Important: We are sponsoring a phone bank on a flexible schedule for PWFT endorsed school board candidates. Call 571-330-8623 or 571-238-6798 to volunteer.
Reclaiming the Promise by Showing Up by PWFT President Bill Hosp
Last month I ended the message about participating in state and local elections with a quote of the popular saying, “Ninety percent of winning is just showing up.”
This month one of the conservative bloggers who comments on local politics reacted to one of my statements to the Board of County Supervisors by asking if anyone had ever seen another member of PWFT. Sadly, he has a point. The last time I can recall seeing another member of our local at a school board meeting was during the last budget cycle. The last time I can recall seeing one of our members at a meeting of the Board of County Supervisors was February of 2014. Kathy Russell has represented us on the Calendar Committee, along with Shana Robinson, and for the last two years at Meet and Confer.
While we are flattered that you trust Kathy and me to represent you at important meetings there is one important problem that comes with that practice. We are both 65 years old and this can’t go on indefinitely. Now is the time for younger members to step up and participate.
We are fortunate that First Vice President Justin Wilk has stepped up to run for the School Board and manage our website and Facebook page. Now the question is who else will step forward? The next county board meeting is October 6th and the next school board meeting is October 7th. We have Olive Garden gift certificates for the first member to help me represent us at these meetings. To claim your incentive and get details about the meeting you wish to attend please e-mail me at whospjr@yahoo.com or call me at 571-330-8623.
Legislative Endorsements
This month we will be sharing the names of the candidates for state legislative offices endorsed and recommended by PWFT and the Virginia AFL-CIO. Any exception will be noted below. If your district includes precincts in Prince William County and isn’t listed here we made no endorsement. If you commute from another city or county please e-mail whospjr@yahoo.com or kathysinfo.russell@gmail.com and we can help you.
For the state Senate our endorsed candidates are: Jill McCabe-13th district, Jeremy McPike-29th and Scott Surovell-36th. PWFT has endorsed George Barker in the 39th district. In the contests for the House of Delegates we recommend: Josh King, 2nd district, Don Shaw-13th, Sara Townsend-31st, Jerrold Foltz-40th, Kyle McCullough-50th, Luke Torian-52nd and John Bell-87th. Please join us in supporting these friends of public education and working families.
Member of the Month
Congratulations to Jane Haga, our member of the month for October. Jane is a longtime member of Prince William Federation of Teachers and she attends almost all of our events. Jane is the Attendance Officer for Student Services at Hylton High School and does a great job keeping track of students. We are very proud of what she does for PWFT and PWCS.
(You can become a member of the month in November by volunteering for our phone bank for PWFT endorsed school board candidates!)