Thread by @HMAesq

Last night, the 4 Dem candidates for VA's #HD87 met (for the first time!) in Leesburg for a very intensive forum. We got into the weeds about issues affecting our district and beyond.

After introductions, we got down into the weeds about issues affecting our district and beyond: mass incarceration, teacher's pay, workers' rights to collective bargaining, development and its environmental impact, governance, and of course - traffic.

My work as a lawyer serving the people of #HD87 for the past 12 yrs impacts the way I see solutions to these problems.

On mass incarceration, I see heavy disparity in arrests, overcriminalization, and lack of paths of redemption as I've run up against these walls in my practice.

On teacher's pay: the teachers in the district tell me about the financial hurdles they face. They've told me about their need to pick up additional hours or additional jobs - or additional time on their commutes - just to be able to *educate our children.*

The proper investment in our children requires investment in our teachers. Gov. Northam's 5% raise must be defended and expanded: the alternative is losing teachers, and that's a lot more expensive.

On collective bargaining and unionization: Without the ability to organize and collectively bargain, there's no reigning in the unscrupulous employers who undercut to make a buck, and leave the rest of us stiffed with the bill.

On development: Developers must participate in a growth strategy. That has to be enforced: the #Loudoun2040 plan needs teeth. #HD87 is a frontier of development in NoVA: by some estimates, we're the fastest growing county in Virginia.

Choices of where townhomes and strip malls go up affect traffic patterns, water, sewage, land stability, and yes: the carbon footprint. Yet once the buildings go up, the developers are gone, free of any obligation, and leaving us with the bill.

Wouldn't it be better to participate in a smart growth strategy for Loudoun County that preserves the green and earns the green, too? If we stop polarizing ourselves as adversaries, we really can make this happen. Loudoun can be the leader. With the right leadership, *we will.*

On governance: Law is local, said a mentor of mine early in my career, and that means it's the local (year-round) supervisors who are the best arbiters of the needs of their communities. They must have the latitude to do that.

(And to be honest, the Dillon rule which only grants those powered specifically authorized by the state legislature, is falling out of favor and has been limited even in the few states that still technically follow it.)

On traffic: There's no one solution, but if we can tackle affordable housing, incentivize developers to invest in same, stop the cycle of people working harder, for more hours, without gaining a sense of community, smart(er) growth - then yes, we can change the system!

My wife @rabiahmahmed and two elder children showed up, too. Of course, the kids had to go up on the dais after the proceedings were over, and Loudoun BoS chair Phyllis Randall gave my daughter the gavel. Maybe it's the start of something for her! (Phyllis-they loved it-thanks!)

One thing's for sure after last night's forum: it's not enough to be "Team Democrat." The time to "resist" has passed - it's time to build.