Kathleen Seefeldt

Kathleen Kenna Seefeldt (born November 12, 1934) is an American politician who served as Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors from 1992 to 1999. She is a Democrat.

Kathleen Seefeldt
Chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors
In office January 1, 1992 – December 31, 1999
Preceded by	At-large seat established
Succeeded by	Sean T. Connaughton
Personal details
Born	(1934-11-12) November 12, 1934 (age 89) Minnesota, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Robert Seefeldt (m. 1962; died 2020)

Personal

Born in Minnesota, Seefeldt earned her undergraduate degree from St. Scholastica College (1956)^[1] and did graduate work at Boston University. With Robert A. Seefeldt, her husband, she moved to Prince William County in 1970.^[2] They reside in Woodbridge and Chincoteague, Virginia. She is a mother and grandmother who gives stain removal advice^[3] and reads for pleasure.^[4]

Board of Supervisors

Kathleen Seefeldt was first elected to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in 1975, and served as the Occoquan District Supervisor from 1976 to 1991. In 1991, she was elected the first at-large Chairman of the Board. Previously, the Chairman had been elected by the Board from among its membership. When Seefeldt took office as Chairman in 1992, she assumed the Board's eighth seat, the first time the Board had grown since it was enlarged to seven Supervisors in 1967.^[5]

During her tenure on the Board, she was a fairly strong advocate for greater growth and development in the County, which was still very rural when she first entered office in 1976. She was instrumental in the construction of the Prince William Parkway, a stretch of which bears her name. The Parkway, begun in 1990, provided a major arterial thoroughfare connecting the county's eastern and western ends, beginning at Interstate 95 near Woodbridge and continuing on through Dale City to Manassas. Later additions to the Parkway included an eastern extension providing a link-up with US Route 1 and a western extension that connected with Interstate 66 and those parts of the county west of Manassas.

In 1988, Seefeldt became involved in a battle between the National Park Service and real estate development company over the proposed construction of a large, regional shopping mall near the Manassas National Battlefield Park. Seefeldt expressed concerns over the environmental and traffic impact of the proposed development, but supported the mall as a strong economic development tool, one that might compete with the large, popular, and profitable Tysons Corner Center in neighboring Fairfax County. Relations between Seefeldt and the Park Service soon deteriorated over longstanding county government concerns regarding the Park Service's stewardship of the Manassas Battlefield and the Park Service's opposition to the new mall. Ultimately, the mall was never built.

Mrs. Seefeldt lost reelection to a third term in 1999 to Republican Sean Connaughton who successfully targeted her as the architect of the County's burgeoning growth. Development that was once welcome had brought greater traffic and placed a strain on county services, fueling voter disenchantment in a historic election; the Democrats lost control of the Virginia General Assembly for the first time in a century. In Prince William County, once the Democrats' bastion in Northern Virginia, the County Sheriff, Commonwealth's Attorney, and two members of the Board of Supervisors were the only Democrats left in County Government.

Seefeldt was the last Democrat to chair Prince William County's government, despite the county's gradual and increasing return to the Democratic fold in presidential and gubernatorial elections until Ann Wheeler twenty years later won in the 2019 Virginia elections a Democratic Party majority of 5-3 on the County Board—the first time since Seefeldt's departure that Democrats held a majority on the governing board of Virginia's third largest local government.^[6]

Prince William Parkway

In April 2001, a portion of the Prince William Parkway was dedicated as the "Kathleen K. Seefeldt Parkway". The portion named after Seefeldt stretches from I-95 to the intersection of Liberia and Fairview Avenues near Manassas; this segment is the original Parkway and was completed entirely during Seefeldt's tenure as Chairman. Mrs. Seefeldt was a key force in securing the parkway, and its unusual (for Virginia), mix of local with state financing. Stone monuments to Seefeldt can be found at the intersection of the Parkway and Davis Ford Road (no longer an arterial road) and again at the intersection of the Parkway and the border with the City of Manassas.^[7][8]

Other public service, politics

• 1986 Governor Gerald Baliles appointed her to the Commission on Transportation
• 1990 Governor Doug Wilder appointed her to the Virginia Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
• 1992 Joined the Transportation Coordinating Council for Northern Virginia and was a member of its executive committee
• 1996–1998 Western Transportation Corridor MIS Policy Advisory Committee
• 1998 Joined the Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan Policy Advisory Committee
• 1999 United States Department of Transportation – National Capital Region Congestion and Mobility Task Force
• 1992–1999 represented the County on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board
• 1985 Joined Virginia Association of Counties board of directors
• 1992 Elected president, Virginia Association of Counties
• 1999 Elected as vice chairman of the Virginia Municipal League’s Legislative Committee and Transportation Policy Committee
• 1998–1999 Chairman of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission^[2]
• 2003–2007 Chairman of Virginia's Commission on Local Government under governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
• 2006–2008 Board of Supervisors appointed her to the County's Future Commission 2030. The board adopted their report in early in 2008.^[9][10]
• 2008 Hillary Clinton Virginia Women’s Steering Committee^[11]

Civic and community organizations

• Chambers of Commerce
• Girl Scouts of the USA
• Boy Scouts of America
• NAACP
• American Heart Association
• Prince William Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs^[2]

Awards and commendations

• Prince William Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award
• Potomac News Citizen of the Year
• Woodbridge Soroptimists Woman of the Year
• several distinguished public service recognitions^[2]

References

1. "2006/2007 Annual Report". The College of St. Scholastica. 2007-06-28. p. 15. Retrieved 2008-04-20. Class of 1956 ... Mrs. Kathleen Kenna Seefeldt^{[permanent dead link]}
2. Senators: Colgan, Barry, Byrne, Chichester, Couric, Edwards, Holland, Houck, Howell, Lambert, Lucas, Marsh, Marye, Maxwell, Miller, K.G., Norment, Potts, Puckett, Puller, Reynolds, Saslaw, Ticer and Whipple, Delegates: Albo, Amundson, Brink, Darner, Devolites, Hull, Marshall, McClure, McQuigg, Moran, Parrish, Plum, Scott, Van Landingham and Watts (2000-01-20). "VA 3000/VA 234: Prince William Parkway Kathleen K. Seefeldt Parkway". SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 122 Commending Kathleen Kenna Seefeldt. Senate of Virginia. Retrieved 2008-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. Italie, Leanne (2008-04-19). . Associated Press in Akron Beacon Journal and elsewhere. Akron, Ohio. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2008-03-15. They're tried and true, said Kathleen Seefeldt, 73, a grandmother from Woodbridge, Va. Water. Ammonia. They're cheap and they work. ... When I have a stain, I call my mother, except I go for the eco-friendly vinegar and baking soda over the ammonias and chlorines, said Paula Seefeldt of New York City, Kathleen's 42-year-old daughter and the mother of two. She definitely likes ammonia.
4. Johnson, Deborah Tompkins (2008-04-19). "Impressions: Who else is reading?". Potomac News. Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2008-04-20. Former Prince William County Board Chair Kathleen Seefeldt is reading. This week's reader served as the first at-large chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors from 1992 to 1999. She holds a gubernatorial appointment to the statewide, five-member Commission on Local Government. Community service does not keep Seefeldt, who calls herself an avid reader, from her books. She not only recommends this week's book, "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky, to us, but also to her daughter and her newly formed neighborhood book club, saying it is the best book she's read in years.
5. Como, Tish (April 2004). "Supervisors Minute Books 1870–1972: The Business of Life in Prince William County" (PDF). Prince William Reliquary, Vol. 3, No. 2. Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center (RELIC) for Genealogy & Local History with Bull Run Regional Library. pp. 33 (3 in PDF) et seq. Retrieved 2008-04-19. In November 1991, citizens of Prince William County elected Kathleen K. Seefeldt as the first Chairman-at-Large (and eighth member) of the BOCS, a position she held until December 1999.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. "Prince William elections: Wheeler defeats Gray for board chair". The Washington Post.
7. . Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2008-04-19. The Prince William Parkway was named the Kathleen K. Seefeldt Parkway in April 2001. Ms. Seefeldt is a former Chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. It was her vision that led to the push for funding and construction of the Parkway - funded and built by Prince William County residents. A monument to Ms. Seefeldt is located along the Parkway at Davis Ford Road.
8. Shear, Michael D. (1998-10-15). "Pr. William Bypasses VDOT, Builds Parkway". Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. A1. Retrieved 2008-04-20. In three short years, the county's own public works staff managed construction of the four-lane, 14-mile road, finishing early and coming in about $8 million under budget. After building the project, Prince William transferred the road to the state, which now maintains it. Board of County Supervisors Chairman Kathleen K. Seefeldt (D) said the road would have been delayed for years if Prince William had waited for VDOT and would have cost more. 'They are such a huge bureaucracy,' she said. 'Maybe they just can't achieve the efficiencies we can.'
9. . Prince William County, Virginia. July 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2008-04-19. Focusing a community effort to envision the physical and aesthetic characteristics of life as well as the amenities and opportunities that should exist in Prince William in 2030.
10. (PDF). Prince William County, Virginia. February 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2008-04-19. This document represents the people's vision for Prince William County in the year 2030... is the result of a year-long process led by the 16 members of the Future Commission 2030 and includes the input of nearly 1,800 residents.
11. . Hillary Clinton for President. 2008-02-10. Archived from the original on 2008-04-17. Retrieved 2008-04-20. The Hillary Clinton for President campaign announced today the Virginia Women's Steering Committee, composed of over 400 of the state's prominent leaders in government, business, education and politics, who will provide outreach for the campaign leading up to the Virginia primary on February 12 ... Kathleen Seefeldt, Former Chair, Prince William County Board of Supervisors (Woodbridge)

External links

• National Park Service: Stonewalling the Mall

Political offices
Preceded by Unknown	Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors 1992 – 1999	Succeeded by Sean T. Connaughton