Who is Rosemary Wilson?

2009 Elections, Hampton Roads, Local, Politics, Virginia 3 Minutes

I guess I haven’t paid nearly as much attention to the Virginia Beach City Council as I probably should have. A quick search on my blog reveals very little about the second candidate for the Republican nomination for Senate in the 8th district, Virginia Beach councilwoman Rosemary Wilson. Not a problem, really, as Wilson and I had an opportunity to talk Tuesday morning.

Rosemary WilsonI believe the first time I met Wilson was at a fundraising breakfast for a local children’s arts organization a few years ago. From that day forward, whenever we run into each other, it’s like we’re old friends. If I could describe Wilson in one word it would have to be genuine. Despite our rather obvious differences in political philosophy, Wilson comes across as a personable public servant who seeks solutions to problems.

A quick look at her bio and  a couple of things immediately jumped out at me. First, she’s a fellow alumna of Old Dominion University. And until I looked, I had forgotten that a couple of her colleagues at Prudential Towne Realty are clients of mine.

Wilson is a lifelong resident of Virginia Beach. She was a school teacher and served four years on the School Board prior to being elected to City Council, as an at-large member, in 2000.

Wilson and I spoke at length about her experience with legislators. As a member of the School Board, she served on the legislative committee. When she was elected to council, there was no such committee on that body. At her suggestion, a legislative liaison committee was formed and she has been a member since its inception, which was around 2001. In that position, she works closely with legislators of both parties to help further the agenda of the City, which included trips to Richmond during the General Assembly session.

In addition, Wilson was just elected Vice Chair of the Virginia Municipal League, “a statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan association of city, town and county governments established in 1905 to improve and assist local governments through legislative advocacy, research, education and other services.”

Obviously, the budget deficit that Virginia is facing will have to be dealt with by the next session of the legislature. Wilson reminded me that when first elected to the School Board, it was facing a $12 million deficit, a situation that was the subject of a grand jury investigation and resulted in the resignation (in lieu of being indicted) of several members . (Every article I located on the topic was behind a firewall, so no links are available.) Restoration of fiscal discipline was required and Wilson, along with the other members, made some tough decisions to do so. More recently, the City of Virginia Beach has experienced its own share of budget deficits. “No one lost their jobs,” Wilson told me. The City has a Triple-A bond rating, and the council managed to move the money around “so that it hurt the people and the services the least,” she said.

Wilson said that it will be very important to protect education and public safety “as much as possible” when the General Assembly tackles the budget shortfall. She couldn’t come up with specific programs or projects that she would cut but she said that “we are going to have to stay within our means” and pledged to do so.

Following the lead of Governor-elect Bob McDonnell, Wilson supports bipartisan redistricting.

If I’m elected.. I will be representing all 100,000 people in the 8th, not just the ones with an R next to their names. So I think it’s important that we all work together and support Bob McDonnell’s efforts.

And I hope that McDonnell keeps his word.

If there is an issue that separates Wilson from her opponent, Jeff McWaters, it would be where they stand on health care. Wilson is quite clear in her belief, although I disagree, that the healthcare plan before Congress would be bad for small businesses.

When asked for one thing that she wanted to try to accomplish over the next two years should she be elected, Wilson gave me two: the economy and transportation. She emphasized how important it is to get companies back to hiring and getting people back to work, along with fixing transportation. “I think those are the two most critical things that we have to keep our eye on,” Wilson said.

Wilson has been endorsed by nearly every elected official in Virginia Beach. Listening to her interview with JR Hoeft, she invoked one of my favorite political phrases: all politics is local. Her longtime public service at the local level is a testament to that.

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17 thoughts on “Who is Rosemary Wilson?”

  1. “Nearly every elected official in Virginia Beach” I think you may have forgotten a few current or former elected officials in Virginia Beach since: Ken Stolle, Will Sessoms, Frank Wagner, Chris Stolle, Bill DeSteph, John Cosgrove, Bob Purkey, Paul Lanteigne, and Thelma Drake have all endorsed McWaters.

  3. I read this blog a lot but never post. For what it’s worth, and I’ll preface this by saying that I like Mrs. Wilson, Rosemary is not quite politically who she is pretending to be. I was extremely good friends with her daughter in the late 1990’s after her daughter was recruited by the debate coach at Kempsville High School to transfer schools. Rosemary at the time was not only a Democrat, but also a very liberal one. She attended multiple Don Beyer fundraisers in 1997, and was very supportive of President Clinton. She wasn’t just a Democrat, she was a liberal. She also harbored political ambitions beyond just being on the school board at the time. At one point the local Democratic Committee under Bill Bischoff wanted to recruit her to run for office as a Democrat, but she just didn’t think she could win as one (though she was nothing but sympathetic toward their views). I see her now and I can’t help but wonder whether she was genuinely traded in all of her political views for the sake of getting elected (which begs the question of whether she holds any core beliefs), or whether she is just pretending to be a conservative. I honestly don’t know the answer, but this sort of behavior is likely typical of most politicians.

    1. 123 – it’s hard to take what you say seriously primarily because you are hiding behind a pseudonym. I will say, though, that I’ve seen people bow to political realities. Here in Norfolk, we’ve got at least three elected Democrats who were formerly Republicans, because Republicans have a hard time getting elected in Norfolk.

  5. I don’t take 123 seriously either. What matters is that Rosemary Wilson has the best grasp on the issues and is willing to reach out beyond the elite to the little people. Wilson has articulated her views to the people and her dedication to her conservative principles is apparent in her endorsements by VA Beach republican leaders and GA members. I am a moderate, though I usually vote Democratic, and do not agree on everything Wilson believes but I think she speaks her mind and will be a strong, effective legislator on bread and butter issues such as funding for education, etc.

  6. I tried to post this, but it may not have been posted. As I said, if anything written earlier was incorrect, I do offer my apologies. I had a strong impression left on me from meeting her (and other local leaders) and from people more familiar with her in local political circles than I. My perception from what I learned may be incorrect, just as we all may incorrectly perceive any politician. Obviously, we should take her at her word, and I am not above admitting I was incorrect.

    1. 123 – for whatever reason (and honestly, I don’t know what happened) two of your earlier attempts to post ended up in my spam filter. Thanks for coming back to post again.

      Wait – it just dawned on me how something could have ended up there: only if you have previously been banned. Have you?

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