There’s just one contested local election in King George County this fall.
Bryan Metts, an engineer with Naval Sea Systems Command, and Shawn Palivoda, a realtor and current member of the county’s planning commission, are vying to replace outgoing James Monroe District Supervisor T.C. Collins.
Metts said during the Free Press candidates’ forum on Wednesday evening that the position is attractive because of the impact local government can have on communities.
“Local politics is really the most connected politics to our everyday lives,” Metts said. “It’s what drives the community that we live in. It sets that culture of what our neighbors and us hang out and do on the weekends. It really sets what we enjoy about King George.”
County officials and residents alike have sought to preserve a rural way of life. The current board of supervisors adopted a vision statement declaring their intentions to keep the county rural.
Still, some officials are wondering how to balance that intention with economic growth that will keep the county’s tax rate low.
“We like what we have here, and it is rural,” Palivoda said. “There does have to be some growth. The growth that we want to see does have good jobs. That speaks to affordable housing. We want jobs that can afford to have a house in this county.”
Metts and Palivoda both said they do not support “downzoning,” or an increase in the minimum lot sizes required to build on land zoned agricultural, a method the supervisors sought to keep the county rural.
They both spoke extensively on data centers, saying they support the supervisors’ vote to approve the Dahlgren West data center project, which includes a $5-6 million water tower, underground infrastructure and a community trail. While the county is embroiled in litigation with Amazon Web Services over vested rights to construct a data center, the supervisors voted unanimously to approve Dahlgren West.
“The importance of businesses is that they’re strategically aligned with what we have in that Comprehensive Plan,” Metts said. “That data center that was approved, the reason it’s coming to King George is because it sits on high-voltage infrastructure, which addresses some of the issues other counties have had with not having the lines and having to acquire the right-of-way to do those high-voltage lines.”
Palivoda said his philosophy on data centers while serving on the planning commission has been that he doesn’t want to see them, hear them or smell them. He noted that Dahlgren West is not using any water from aquifers in the county because it will be air-cooled.
“Even the water that is going to circulate through, that is not coming from King George County,” Palivoda said … “We got almost no opposition from county residents on that one, and I think we got that one right. The amount of money projected to come from that is $120 million per year [at full build-out]. Our entire budget is only $132 million.”
Palivoda noted that he was endorsed by four of the five members of the board of supervisors — Collins, William Davis, David Sullins and Ken Stroud — all of whom are politically conservative. He said, however, that if elected, he will represent everyone, even those he disagrees with politically.
“I have an open mind, and I hope to continue that,” he said.
Metts said he is open to working with those he disagrees with, as well. He said one of the guiding principles of his campaign is to treat everyone with respect.
“On a non-partisan board we represent everybody,” Metts said. “It doesn’t matter where you came from, what party you’re affiliated with, where you go to church, it’s a voice. Now we balance that and we’re always going to look at the majority and what’s right and what’s legally allowable … That’s how I plan on [governing] if I get on the board of supervisors.”
Early voting is underway and goes until Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 4.
