Q&A • 10th District Republican Congressional Nomination
By Rappahannock News staff
Here are Q&As with Republicans seeking office in Virginia’s recently redrawn 10th Congressional District, which now includes Rappahannock County. Included are: real estate investment manager Brandon Michon, Manassas City Councilwoman Theresa Ellis, national security analyst Dr. Brooke Taylor; and Oracle Corporation Executive Mike Clancy.
Q&As with other candidates are planned for publication next week. We have also requested an interview with 10th District incumbent Jennifer Wexton (D). Interviews were edited and condensed for both length and clarity.
Q: How should Congress support agritourism in small communities like Rappahannock?
Michon:
• Support all industries by helping encourage growth within their sector.
• Ensure we are looking at all parts of the supply chain and how they're impacted.
• Support small businesses, which are more susceptible to inflation. Ellis:
• Limit regulations on small businesses
• Support local communities in areas like infrastructure, if that’s what the localities want Clancy:
• Not enough agricultural work visas and the bureaucratic process of trying to get one and get work is a cumbersome bureaucratic morass.
• Expand agricultural visas and streamline the process
Taylor:
• Congress should preserve rural communities like Rappahannock and keep its “sacredness intact.”
Q: How can Congress help bring cell phone coverage to rural areas without cell towers to protect rural viewsheds?
Michon:
• Doesn't know enough about the issue.
• If cell towers aren’t wanted, it's going to be harder to have cellular unless tech adapts to where you don't need them.
Ellis:
• “Smart growth” includes cell towers
• If towers have to be put into place so it will not disturb the landscape, the federal government needs to help with that infrastructure.
Clancy:
• People don't want to lose their rural character. They don't want the cell towers and that's one I probably have to do a little more research on.
Taylor:
• I think it becomes a situation to say, how do we do this most with the most wisdom and discretion for service for the community’s landscape?
Q: Is there any way the federal government can incentivise service workers to relocate to rural areas like Rappahannock?
Michon:
• It’s not Congress's job to incentivize workers to go to places. It’s the business’.
• Grow an economy that has the ability to incentivize workers to work for those businesses and promote incentives like wages, work-life balance.
Ellis:
• Make affordable housing more accessible.
• Businesses have to give people an incentive to stay by offering more opportunities
Clancy:
• The way to help localities is with federal grant programs where localities can apply for grants to help support first responding EMT, paramedics, firefighters and law enforcement.
Taylor:
• People became reliant on government assistance during the height of the pandemic.
• People should be energized to view work as a gift rather than as a handout.
Q: What role, if any, should Congress play in supporting small family farms?
Michon:
• Support all different forms of the economy, not just the largest producers within sectors. Make sure if you're passing laws that are applicable for everybody.
Ellis:
• Federal subsidies should be considered when assisting family farms in need.
• Supports breaks in property taxes for agriculturally used land.
Clancy:
• Simplify federal aid programs, like COVID-19 stimulus, so that it's easier for the family owned farmer to leverage them.
Taylor:
• Help expand rural broadband to support those families.
• Make decisions on how to assist families using data and statistics.
Q: How would you address a lack of housing and affordable housing stock in Rappahannock and other similarly situated rural communities?
Michon:
• If there's a supply/demand imbalance, efficient markets will fill the void.
Ellis:
• Housing is market driven and should be mainly up to the locality.
Clancy:
• Private public partnerships with the private entity running everything and the public governmental entity giving grant money.
Taylor:
• Decisions should be left up to the locality.
Q: Does solar energy have a place in Rappahannock County?
Michon:
• If localities would like to have solar, that's their decision.
• It isn't the national government's job to say that you're allowed to put it on your house.
Ellis:
• We have to make sure we have a mixed use of renewable energy options.
• Localities should be making that decision.
Clancy:
• The question is whether the local community would support that.
Taylor:
• Traditional fossil fuels are of value to Virginia.
• Solar panels can be placed strategically throughout the country at large without creating large solar farms.
Q: How much environmental regulation is necessary to protect Rappahannock’s streams and waterways, many of which empty into the Chesapeake Bay?
Michon:
• Protect our environment in a smart way.
• Not regulating where the industries are not able to operate in a cost effective way.
• When you over regulate, cost burden flows down to companies, impacting hiring, profitability and wages.
Ellis:
• We have to use best practices to make sure our water is kept clean.
• Make sure people are aware of how they can prevent water from becoming polluted.
Clancy:
• Current regulations are appropriate, but I haven't done a recent deep dive into it to say whether there should be any additional ones.
Taylor:
• Environmental regulation is always necessary to keep waterways clean.
Q: How will you balance the rural interests of Rappahannock and Fauquier voters against the suburban interests of Prince William and Loudoun counties?
Michon:
• You need to be a voice of the people, not a voice of one group or the other.
Ellis:
• It's listening to the community … it's good to have the localities manage on their own, but if they need resources that are specific to their needs, they need to be able to have an open channel of communication to their member of Congress.
Clancy:
• It's really important that a member of Congress stay very in touch with that local rural community.
Taylor:
• By being present and available through town halls and through being in a district to listen, I don't plan to just go sit and disappear.