Ask the Candidates: Virginia's 10th Congressional District

Patch is collecting reader questions to be answered by candidates in Virginia's 10th Congressional District.

Are you concerned about transportation funding? Sequestration or federal government cutbacks? The environment? Traffic in Northern Virginia? The cost of health care? Now is your chance to step up to the podium and get your questions answered. As we approach November's election, we will be asking candidates for U.S. Congress in Virginia's 10th District — incumbent Frank Wolf, Democrat Kristin Cabral and Independent Kevin Chisholm — to answer a Patch candidates' survey. The survey will be driven by questions from you. You can submit your questions in the comments section below this article, or email them to nicole.trifone@patch.com. The deadline to submit a question is 11:59 p.m. Oct. 14. We'll review all the submissions, pass questions …

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Fairfax Board Seeks Changes to Wolf's MWAA Bill

Frank Wolf (R-10th)'s legislation would give Virginia more appointees on the MWAA Board of Directors, but supervisors want a hand in the appointment process.

As U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) prepares a bill that would change the makeup of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Board of Directors, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are asking him to include language that would give Northern Virginia more influence in appointing members. The MWAA Board — which has been sharply criticized by Virginia officials in Fairfax and elsewhere for its handling of the Dulles Metrorail project, including a squabble over a labor agreement for Phase 2 of the line that will run from Reston to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County — currently includes three presidential appointees, five appointees from Virginia, three from D.C. and three from Maryland. Wolf’s proposed legislation …

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Speak Out: Should McDonnell Continue Pursuit for Martire's MWAA Removal?

As Virginia GOP pushes for control of panel, resistance continues with court ruling against governor

As legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) works its way through Congress to rework the membership of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Virginia leaders and the existing board remain tied up in court over the current membership. A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge ruled against Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) on Monday, leaving one seat on the MWAA board vacant as the parties resolve the dispute. McDonnell attempted to remove Dennis Martire — a Democratic appointee who has come under fire for a $9,000 plane ticket to Prague for a transportation conference that MWAA authorized — and replace him with Caren Merrick, a Republican who lost her run for delegate in the 31st District last fall. At issue is whether McDonnell had …

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Mark Carolla

9:55 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012

@ Dave Webster - Thanks. Apologies for attributing the Post comment to you. It is my opinion and that the Post's (and other media) transportation reporting is sometimes lacking in an understanding and presentation of real issues. I'd be interested to see the entire report Mr. Martire wrote because the use of smartphones in ticketing, passenger boarding facilitation, rebooking in case of delays …   more ›

GOP Targets MWAA as Campaign Issue

Republicans elected to represent Loudoun’s at various levels blame authority’s ails on Kaine.

A group of Republicans who represent Loudoun residents at the local, state and federal level gathered in front of the old Loudoun Courthouse to decry the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, call for changes and attempt to pin the authority’s woes on Democrat, U.S. Senate candidate and former governor Tim Kaine. U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10), who previously pushed legislation through to expand Virginia’s representation on the MWAA’s board of directors, has now introduced legislation to completely re-work that board, heavily weighting it toward Virginia. “Both airports, the Dulles Toll Road and the Silver Line extension are all in Virginia,” Wolf said. “Would anyone think that Virginia should have majority control over the operations …

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Congressmen Call on FCC to Prevent Future 911 Failures

Moran, Connolly, Wolf want the FCC to reconsider a regulation concerning backup power that the commission proposed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Northern Virginia's three congressmen called on the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday to take action that will prevent future outages to the region's 911 systems. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and Frank Wolf asked that the commission dust off a post-Hurricane Katrina regulation that would have required all telecommunications companies to provide at least eight hours of backup power for all cell phone towers. The regulation was subsequently struck down on a technicality related to how the commission handled public comments, according to a news release. “In the event of an emergency situation, whether it be a natural disaster or man-made threat, the public needs confidence …

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Wolf Re-states Support for Silver Line

Congressman had pressed for oversight of MWAA, praised panel’s PLA decision.

As political and business leaders from across the region are lending their comments to a decision by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to abandon a preference for a project labor agreement, U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf today restated his support for the project, not only to Dulles International Airport, but beyond to Loudoun County. MWAA has been tasked with constructing the project, which would extend the now-under-construction phase one of Metro’s Silver Line to Ashburn. Opponents of Loudoun participation in the project have been wearing Wolf campaign T-shirts at public outreach meetings in Loudoun, potentially causing some confusion about where Wolf stands. The congressman made clear that the project must remain affordable. He sent…

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Bob Bruhns

10:54 am on Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Dulles Airport and Loudoun County part of Dulles Rail Phase II is in Frank Wolf's district (the 10th). But the portion of Dulles Rail Phase II west of the Wiehle Avenue station and east of Dulles Airport is in Gerry Connolly's district (the 11th).   more ›

Connolly and Wolf Support LaHood's Cost-Cutting Proposals for Silver Line

Congressmen say counties should share the sacrifice to make Phase 2 happen.

Congressmen Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA)   wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood on Thursday, supporting cost-cutting measures proposed by the Federal Transit Administration for Phase 2 of the Rail to Dulles project.  The congressmen also urged all project partners to embrace those proposals. “The FTA proposal would require Fairfax County, Loudoun County, WMATA, and MWAA to share in the sacrifices to make this project more cost-effective,” Wolf and Connolly said in their letter.  “In a perfect world, these measures would not be necessary.  But in today’s fiscal environment, they are.” Connolly and Wolf, both long-time proponents of a rail link from the Nation’s Capital to Washington Dulles International Airport, …

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Metro 2013

MWAA Board Member Shrugs Off Ethics Complaints

Dennis Martire says he did not violate code.

When Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board member Dennis Martire has on his work hat, he is aggressively advocating for project labor agreements that often result in contractors hiring employees who are represented by unions. As vice president of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), Martire has posted numerous articles on his employer’s website praising anyone who uses project labor agreements, such as the Community College of Allegheny County for its K.Leroy Irvis Science Center project. But  some believe Martire may have crossed an ethical line on April 6 when MWAA passed a resolution that supports the pro-union labor agreement for the second phase of extending Metrorail to Dulles International …

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Bob Bruhns

7:45 pm on Friday, June 17, 2011

Dulles Rail Phase I was bad enough - but Dulles Rail Phase II is a pure, unadulterated ripoff. There has been no inflation that could push the cost of Phase II of Dulles Rail from $2.5 billion to $3.5 to $3.8 billion in three years. And then add $2.5 billion for the unfunded access infrastructure for Phase I and Phase II, and we're talking some real money down the drain. The above ground / below …   more ›