of apartments to 75, while cutting the minimum number of assistedliving/memory care/skilled nursing rooms to a minimum of 40.
Vernon Geddy, the attorney representing Frye, said the rental business model “makes it much more accessible” to seniors.
County planners told the commission that a new road impact study showed that individual homes generated less traffic than the care units, which would attract visitors.
That study was minimized by a resident of neighboring Monticello Woods, Gary Carlyle, who called it “crazy math” because the residents of nursing units don’t drive.
Another public hearing to allow Coastal Community Church to operate in a building at the Williamsburg pottery was delayed by a month at the request of the church.
Government meetings next week
James City County
Board of Supervisors. Nov. 12. 5 p.m. County government center board room.
Policy Committee. Nov. 12. 3 p.m. 101 Mounts Bay Road Building A.
Wetlands Board. Nov. 13. 5 p.m. 101 Mounts Bay Road government center board room.
Chesapeake Bay Board. Nov. 13. 5 p.m. 101 Mounts Bay Road government center board room.
Williamsburg-James City County School Board
Work session. Tuesday, Nov. 11. 4:30 p.m. 117 Ironbound Rd, Room 300 of the Annex.
City of Williamsburg
City Council work session. Nov. 10. 4 p.m. Stryker Center.
Williamsburg Regional Housing Authority board of commissioners. Nov. 10. 3 p.m. Stryker Center.
Architectural Review Board. Nov. 12. 6:30 p.m. Stryker Center.
City County regular meeting. Nov. 12. 2 p.m. Stryker Center.
Passings
Cynthia “Cindy” Louise Taylor Simpson, 65. Nov. 1.
Barry Duncan Crane, 80. Nov. 2.
George Edward Hockaday, 94, Nov. 2.
Margaret Tiernan LaRocco, 88, Nov. 4.
Rea Wesley Abernethy Jr., 79, Nov. 3.
Linda Lee Dalton Hinnant, 77, Nov. 2.
No it was because of trump. And Jessica worked harder than any local candidate in my lifetime to get elected. No big money in her campaign. It really it is because we have had enough of trump and his cruelty, racism and misogyny. We aren’t. Going back either.
“Not our leopards eating our faces”
- Republicans 🫠🥳