Paul Beran — husband, father, businessman, and volunteer — is the Fairfax GOP nominee for District Supervisor in Franconia (formerly known as Lee). Beran served as a county Democrat spokesman for 10 years (1973-1983) and in 2013 was invited to join the Obama White House Business Council.

President/CEO of Advertel, Inc., Beran has assisted numerous candidates on both sides of the aisle. Politically independent for most of his life, Beran says that he likes to focus on the “qualities of the individual candidate, and not on party affiliation.” Now running as a Republican, in a district that leans Democrat, Beran trusts voters to evaluate him the same way.

A perpetual optimist, Beran discusses “bad news” only to arrive at real solutions for the betterment of his district. Some areas of improvement the candidate has identified include the following:

• EDUCATION: “Once elected, I will introduce new oversight and accountability procedures that will incentivize better performance by students and teachers.”
• AFFORDABILITY: “I will immediately propose a two-year property tax freeze to afford the new board an opportunity to cut costs where possible, and explore new revenue streams into the county that lessen the burden on homeowners.”
• PUBLIC SAFETY: “For starters, pride needs to be restored in our communities. People who are proud of their home respect it, they want to keep it, and are willing to cooperate with law enforcement to help protect it.”
• BUSINESS FORMATION: “Good government leaders can also create an environment that speeds this process up. Or, if they’re careless, they’ll chase businesses away. I prefer the former. Our current Board of Supervisors seems to prefer the latter.”

At his website, BeranGoodNews.com, the candidate outlines several initiatives to bring more tourism and business to Franconia. Beran’s ideas include a “Great American Walk-of-Fame” along Richmond Highway, and branding the Franconia District as “Washington’s Backyard.”

Beren recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Mina Kim, wherein the first-time candidate discusses his own background and his vision of reform — and in particular, his determination to bring “good news” to Franconia voters.

WATCH:

Visit BeranGoodNews.com to learn more, donate, or volunteer. To get involved with the Fairfax GOP in Franconia, email MDFranconia@FairfaxGOP.org.