A combined civic league in Virginia Beach hosted a debate this evening between Delegate Joe Bouchard (D) of the 3rd District, and challenger Dr. Chris Stolle (R).  This is the second election where Bouchard and Stolle have campaigned against each other. Bouchard won the 2007 election against Stolle for his current seat with 50.6% of the vote.

Transportation

Dr. Stolle is seeking to have a portion of revenues taken from the ports used to increase funding for transportation in Hampton Roads, arguing that the roads should be seen as part of the port system due to their importance to the life and function of the ports. Stolle admits that the revenue taken from ports would not meet our transportation needs, and he proposes public-private partnerships along with tolls to meet funding requirements to improve transportation.

Delegate Bouchard sees transportation issues as not being solely about funding, but also of management. He stresses the need to decrease the number of vehicles on the roads through shared and public transportation. He also argues that Hampton Roads received proportionately less funding for transportation than Northern Virginia and this is due to Hampton Roads not sending a clear message to Richmond about the transportation needs of the area. He is seeking to increase funding by working to find regional solutions to transportation, which would include better management of public transportation.

Health Care

Beyond making the point that there is only one medical doctor currently serving in the House of Delegates, Dr. Stolle would seek additional medical services and centers for senior citizens with chronic illness. He doesn’t believe in a “one size fits all” government program, and would like to see every state come up with creative solutions to health care, allowing other states to adopt best practices as they see fit.

Delegate Bouchard acknowledged that the focus on health care in the debate was due the the press coverage of the national health care debate. Bouchard said that he worried that the cost for national health care reform were out of control, and said that he was as frustrated as anyone else over the health care debate. Bouchard said that he’s always sought to cut waste create efficiency. He doesn’t believe that big government is the solution to health care, or any issue. While serving in the House of the Delegates, bills were passed to make health care more transparent and efficient, cutting costs.

Pay Day Lending

Both Delegate Bouchard opposes pay day lending, calling the practice immoral. He supports an absolute cap of 36% on interest rates, including fees, on pay day loans. Dr. Stolle agrees with this cap.

Encroachment Issues with Oceana

Dr. Stolle, in regard to high rise buildings interfering with a strategic radar on Oceana, indicated his skepticism of the seriousness of the issue, but said additional study and information would be needed before any major decisions would need to be made about the future of the oceanfront or the placement of the radar.

Delegate Bouchard reminded everyone of how close the region was to losing Oceana and the 11,000 jobs associated with the base being in Virginia Beach and the hundreds of millions of dollars that would be lost if the base left the area. Bouchard stressed that the threat of losing the base to Florida was very real, and that the quickest way of handing the base to Florida would be to ignore the Department of Defense when they warn of encroachment.

Offshore Drilling

Delegate Bouchard believe that the United States needs to work hard to decrease its dependence on foreign oil and gas, and understands that offshore drilling is one way to do that. However, we believes that the offshore drilling zone off the coast of Virginia is not a viable location for drilling. He stressed that the Department of the Navy and NASA has both said that there are areas within that zone that should not be encroached upon, and that whatever economic benefit may come from drilling would not amount for the major economic loss of losing just one aircraft carrier due to encroachment on naval training waters.

Dr. Stolle carried the party line of an energy strategy that would include oil, gas, and green energy and argued that the Navy hasn’t totally closed the door to offshore drilling in the entire drilling zone off the Virginia coastline, only part of it. He took the opportunity to frame Delegate Bouchard’s opposition to drilling as his being in the pocket of organizations like the League of Conservation Voters, which has endorsed Bouchard. Stolle argued that the discovery of and drilling for oil and gas would provide jobs to the commonwealth, and cited offshore drilling as a component of his jobs plan.

My Thoughts

Dr. Stolle is a formidable challenger for Delegate Bouchard. While Bouchard may be more progressive when it comes to public transportation and alternative energy, the line between Bouchard and Stolle’s positions on issues seems very thin. The only area where their differences caused the debate to heat up a bit was on offshore drilling. On this issue, Stolle prefers to accept the status quo while not actively seeking to move Virginia forward to a clean energy economy, while Delegate Bouchard is seeking to ensure Virginia doesn’t fall into the trap of relying on oil and gas for economic gain and stalling out on developing alternative energy.

I work, and have family who live in the 83rd district, and I believe that Delegate Bouchard is more than worthy of another two years in office. I see no compelling reason, other than partisanship, why the people of the 83rd should replace Bouchard with Stolle.

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