Holly Hazard to run against Del. Kaye Kory in Democratic Primary
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| Holly Hazard (right) talks to residents about their concerns. |
Social justice advocate Holly Hazard is challenging
long-time House of Delegates member Kaye Kory in the Democratic Primary. The primary is June 8.
Hazard, a Mason District resident for more than 30 years,
wants to bring a new viewpoint to the General Assembly.
“Richmond works better with people with a fresh perspective,”
Hazard says. “When we do that, we get an infusion of new ideas.”
To promote equity, Hazard would take a “deep dive into the criminal justice system.” She praises the General Assembly for abolishing the death penalty but says, “we still have a significant problem with solitary confinement and the way women are treated in prison. Women need the same opportunities as men for training.”
“I’m not talking about letting murderers out of prison, but Virginia has the seventh-highest population of prisoners. Something is fundamentally wrong with that system,” she says. “That is extremely expensive for taxpayers. We should be lifting people up.”
To support workers, Hazard would promote unions and collective bargaining. “Unions were the backbone of America. The loss of unions has been the biggest factor in the nation’s economic decline.”
Hazard would set climate change as a key priority. “With a budget of over $60 billion, everything the General Assembly does should go through a filter of whether it’s good or bad for the environment.”
Regarding education, she plans to push for more alternatives to high-cost four-year universities. Not everyone needs a bachelor’s degree to have a successful career, but “anyone who dares to think they have a different path in life gets the short shrift.”
“We learned during the past year that students can learn at home and still be part of a community,” she says. Distance learning could be incorporated into a college education, so some people could opt for “four years of college for the price of three. That would greatly reduce costs.”
Hazard, a former PTA president at Bailey’s Elementary
School, Glasgow Middle School, and Justice High School, is working on launching
a pilot program at Justice. A coach would be assigned to help students interested in technology and the trades but not interested in a four-year degree.
In another local project, she put out a huge bin on the
street to collect groceries for needy families and to “remind people every day
that there are people a few blocks away in Culmore who are hungry.”
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| Hazard at the Network NOVA Women’s Summit |
Hazard had been an economist at the Bureau of Labor
Statistics 35 years ago, when she decided to embark on a more meaningful career and earned a law degree to focus on “changing the world.”
Hazard has been a lifelong advocate for animal welfare since her first pet, a dog named Skipper she got for her 10th birthday, was shot and killed by a neighbor.
As an attorney, she co-founded the first animal rights law firm and the first animal protection
lobbying organization in the nation with actor, singer, and animal welfare advocate Doris Day.
Later, the group merged with the Humane Society of the United
States, and Hazard was named senior vice president.
She took a leave of absence to work on the Hillary Clinton
presidential campaign, and from that effort, co-founded the grassroots advocacy
organization Network NOVA with Stair Calhoun.
Two years ago, she was the legislative director in Kory’s office, where she learned about state government and decided to run for office herself. Kory has represented the 38th District (covering much of Mason District) in the House of Delegates for 11 years.
Hazard believes people should have opportunities to elect delegates with a different point of view. “The General Assembly has become a full-time career for many legislators. We function better as a commonwealth if people who serve then go back to working in their community.”
“I look forward to the campaign and hope people will look at my background and give me a call,” Hazard says. She can be reached at (703) 338-9590, [email protected].
I'm not sure how any at risk child in Farifax has gotten any equity from the lack of an on-premises education this year… and from what I can tell, this is a direct result of the teachers unions refusing to go to the classroom… in direct conflict with the science, as revealed by the US CDC… so, it seems Hazard is for equity for unions, but not minority students… she epitomizes the failure of the United States, not equity… she is the exact opposite of what she claims.
I agree that Covid has accentuated the issues related to equity. We all agree that many children, most children, have struggled this year and that those without strong support at home have been placed at a disadvantage in their advancement in school. There haven't any easy answers to when and how kids and staff can safely get back in the classroom. Of course, everyone wants in person learning, but not at the expense of people's lives. I'm grateful that, as vaccines are becoming more widely available, our Fairfax schools are re-opening. I appreciate your concern.
I agree with you that this year has been a challenge for all and especially for children without strong support for academics at home. Im gratified that, as the vaccines become more available, that Fairfax County schools are returning to in-person instruction. I appreciate you speaking out on behalf of children.
Ms Hazard, you say “everyone wants in person learning, but not at the expense of people’s lives.”
Tell that to all of kids who have taken their lives, the countless others who have become suicidal, and to the parents who have been trying to cope with it all. That quip to whip up teachers union votes has just alienated this HD38 primary voter.
What an odd response to a standard campaign announcement. Teachers – humans, citizens, neighbors, community members – are rightfully concerned about the spread of COVID through classrooms, and while I would love to have kids in classrooms, teachers at work, and parents back with normal lives, there is just too much risk – not no risk, but enough risk and unknowns that one can't assert that there is just a single way to handle this. It appears that Ms. Hazard has a good parent perspective on schools so I can't imagine why you would think that she wouldn't. I
James, it is a perfectly valid question when Ms Hazard says one of her cornerstone issues is education. Her website then goes on to also list strengthening unions as another key part of her campaign.
There are some big red flags there for a lot of parents who have watched their kids struggle this past year as school districts have ignored science and health professional recommendations and rather bent to the will of powerful union interests.
How about addressing the basics: reduce crime, clean our roadways, traffic calming (VDOT does as they please without regards to local neighborhood issues), stop the boarding house deterioration of our communities, improve our schools, tree canopy protections, better mass transit options, better maintenance and improvement of our parks and trails, and general quality of life improvements. That is what government needs to do. Get our of the social media frenzy and do what is important for ALL!
I agree with all these issues. Some are under the jurisdiction of local government. Certainly better mass transit options, improving parks and protecting trees are all significant issues, both for our quality of life and for the environment. We MUST do better in providing alternatives to gas-powered automobiles for transportation. We're so behind other countries in this regard and we need to catch up…fast.
What is your party affiliation? Your issues sound like you're a democrat. How do you feel about the Constitution and in particular Article V for proposing amendments to the Constitution? Our federal government is expanding the national debt, taking over more and more rights that belong to the states, and our elected officials need term limits. Let's hear your position on these please. I've lived in Annandale for 33 years and in Fairfax County since 1974. Tina Price
She's a Democrat. She is running in the Democratic primary.
Living in the same neighborhood as Holly Hazard and Kay Kory, all you have to do is read the LakeLink newsletter to see who is the better candidate. Hazard is always there to help and lift people up. Kory is there to appease people and get them back to their “bread & circuses.” Kory had no leadership on two recent community issues: the illegal new neighborhood on the north side with bad egress on a quiet street; and the parking lot proposed to swallow up a nature park by Justice High. Time for Kory to Exit the House of Delegates.