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Our Viewpoint-Albo Versus Werkheiser: Replaying the 2005 Election for the 42nd District

The South County Chronicle, Oct. 2009

Republican Del. David Albo secured a narrow victory over Greg Werkheiser for the 42nd District in the House of Delegates in 2005. Albo’s signature accomplishment since the 2005 election was the Abusive Driver Fees legislation that he authored in 2007.

The abusive driver legislation is the perfect illustration of the illogical and damaging results that come from approaching a serious government problem—extreme gridlock—from a strictly ideological ultraconservative partisan position.

Albo clearly recognized that new funding was needed for transportation; however, he was and is incapable of taking the rational, intellectually honest, and sensible step of agreeing to a thoughtful, carefully constructed, limited tax increase that would provide adequate transportation funding at a minor cost to his constituents. Instead, he resorted to a truly offensive alternative—Abusive Driver Fees—so he could claim that he had provided road funding while not raising taxes.

As readers may remember, the Abusive Driver Fees increased the penalties for serious driving convictions and demerit points in some cases up to $3,000. The implication was that these fees would only hit bad people, not good people who always drive safely. The reality is that many good, law-abiding citizens make driving mistakes and shouldn’t be subject to extreme penalties. In selling the legislation, Albo and supporters tried to claim that it was designed to increase safety, when clearly the motivation was simply to generate revenue.

The worst part of the legislation was that the punishments simply didn’t fit the offenses. The icing on the cake for opponents and the kiss of death for the legislation, which was repealed in 2008, was that it only applied to Virginia residents and not out-of-state violators. Subsequently, it was learned that the revenue projections were way overstated and that in the few other states that had tried similar legislation, the negative unintended consequences, such as individuals driving without insurance on suspended licenses, rose dramatically.

We viewed this legislation as a direct conflict of interest, as Albo stood to benefit personally and directly from the plan. Albo’s legal practice specializes in defending drunk drivers. The Abusive Driver Fees would certainly have driven offenders to an attorney rather than trying to defend themselves in court alone.

Albo is currently running television ads claiming that he has protected his constituents from “downstate politicians who wanted to raise your taxes and give you nothing in return.” We really wonder who these secret downstate “taxers” are.

The downstate leader of the House of Delegates is Republican Speaker William Howell, but since he has blocked any tax increases for transportation or any other valid purpose, including education, he probably doesn’t qualify as a taxer. Besides, Albo has voted 97 percent of the time with Howell. As the election season proceeds, we suggest that voters ask Albo for the names of these mysterious taxers from whom he is protecting us. We would really love to know their names.

Albo, who is married and has a young son, is an extremely charming individual who works very hard at constituent services. Sadly, that does not make up for his 16-year failure to deliver on the essential issue that damages our economy and daily disrupts the quality of our lives. He continues to deliver smoke and mirrors instead of a real solution to the transportation problem. And we have no expectation that he will do anything different in the future.

Abraham Lincoln could have been referring to Albo when he said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” Albo has been fooling constituents for 16 years, and we hope his time for fooling people is finally running out.

His challenger once again is Greg Werkheiser a graduate of William and Mary and the University of Virginia Law School. Werkheiser worked for Gov. Mark Warner and was in a successful private law practice until 2006, when he left to found the nonprofit Phoenix Project.

The Phoenix Project is a very interesting and successful social entrepreneurship organization that focuses on antipoverty issues. It has worked to develop strategies to help other nonprofits and local governments survive the economic crisis. Phoenix is based in Fairfax County and has served the local community of the 42nd, especially along the Rte. 1 corridor in Lorton and in other areas of the state.

Greg Werkheiser’s experience as a nonprofit executive make him well qualified to understand the challenges facing both small business owners and the government. He has also built important relationships in communities around the state. These relationships will help him as consensus-builder in the struggle to resolve Virginia’s controversial funding formulas. Werkheiser would bring a thoughtful and creative approach to the transportation challenge along with the other issues facing Virginians. Werkheiser is married. His wife Marion, a Harvard Law School graduate, also works for the Phoenix Project and they are expecting their first child in February.

If you can live with Northern Virginia’s worsening gridlock and are opposed to any tax increase for any reason, vote for David Albo. However, if you want change and would like to see a new approach to the transportation problem, vote for Greg Werkheiser.