GOP Watch

Devolites Davis MIA on Transportation

Posted by Greg on Tuesday, July 31

Since Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis has been spending so much on campaign mailings touting her “clout” on transportation, we thought it would be worth looking into how invested she really is in fixing Northern Virginia’s transportation woes.

Her attendance record for the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) seemed like a good place to start. Devolites Davis was appointed to the NVTC in July 2004, and first began attending meetings in October 2004. She has served on the NVTA since June 2006.

According to NVTC meeting minutes as of June 2007, she has managed to attend a grand total of eight meetings and missed 22, racking up a dismal 26% attendance record – the worst of any commissioner except her fellow Republican, Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (who hasn’t attended any at all since April 2005).

Devolites Davis’ longest streak was ten absences in row from June 2005 to May 2006, during which time the 2006 regular session of the General Assembly adjourned mired in gridlock over transportation funding.

She’s fared slightly better in her time on the NVTA, attending fully half of the meetings as of May 2007. That’s the third worst attendance record on the Authority.

Minutes of all meetings can be viewed at thinkoutsidethecar.org (NVTC) and thenovaauthority.org (NVTA), or you can view a tabulation of Devolites Davis’ attendance here (PDF file).

Given her lack of interest, it’s no surprise that Devolites Davis appeared unaware of any local elected officials supporting this year’s transportation bill prior to Gov. Tim Kaine’s amendments, saying, “I have not had discussions with the particular people” when asked directly by Sen. Janet Howell which local officials were supportive of the original plan:

Had she attended that month’s joint meeting of the NVTA and NVTC, she would have been able to talk with representatives from Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Loudoun, and Prince William, all of whom were in attendance that evening. NVTA minutes, 2/1/07; NVTC minutes, 2/1/07

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