Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart said there was nothing political about his proposal last week to strip county funding from a health organization run by the Democratic opponent of a fellow Republican supervisor.

Stewart, long a critic of the Greater Prince William Community Health Center, proposed stripping its $600,000 in annual funding to cover $575,000 still needed to begin the county's proposed crackdown on illegal immigration.

Corey Riley, the Democratic nominee challenging Supervisor John Stirrup, R-Gainesville, is the executive director and a founder of the Woodbridge nonprofit health clinic.

“I've always been opposed to the community health center, even before Mr. Riley decided to run,” Stewart said. “I understand how that might look,” Stewart said, “but the reality is that I've been trying to go at that for a long time.”

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After several supervisors criticized Stewart's proposal to steer money away from the clinic, he instead recommended using the county's $796,000 contingency fund to pay for the illegal immigration proposal, leaving the clinic's funding intact.

Riley, a critic of the illegal immigration crackdown, said he had no comment on Stewart's suggestion.

“I try to keep those things as separate as possible,” Riley said. “I want my political aspirations to have as little effect as they can on my professional responsibilities.”

When pushed to cut funding from the existing budget at Thursday's budget retreat, Stewart picked the center from a list of county agencies and projects. He said the group has failed to attract sufficient federal funding.

“This program, they've been promising to leverage federal funds for a community health center, the federal funds have never shown up,” he said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com