The Manassas City Council has selected Johnathan Way to fill Jackson Miller’s seat. I think Mr Way will do a great job. His experience derived from the planning commission will be a valuable addition to the City Council. I also hope that the others who contended for the seat will continue to participate in our common endevour called Manassas. As with all closed sessions, I can’t say much regarding the selection process other than our City is very lucky to have such talented people who are willing to be involved.
January 9, 2007 at 7:39 am
I also think Mr. Way will do a fine job.
Of course, at least half the applicants appeared that they could
also be good councilmembers.
An excellent field made it a tough choice.
January 10, 2007 at 5:32 pm
I welcome Mr. Way to the next Committee Meeting. I know he’s a member, but can’t recall his ever attending.
January 10, 2007 at 9:56 pm
I have to say I was somewhat disappointed with the appointment of Mr. Way. With all of his vaunted planning experience, he seemed unwilling to acknowledge that overcrowding in Manassas is a real issue. Most of Manassas is fast becoming a warren of rooming houses for illegal immigrants. Investment money for high end projects is not going to be particularly avaialbable to the hoped for high end residential development when Manassas has lost most of its middle class. Few new middle class families are moving into Manassas, while plenty of middle class families with school age children are leaving Manassas because of the perception that the Manassas school system is spedning a disproportionate amount of its budget for special services for the new immigrants at the expense of programs for the middle class. Maureen Wood and Deidre Pennefather both recognized this as an issue facing the City, while Mr. Way and others did not, at least in the public hearings. Maureen Wood and Deidre Pennefather were the two applicants that were in the mold of Jackson Miller. Most of the City Council seemed less interested in replacing Mr. Miller with another conservative who faces the real issues facing the City than finding a Concilman who would appease the ACLU, HUD, Mexicanos sin Fronnteras and others.
January 10, 2007 at 11:51 pm
SL Higginbottom’s descriptions of the problems we face are unassailably valid.
However, having more knuckle-draggers like Jackson Miller (demonstrably a man devoid of any exceptional qualities, experience or accomplishment) in positions of public responsibility is not the answer.
The answer is to pursue a thoughtful, pragmatic, multi-pronged approach… aggressively addressing overcrowding and illegal immigration (within the bounds of the law), investing in economic development (focusing, like a laser beam on tangible quality of life issues like culture, arts and recreation), and investing in our schools in a very dramatic way.
Such an approach would stem upper/middle class flight and demonstrate to employers of highly educated and highly paid workers (the demograpic that we are competing so desperately to attract) that Manassas is reversing course on the economic death spiral into which Harrover and company are plunging us in their slavish adherence to anti-tax dogma.
Less is not always more. Sometimes, more is more. What we are seeing now in Manassas is the tyranny of the lower (read lowest) middle class against those of us in the middle, upper-middle and upper socio-economic classes.
People with part time jobs, very modest positions in private enterprise, or running barely-established home-based businesses are increasingly calling the shots in Manassas, based primarily upon their own economically vulnerable positions.
Meanwhile, those of us who have attained some level of economic security, and thus who are willing to spend some tax money to live in less culturally and socially primitive conditions than the neo-Republican cave dwellers who represent the most vocal element on the Manassas City Council, are left to beg for more than the most basic services from our city government.
January 11, 2007 at 10:57 am
Saw Mike Huckabee on the Jon Stewart show recently and was
impressed. He noted. for example:
– We should stop thinking only horizontal – far right or far left, but
vertical — what is bad for America at the bottom and what is good at the
top – all of us working for the common good. Don’t focus on labels.
– Pro Life means more than opposing abortion – it means decent schools
and health care, etc. – caring before AND after birth.
– Think the Manassas City Council could use some of Mike’s thinking.
January 11, 2007 at 11:05 am
Big Dog:
Does pro-life mean more than what it says? I find that many pro-lifers are single-issue candidates. In a year where republicans are desperate to provide some solution on transportation, how long did it take Bob Marshall to introduce an abortion bill?
January 11, 2007 at 3:42 pm
You will know global warming has been reversed, because hell will
freeze over when Bob Marshall stands in the House of Delegates and
fights for basic health care for every child in Virginia.
To often “pro life” means smug, self-righteous and cheap.
How about pro fetus, pro baby, AND PRO CHILD!
January 11, 2007 at 9:41 pm
I wish Jonathan Way every success, as his success is our success. We need the steady hand and considered mind of Mr Way to serve as a further counterbalance to Marc Aveni a [edited out].
I commend to all the following article from The Gainesville Times…
A True Virginia Gentleman – Harry Parrish Named 2006 Citizen of the Year
01/10/2007
Even on his deathbed, Harry J. Parrish would not turn away from duty.
The World War II Army Air Force pilot entered Prince William Hospital in March, suffering from congestive heart failure.
Yet at age 84, Parrish soldiered onward, asking for papers to be delivered to him daily so he could continue his 24 years of public service as delegate for the 50th District of Virginia.
“He wanted to get the budget back straight,” said Mattie, his wife of 62 years. Harry told her and others who visited that he’d come back to Richmond to finish his job.
“I’ll get out of here,” he said to her.
Parrish had every reason to believe he would defeat his ailment. Sixty-two years earlier, he had flown the much-fabled and ever-dangerous “hump” missions across Burma, India and China to bring fuel to forces like the Flying Tigers during World War II. He also survived being shot at as he flew over Vietnam 20 years later.
Though he was a transport pilot, not a fighter, during his 27-year military career, “Mr. Manassas” battled his whole life, quietly, politely, gracefully and skillfully.
In 1969, IBM came to Prince William County with its administrators seeking an area that had a surface water supply, an airport and stable workforce, according to state Sen. Chuck Colgan (D-29th). They liked what they saw, and by 1973 had set up shop.
Parrish had been mayor of the town of Manassas since 1963 and was one of its councilmen before then. He had his eye on upgrading the town to a city and needed a tax base in order to do so. Given that IBM used Manassas’ water, airport and workforce, Parrish reasoned Manassas could annex the property.
Despite not having a law degree, the 1944 Virginia Tech graduate and his lawyers argued to a county judge that Manassas had every right to the land IBM used and, therefore, that the property should become part of the town.
The judge agreed.
Two years later, after the General Assembly passed a law stating no more cities could be created in Virginia after June 30, 1975, Parrish and the town council pushed themselves into high gear. Manassas had a tax base, adequate citizenship and the resources to make a city happen.
According to Mattie, as the city-declaration deadline neared, Parrish spent near-sleepless nights at home. He poured over legislation and legal logistics until sometimes 4 a.m.
“He was so busy all the time,” Mattie said. “His time was so full.”
The effort ultimately paid off. By mid-June, Parrish and the council worked out all the kinks and paperwork necessary to turn the town into a city. Then, by a simple vote, Manassas transformed from a town within a county into its own entity within the state.
“He never complained to me,” Mattie said. Even late at night, “he’d say, ‘I’ve got to go,'” she added. And, just like that, he would be gone.
Last year, after 55 consecutive years of elected of public service, time finally caught up to the energetic senior.
After being admitted to the hospital, Parrish contracted pneumonia and died on March 28.
The life-long Manassas resident had served as chairman of the board for the Manassas Ice & Fuel Co., the company his father founded in 1922, from 1946 until his death.
Flying high
While attending Manassas High School in the late 1930s – the school is now Osbourn High School – he drove a truck for MIFCO and hauled ice and fuel during the summer.
A young girl from his alma mater, Mattie Hooe Cannon caught his eye and on Feb. 12, 1944, the two wed.
She would see him from time to time afterward as Harry flew small, single-engine planes directly over Manassas and wave to his wife when he could.
“He loved flying,” she said, adding with a laugh, “I think it was his first love.”
His son Harry “Hal” J. Parrish II, one of the couple’s two children along with daughter Judith P. Ratcliffe, said the challenge of flying is what exhilarated his father the most about being in the sky.
“It takes a great deal of training,” said Hal, the vice-mayor of Manassas. “But it sets you free. You’re able to make your own decisions. It transcends your earthly bounds.”
The senior Parrish carried his love for flying well past his military service days. Once, Hal and Harry left Manassas Regional Airport in a two-seater plane on a Saturday morning, refueled twice and when a thunderstorm struck, landed in Cheyenne, Wyo.
“He didn’t tell me until he was on the ground,” Mattie said.
Hal said from there they traveled west, south to El Paso, across Texas and into New Orleans before stopping in Baton Rogue.
In Harry’s later years, the city stops were devised for the father-son team to just “take a break.”
For Harry, flying served as “getting away from being a delegate (and) being here at the company,” Hal said.
Across the aisle
The love of flying also spurred the friendship between the Republican Parrish and Democrat Colgan, the namesake of Colgan Air.
During the 2003 election cycle, Parrish and Colgan became the first Republican and Democrat to hold a joint fundraiser together, Colgan said. They managed to raise $40,000 at the Heritage Hunt Country Club in Haymarket and split it down the middle.
“He could care less whether you were a R, a D or an I,” said state Sen. Russ Potts (R-27th), who served in the legislature with Parrish since 1992.
Potts said Parrish and Colgan “were just literally the dynamic duo… Prince William had two superstars down there serving them. And you never knew when those two were together who was a Republican and who was a Democrat.”
According to Del. Jeff Frederick (R-52nd), Parrish was still a loyal Republican.
“He was a team player at all times,” Frederick said, but adding Parrish was well aware that “your team didn’t hire you. You work for the people that sent you there.”
Parrish used his seniority to reach out to other members, such as Frederick, who was the youngest member of the assembly after his 2003 election. For a while, Prince William laid claim to the commonwealth’s oldest and youngest legislators.
“He was my mentor when I went down to the General Assembly in that special session,” said Del Michéle McQuigg (R-51st), recalling her 1998 entry into the House of Delegates. “He was just very knowledgeable, always a gentleman and he understood how to get things done.”
“Harry was an inspiration, he was a good gentleman and he led by example,” Speaker of the House William Howell (R-28th) said. “He was very helpful, just understanding the nuances and intricacies (of legislation) … I might not completely understand every aspect of it and he’d explain it to me.”
Like virtually every former colleague who spoke of Parrish, Howell called him “a true Virginia gentleman.”
Former Gov. Mark Warner (D) echoed that sentiment.
“Nobody exemplified in the best way possible what a Virginia gentleman was more than Harry Parrish,” Warner said. “He worked well with everyone. He valued everybody’s opinion. I know when we grappled with the budget shortfall in Virginia, he put the interests of Virginia before anything else.”
Finance Chief
Before the 2004 budget passed, Warner asked the General Assembly to pass a series of tax hikes and cuts in order to offset the revenue lost from the car tax refund. Colgan said this turned out to be Parrish’s “finest hour” in the General Assembly.
As Finance Committee chairman, Parrish first watched his fellow Republicans defeat the tax package in committee. He later reintroduced the legislation into committee. This time, four of the “nay” voters were absent, the bill passed by one vote and Parrish adjourned the meeting.
Though the bill passed the Senate overwhelmingly, it was expected to die on the House floor.
Parrish stood his ground as Republicans grilled him about raising taxes. Quietly and in detail, Parrish explained the finer points of the legislation to anyone who questioned him. Once it came time to vote, Parrish gathered his allies and 17 Republicans voted for the measure, allowing it to pass 52-45.
That controversial move earned him plenty of animosity from conservatives, but just as much admiration from moderates.
“Without him, that bill would never passed and we would have been in big trouble,” Colgan said.
Parrish’s seniority, ability and Finance Committee chairmanship made him more powerful than even the majority leader, according to the Virginia Foundation for Research and Economic Education’s power ranking, which placed him just behind Speaker Howell.
“He had a lot of power, but you’d never know it,” Potts said. “He was very unassuming and very humble. And he carried power well.”
To Warner, Parrish executed well and always with the best interest of the commonwealth in mind.
“He didn’t always do what was easy,” Warner said, adding, “Even if it wasn’t politically popular.”
Warner said Parrish was criticized in 2002 when the transportation referendum came to a vote in Northern Virginia, ultimately ending in defeat. Despite that, Parrish recognized that “this is something we’ve got to take a look at,” according to Warner.
The former governor said Parrish set an example for him by talking about the long-term needs of Virginia, not just concentrating on the short term.
“He cared about the community and its citizens,” McQuigg said. “He treated everybody with respect. And he would look to ways for finding solutions to problems.”
Parrish’s mindset became an inspiration for Potts.
“He helped mellow me and he helped me see the big picture,” Potts said. Instead of being intensely partisan, Potts said Parrish would remind him that “there are a lot of good ideas on the Democratic side of the aisle,” and the best question to ask during deliberation was, “‘Is it the best course of action for Virginia?'”
Although Frederick and Parrish cast opposite votes on Warner’s 2004 tax package, the younger delegate said Parrish set an example of how “you can disagree without being disagreeable.”
The two agreed on the basic principle that the budget was in bad shape and needed to be fixed. Their approach to legislation continued to be different though.
Frederick said younger legislators want to move quickly and “get things done” sooner. Parrish, however, was more deliberative.
“His time in public service taught him that,” Frederick said.
Legacy
Parrish was last elected in November 2005 and served only a few months of his term. On Nov. 7, 2006. residents of the 50th District elected Republican Jackson Miller, a city councilman who had worked on Parrish’s last three campaigns, as their new delegate. Miller said repeatedly on the campaign trail that no one could fill Parrish’s shoes and that he would stake out his own path.
“Him having been my delegate for the last six years, he was definitely a good person to learn from and observe before going down to Richmond,” Miller said, adding that what impressed him the most about Parrish was his humility.
“He was … one of the most powerful men in the Commonwealth of Virginia and was just so down to earth,” Miller said.
Manassas Mayor Douglas Waldron said his father moved the family from Falls Church to Manassas in 1962 “because of the good government led by Mayor Parrish.”
Waldron said Parrish left a model to elected officials of being “efficient and responsive and balanced, while at the same time holding fast to your core beliefs of limited government and personal responsibility.”
As for the legacy of Parrish, Colgan said, “Look around you.”
In Manassas, the airport, reservoir, hospital and city hall would not be there without Parrish, he noted.
“He proved a quiet man could be very effective,” Colgan said. “He wasn’t any flaming liberal or right-wing conservative; he was a common sense guy.”
January 13, 2007 at 11:47 am
A none election year in Manassas City politics, might be a good time
to calmly discuss the role of the GOP in municipal
government. Every elected official in the city – including the
constitutional officers is a Republican – save for one councilmember.
(Randolph (I) is THE ” loyal opposition”- period). Democrats
have had a reasonable showing in state and national elections, but
haven’t put up anyone for council in over twenty years. What gives?
The GOP mass meeting often seems controlled by the far right while
Manassas is a moderately conservative community. Thoughts?
January 13, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Oh, those scary “far right” people! Steve Smith, Hal Parrish, Judy Hays, & Bob Oliver (and Andy) have all won at Republican Mass Meetings and Conventions in the past decade. I had no idea they were “far right”; I can’t wait to tell them.
In truth, Big Dog, you and others don’t like conservatives being nominated or elected to anything. Unfortunately for you, we live in a democracy, and sometimes it happens.
January 13, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Actually, what I don’t like is a lack of competition in local government –
not just of party labels, but of ideas. (In the past I’ve voted
R, D, and sometimes I – and very often, for conservatives.)
I would also question any community that allowed itself to be run by
Democrats with mass meetings tilted towards liberals.
January 16, 2007 at 1:16 pm
“I would also question any community that allowed itself to be run by
Democrats with mass meetings tilted towards liberals. ”
Too bad the Democrates in Manassas don’t have Mass Meetings. They have closed caucus’ of their committee.
And as to Big Dogs assertion that the Meetings and now Conventions are controlled by the “far right”, I challenge you to prove your assertion. The Manassas GOP is a consensus committee, that includes Conservatives and Moderates. On the make-up of council, I would have to say it is an accurate reflection of the electorate, with both moderates and conservatives serving.
Lastly, don’t take issue with the fact that all but one elected position is filled by a Republican. The Manassas GOP has no control over the fact that the Manassas Dem. Committee can’t seem to find anyone except for Charlie Sturms to run for anything. As to the community “question”, the voters elect who they want to represent and govern them.
January 16, 2007 at 1:19 pm
“However, having more knuckle-draggers like Jackson Miller (demonstrably a man devoid of any exceptional qualities, experience or accomplishment) in positions of public responsibility is not the answer.”
Too bad you only get one vote, TH. The people spoke. They elected Jackson Miller. They seemed to find his character and experience exceptional.
January 17, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Too bad they decided on a man for the job…I guess someone thought that WO in front can make a big impact that they were scared of at this time…TIME TO MOVE AHEAD! Andy…I JUST MIGHT ASK FOR YOU HELP.