Spike Williams Kicks Off Campaign

Born and raised in Fairfax County, Michael "Spike" Williams has a vision for a "sustainable and prosperous" future.

Williams kicked off his campaign for Board of Supervisors Chairman on Saturday with a nine-stop campaign through Fairfax County. The tour began at 9:30 a.m. in Mount Vernon and ended in Herndon around 7 p.m.

The self-described "long-standing Republican" has served as the Hunter Mill District Chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee for the last two years.

This is not Williams' first foray into Fairfax County politics. In 2007, he ran against Cathy Hudgins (D) for Hunter Mill District Supervisor on the Independent party ticket.

He will focus on major issues such as education and transportation, but Williams has zeroed in on the county's budget, which he says is "one of the biggest issues we have."

"Since 2001, our budget … went from 2.135 to 3.4 almost billion in general funds," Williams said. "That's an outrageous increase in budget in a 10-year period, and one that does not reflect the previous 60 years as far as pace. We have a spending problem here in Fairfax County and we need to get it under control."

Williams also feels transportation in Fairfax County is an important issue that should be acknowledged, and says one solution is reforming the Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority (WMATA). He believes a strong education system will help Fairfax County businesses flourish. Williams believes the county "has an obligation to cherish and promote excellence in education."

"I think that where we've gotten that wrong is we're spending far too much money on administrative overhead and not giving the money to the classroom and to the teachers," Williams said.

He credits with his mother for doing a great job of raising him and his brother as a single mother.

"We had to scrape by sometimes in points during my upbringing where we went without and we had to turn to public assistance to get through tough patches," Williams said. "We managed to use that assistance to get on our feet and get off that assistance."

Williams and his wife, Julie, co-own Williams Realty in Herndon. They have a 13-year-old daughter and Julie has two sons from a previous marriage. He views himself as a family-oriented businessman.

"I think that qualifies me as a stable Fairfax County guy who sees problems in our county's governmental structure and sees the need to get involved to set things right," Williams said.