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By Jeanne Spath
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Speculation has run rampant in political circles since the announcement that House of Representatives 15th District Delegate Allen Louderback (R) would not be running for re-election. With the dust settling, office-seekers are coming out of the woodwork, one right here in Rappahannock County.
Jame3 K. Blubaugh, Sr. a 26-year resident of Washington, has announced his interest in becoming the next 15th District representative.
As a member of the Rappahannock Democratic Party, Blubaugh has been active in political concerns within the county as the policy chairman. - He has served on the Child Care Learning Center (CCLC) board and has been the vice president of Rappahannock Association for Arts and the Community (RAAC) when the group first started.
He is currently the senior vice president of Zepeda International, Inc., providing short and long term professional level contractors to the federal government as well as to the private sector. Prior to this endeavor in 2002, Blubaugh was deputy chairman of the National Humint Requirements Tasking Center of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In making the decision to run for a political office, Blubaugh said, “We need to make sure people in a rural county are actively and energetically represented.”
If elected to the office, Blubaugh has several areas of concern, including a rapid increase in the elderly population within Page, Shenandoah and Rappahannock Counties.
“This is a hidden population in our communities — who are taking care of our elderly?,” Blubaugh asked.
At the other end of the spectrum, schools are a major concern for him, “It is great how Lord Fairfax Community College has come into small high schools giving students an opportunity to get their first two years of college at a reasonable expense.”
Blubaugh is further aware of the need to promote and support community control, especially in Rappahannock County, to avoid it becoming a “bedroom community.”
“Counties don’t have home rule with the Dillion Rule,” he said, “being this close to (Washington) D.C., we could become a bedroom community.”
With Rappahannock encompassing only 10 percent of the 15th District population, Blubaugh has begun spreading out to Page and Shenandoah Counties, learning of concerns in those areas.
Thusfar what he has learned is the major concern for Shenandoah County is potential growth with business sprawl. Citizens in the area have expressed a desire to maintain what has been an idealistic area for families.
The potential widening of Interstate-81 is also foremost on the minds of Shenandoah County residents, especially the environmental impacts this would have.
Being a small businessman himself, Blubaugh wants to encourage small businesses in rural areas as
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