Forbes Ranks PWC Among Wealthiest Counties in U.S.

The Potomac News reports that Prince William County has been ranked by Forbes magazine as among the nation’s wealthiest counties. Forbes places PWC at number 18 on the list of the top 20 wealthiest U.S. counties.  (2006 U.S. Census data placed PWC at number 7, however, that list was of the wealthiest large counties in the U.S., not all counties as the Forbes survey ranks them.)

Regardless of which methodology you prefer, there is no denying that since the turn of the millennium, Prince William Co. has changed from the small, sleepy bedroom community it once was into a vibrant place to live, work and play with a well-educated and well-paid population.  I give credit to both former Chairman Sean Connaughton and current Chairman Corey Stewart for helping guide the county to this position by focusing upon various economic and quality of life issues – each of these men right for their own time.  Today in 2008, we have an overall outstanding Board of County Supervisors that will continue to lead PWC forward in a positive direction.

I am convinced that the change in the county’s demographics over the past decade or so is part of what led to the defeat of Sheriff Lee Stoffregen in 2003.  Stoffregen was the epitome of the good ol’ boy network that had been in place in PWC for decades.  Time had passed him by and the county that PWC had become would no longer tolerate someone who many had come to view as the “Boss Hogg” of county politics.  That is not to say that there are not embarrassing vestiges of the good ol’ boy system still remaining.  First and foremost is PWC Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert (who we are still convinced is less qualified to serve in that post than Ham Sandwich.)

One must then scratch the surface of county bureaucracy to find where the problems lurk below.  By and large, our county employees are solid individuals who work hard and do an excellent job for the residents they serve.  That said, the actions of some are inexcusable for the second largest county in the Commonwealth and one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, such as:

• members of the police department who routinely park at an intersection ostensibly to watch for speeders and stop sign runners, but instead sleep in their patrol car as vehicles blast through stop signs at that intersection;
• a high-ranking police official who tells an individual something that is blatantly false, so blatantly false that the official must have known what he was saying was incorrect because the citizen certainly did;
• the police officer, who when responding to a hit and run accident where a woman’s car was rear-ended, initially didn’t want to do anything because he didn’t think the damage looked “that bad” even though several witnesses had information that could track down the person;
• graffiti that has been reported for clean-up remaining for more than six months after repeated reports, including reports from a County Supervisor’s office, to the appropriate offices — one such tag appearing on a utility box right in front of a sign for the police station that is right across the street from the box;
• members of the County Executive’s office, rather than finding ways to implement the policies adopted or proposed by the Board of County Supervisors, instead coming up with excuses and arguments why those policies would be too difficult to enact and advocate against them; and
• certain leaders within the county police department doing the same with regard to such policies.

These are just a few of the items that either I or others I know have observed within the past six months.  In fact, I can state that my community has lost so much confidence in the county police department that we are in the process of hiring a private patrol service, one with full arrest powers, to supplement this county service that we believe is sorely lacking.

Based upon these observations and other factors, it appears that fresh leadership is desperately needed both within the County Executive’s office and the police department.  Individuals who understand what Prince William County has become in the 21st century.  Individuals who reflect the will of the people and their elected representatives, not individuals who will try to thwart it.  The Commonwealth’s second largest county and one of the nation’s wealthiest deserves no less.