Blue Ridge Leader News - March 7, 2010
Sell the Chair
Well, looks like the local GOP buys Sell’s message; OK, that sounds a little corny, but it’s true- for the most part. Here’s the deal: the Loudoun Republican Party elected long-time volunteer Mark Sell as Chairman yesterday- in a canvas-type affair for Committee Members-only.
He edged out fellow Party rival Candace Strother by 54 votes- out of 970 ballots cast.
So- a close decision.
Sell had endorsements from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as well as Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio.
He’s gonna have his hands full- what with the local GOP’s history of ‘fracturedness’ in recent years- between those who consider themselves properly conservative and those who tend a bit more toward the middle ground of compromise.
Hey, they got almost a thousand Republican Party Committee Members out yesterday to participate in this thing: that’s a good sign in itself.
And if the Loudoun Democrats are worried by their rivals’ will to organize- I say a little competition never hurt anybody.
Except maybe Edsels and Dodos.
Adapt, Change, and Survive.
Long live the American Political Process, as long as it can evolve and improve.
So, expect to hear more from- and about- Mark Sell and the local GOP.
Blisters, Band-Aids and the County Budget
This is gonna hurt. And it’ll be a study of contrasting styles of political and financial philosophy.
Yeah, I know, that’s a little heavy for a Sunday morning- but hey- this is Loudoun County, Virginia.
Seems the local Board of Supervisors are honing in on that mess of a budget they’ve got to deal with- and that means a new tax rate- as well as what figure to be a number of changes (good, bad or ugly- depending on your perspective).
So, the County Board agreed to start carving on this thing based on a five percent increase in funding, but it sounds like the majority of them want to whittle it down closer to that zero-percent-increase point.
If they leave it at the five-percent level, us homeowners’ll have about a 10-percent jump in taxes- which puts us a bit further out in the cold than most of us’d like to be.
And the more they (the County Board) cut, the more local government employees stand to lose (including their jobs).
So it’s a tricky, painful process: balancing- or not- the taxpayers’ (voters’) responsibility with the calculated needs of the citizenry (schools, public safety, transportation, to name a few).
All the hours and days and weeks, etc of deliberations on the budget may leave your friendly local Supervisor a little less than his or her friendly self over the next few weeks.
‘Cause it all comes down to the wire right around April Fool’s Day- and that poetic timing’s never been lost on yours truly.
Only, every year, I feel more and more like I’m one of the Fools instead of those ever-lovin’ County Board Members who make the decisions.
Like I said, this is gonna be painful.
What? Me Worry… about budget problems?
And this? Go figure: the Town of Leesburg is probably gonna decrease the tax bills for its residents- based on the opening salvos in their budget talks.
The upshot is: since they’ve crunched the numbers in such a way as to target a no-increase-tax rate (so far), the combined effects of general assessment decreases will (again- if they vote this way at the final tally) allow most residents in the County Seat to see those eventual tax bills dip just a little bit this time around.
A little bit of a break in the total economic challenge picture.
Leesburg Town Manager John Wells tries to minimize his need to lean on the local rainy day fund as much as possible, which has helped keep his pool of finances in a relatively healthy state.
We knew it was a good move for the Town to ’steal’ him away from the County several years back- not that he’d've been able to stave off the need for tax increases at that level- since the schools figure in as such a large responsibility for the Loudoun Government.
But he seems to be shepherding the Town quite well, all the same, no pun intended, of course.
Mayor May Not
And if you haven’t heard, there’s a tussle for leadership in the little old County Seat. Multi-term Mayor Kristen Umstattd is getting a challenge from one of her cohorts on Town Council- first-time seat-holder Tom Dunn.
I guess this is where you’d expect to find sort of a profile in contrasts: experience versus fresh energy, veteran against rookie- you know the drill.
Actually, we’ve been considering- ever since this situation developed- offering an invite to each of these candidates to a sit-down question and answer session.
So many times these local Council elections bring out such a paltry turnout of voters, often through no fault of the candidates, that it may be worth out while to get to know the players a bit before we start generalizing and categorizing these complicated, accomplished individuals.
I’m sure Tom Dunn has some impressive coups in his historical resume- just as Kristen Umstattd most likely has some perspectives on her Town that we’ve never even heard, or perhaps considered.
So- plan on seeing and hearing more about this local Mayors’ Race right here on our website: maybe we’ll even swing a full-fledged debate for you- technology depending.
Good Medicine
Another positive notch for an important resource in Leesburg: the Community Free Clinic nabbed a $10,000 grant from a regional donor. The money comes from a group called the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia’s Chin Family Fund.
The local Free Clinic started up about eight years back- through the energy of the Catoctin Foundation- essentially offering medical service to uninsured residents- at no charge.
Like we said- an important resource- as we all come to face difficult decisions on the medical insurance front.
They operate out of the Cornwall building on the north end of Memorial Drive: hours run nine to five Monday and Tuesday, nine to nine Wednesday and Thursday- and nine to one on Fridays.
Another little hub of activity that deserves a future profile.
Thanksgiving in March
Finally, the story we really wanted to share: not that the previous snapshots were less deserving- they were just a bit further from home. Just had to offer a note of Thanks for our delivery through one of the toughest months- weather-wise- in (at least recent) Virginia memory.
Don’t know about you, but I spent the last month shoveling to get to work- and then the real fun started.
Being a delivery driver in some of the more remote sections of western Loudoun County, my days went from long and hard to something in the awesome, astounding and daunting range.
I grew a beard to help stay warm, stopped exercising at home (’cause I got enough on the job) and slept ‘n ate as much as I could get, when I could.
I developed a habit of carefully tucking my pants into some extra-thick sox- and drying my boots every night in the clothes dryer- on a special shoe rack.
Slogging through three or more feet of snow five hundred times a day is no easy chore, and I’m glad that it’s over; but don’t underestimate the power of winter- there are still some jaw-popping drifts out there- and I drove sections of rural roads just yesterday that would curl the hair of the most intrepid off-road motorist.
If you don’t believe me- try to navigate your little Corolla down- say- Forest Mills Road, or Mount Gilead Road- and you’ll find sections that make your eyeballs pop out.
But I’ve also seen some spectacular sights: a veritable river of melt-water running down Hogback Mountain Road, spring flowers already in bloom amid leftover leaves in a driveway off Loudoun Orchard Road, robins flocking off Woodmar Farm Drive, and swamps coming alive with activity.
And I’ve heard the cardinals announcing spring in various public and private corners of Loudoun County.
These are welcome harbingers after nearly a month of negotiating vehicles through 10-foot plow-cuts of snowbanks, and getting embarrassingly stuck in the most benign-looking of places- your basic, residential streets.
So- come August- on the driest, dustiest, most smog-ridden afternoon we encounter- sure, I’ll remember the blizzards of February- but I won’t recall them with any warm feeling: I won’t miss ‘em.
Thanks for sharing time, Tim Jon
