Del. Miller, Rishell spar over event sponsored by NAACP

Jeanette Rishell is suggesting that Del. Jackson Miller is trying to duck a debate sponsored by the Prince William branch of the NAACP.

Miller said he’s doing no such thing. He simply can’t make the Oct. 17 debate because of scheduling conflicts.

Rishell, the Democratic candidate running against Miller for the 50th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, recently released a statement expressing disappointment that Miller wouldn’t attend the debate.

“The NAACP is a non-partisan organization that has had debates in our area and I believe that it’s an important group in the community. It’s important to attend this,” Rishell said.

Miller said he’s willing to attend a debate sponsored by the organization and that the press release from the Rishell campaign was misleading.

The release stated the Rishell campaign had received word from the NAACP that Miller had refused to debate.

Norma Fields, who was organizing the debate and told Rishell that Miller would be absent, said that she had called the Miller campaign several times but never spoke directly with Miller.

In a phone interview, Fields said that the Miller campaign refused the debate.

Miller said, not so.

“We told her it would take us a while, that I was trying to rearrange my schedule to see if I could make available a date. I already had family plans. It worked out that I was unable to do that day,” Miller said.

Miller suggested that Fields had an agenda.

“I want to emphatically push that the person attacking us is a donor and an activist for the Rishell campaign,” Miller said of Fields.

A search of the Virginia Public Access Project Web site verified that Fields made a $200 donation to Rishell’s campaign in March.

Ralph Smith, president of the organization’s Prince William branch, said he recognized that Miller had conflicts in his schedule.

“It was my understanding that it was more of a ‘could not’ rather than ‘would not,’” Smith said of Jackson’s predicted absence from the debate.

Smith said Jackson apologized for not being able to attend in October.

“I have a written statement offering an apology to the organization for not being available on that date,” Smith said of Jackson’s response.

Smith said “time constraints” might make rescheduling difficult, but added that Miller expressed a “strong interest” in a debate or forum of some sort.

Miller accused Rishell of duplicity and said he attended a debate in 2006 sponsored by the NAACP.

“I’ve never turned down a debate with them,” he said. “She’s trying to insinuate that I’m opposed to the NAACP,” Miller said.

“It’s another lie from Jeanette Rishell,” he said.

Rishell said Jackson is over-reacting.

“That is not what I’m insinuating at all,” Rishell said. “It’s sad that Del. Miller’s knee-jerk reaction to criticism is to lash out.

“Instead of making accusations about my character, Del. Miller needs to get his facts straight,” she said.

Miller went on to say that Rishell had rescheduled one debate and declined to attend another, and he didn’t make a big deal of it.

Steve Nelson, former president of the Prince William County-Greater Manassas Chamber of Commerce, recently tried to put together a chamber-sponsored forum with unemployment insurance as the topic for discussion.

He said it was his recollection that Rishell had turned down the forum.

Rishell said she decided not to appear with Miller because she thought the forum would be more suited to opposing delegates who had voted on the issue in Richmond during a special session of the General Assembly.

“I suggested to Steve that he get two delegates — one that voted against it and one that voted for it. My suggestion to Steve was that he get Paul Nichols,” Rishell said. “That would have been a true point-counterpoint between two sitting delegates.”

Miller said that Rishell also rescheduled a debate before the Committee of 100, a non-partisan organization that studies issues facing Prince William County.

Miller said he didn’t get upset at Rishell’s rescheduling.

“Did I say ‘Oooh, she’s refusing to debate me with the Committee of 100?’ No. I didn’t have a fit. It got changed from the original debate,” Miller said “That happens all the time.”

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.