By Nick Miroff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 8, 2007

When freshman Del. Jackson H. Miller (R) arrives in Richmond this week to fill out the term of the late Harry J. Parrish (R), he will bring with him a different approach for a district that has changed radically in the quarter-century since it last elected a new delegate.

Parrish, who died in March at age 84, won 13 consecutive elections in the state's 50th District -- a swath of Prince William County that also encompasses Manassas and Manassas Park. He is remembered as a moderate who could forge compromise with old-fashioned horse sense and gentlemanly charm.

And although Parrish is still treasured for his small-town sensibility, it is Miller, the new face of the 50th, who might be closer to the hearts of conservatives in the rapidly changing, Republican-leaning district.

"I can't fill his shoes," said Miller, 39, a part-time real estate agent, part-time police officer and former Manassas City Council member. "I'll create my own imprint."

Torrid growth has produced major changes in the 50th, and how the state should relieve the daily traffic jams so familiar to its residents is expected to be the central issue of the General Assembly session that starts Wednesday.

Miller opposes tax increases to fund transportation improvements, echoing the position of Republicans in the House of Delegates that the state should instead borrow the money it needs.

The area's sizzling housing market has also sent property values soaring in recent years, fueling a construction boom that attracted thousands of illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

Miller, who grew up in Fairfax County and moved to Manassas with his wife in 2000, didn't like what he saw and was stirred to run for City Council. "My wife and I loved our neighborhood," he said. "But we were dismayed at the number of our peers who were moving out of the city. And it all came back to overcrowding and [English as a Second Language courses] in the public school system."

Pledging to take action on illegal immigration, Miller was elected to the council in 2004, and since then, his efforts have crystallized into two signature issues: overcrowding and immigration enforcement training for police officers. Both draw upon Miller's experiences as a real estate agent and as a patrol officer with the Prince William County Police Department.

"As a real estate agent, you see the decline in housing stocks when there is trash in the street, cars parked on lawns or young men drinking on the sidewalk," he said. "It reduces the quality of life."

Broad-shouldered and built like a linebacker, Miller is not a typical glad-handing, back-slapping politician but a "law-and-order" legislator with a tough, no-nonsense approach that can come off as dour or defensive. But current and former colleagues praise him as a friendly, intelligent stand-up guy who follows through on his campaign pledges.

Miller's short tenure on the council was marked by controversial measures that could tie the town up in costly court battles for years. In 2005, Miller aggressively pushed for an "anti-crowding" ordinance to limit the number of extended family members who could share a dwelling, but the effort backfired.

The council approved the ordinance but quickly repealed it under pressure from civil rights groups. Nonetheless, Manassas is being investigated by the Justice Department for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act, and civil suits are likely to follow. Complaints against the city have also been lodged with the Department of Education by parents who say city schools illegally disclosed confidential student information to zoning inspectors.

Miller "was very adamant in his concern for the impact of illegal immigration," said council member J. Steven Randolph (I). "That was one issue in which his leadership moved the council quicker than it might have moved otherwise. Some of the rest of us were taking a more cautious view."

During the campaign for the 50th District seat in the fall, Miller's Democratic opponent, Jeanette Rishell, sought to depict him as a "right-wing ideologue" out of sync with Parrish's legacy. Miller styles himself as a conservative Republican, but he bristled at that accusation, saying that he is open to other points of view and eager to work across the aisle, as Parrish did.

But with Democrats posting gains across Northern Virginia, party leaders would love to wrest control of the 50th from Miller this fall, when Parrish's two-year term expires, and are likely to continue that line of attack. "If Delegate Miller sides with the politics of extremism, I would expect a competitive race this fall," said Del. Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria). "Whether on transportation or immigration, we need moderation on every issue. That's how Harry Parrish led."

During the assembly session, Miller plans to introduce legislation to provide immigration and customs enforcement training to state police and prison staff, which would allow them to expedite deportation proceedings for illegal immigrants who commit violent or other serious felonies. "We want to go after the criminal element of the illegal immigrant community," Miller explained. "If you're coming to commit crimes and wreak havoc, you most certainly should be deported."

Although Miller believes that illegal immigration should be sufficient cause for deportation, he is not proposing a large-scale roundup of undocumented workers. He called it a misconception "that we'll have police raiding the kitchens of restaurants."

In preparation for his trip to Richmond, Miller recently paid a visit to the office of longtime state Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William), who was a close friend of Parrish's. Miller and Colgan disagreed over tax increases to fund transportation, but the meeting was friendly. Still, Colgan said he expected Miller to be more conservative than his predecessor.

"Harry and I didn't vary more than 2 percent on our voting records," said Colgan, 80. "I knew what Harry would do before he did it.

"Jackson is going to vote differently than I will on most issues," he said, "but I think we'll get along fine."