About 530 residents showed up at Park View High School in Sterling tonight for an ad hoc emergency public meeting to address the recent crime wave in the community.
The Loudoun County Government was represented by Sheriff Steve Simpson and Supervisors Susan Buckley, Andrea McGimsey, Eugene Delgaudio, Stevens Miller and Scott York. (Supervisors Lori Waters and Kelly Burk, whose districts don’t overlap with the “Sterling” area, were also present but not on the dais.)
Supervisor York did an excellent job moderating what was, undeniably, a harsh situation. He took some shots from an audience that was clearly on edge and often near combustible.
But Sheriff Simpson had to absorb more criticism than any other party and he handled it well, if perhaps too impassively. I think Simpson is a good guy and good sheriff but an incredibly tone deaf public official. In personal conversations Simpson has expressed to me he understands the problems we face in Sterling. He should do a much better job explaining how he “feels our pain” and is committed to doing more to solve our problems. Standing in a large auditorium full of people on the verge of rage over the crime problem here, he talked at length about how the Sheriff’s Office is doing all it can do and more than most people realize.
This was, to put it mildly, not the information the audience was seeking. Consequently Simpson was literally shouted down a couple times during his remarks by audience members demanding to know what more would be done, and York had to step in and restore order. At one point a gang task force deputy went to the podium to explain in more detail what was being done in the investigations that was not showing up in the news.
[As a side note to Sheriff Simpson, I would suggest he go back to the notes he brought to a Board of Supervisors meeting last year. Simpson met with officials from the town of Herndon and brought a file full of notes to our Board, and explained to them what he learned from Herndon's experience: There needs to be a comprehensive effort from the whole government. Specifically, if the government will not enforce zoning regulations, law enforcement is put in an untenable situation. Simpson did not address that topic tonight. He should bring what he learned from Herndon to our new Board members.]
Delgaudio bluntly addressed the nonexistent zoning enforcement in eastern Loudoun County as a key piece of the illegal alien crime puzzle, and Buckley went into more detail, revealing that our zoning investigation process requires investigators to call for an appointment before checking a reported overcrowded house. No surprise there is no enforcement.
Through all of this, I sensed expectation in the audience for answers which were not, up to this point, forthcoming. Within the past three weeks there have been two shootings, a stabbing, one home invasion/sexual assault, another near-home invasion, all within a three mile radius here – along with other incidents not reported in the media (or acknowledged by the Sheriff’s Office or zoning administration). So by the time audience members got to speak there were very pointed criticisms and accusations directed at the Loudoun County government.
During the audience question and answer segment, which lasted from 7:15 until 9:25, the overriding themes were fear, need for more information – especially about gangs in our neighborhoods – exasperation that the county government does not crack down on reported violations of all sorts, and demands that the Loudoun Board of Supervisors do what jurisdictions such as Prince William County and Herndon have done to dissuade illegal aliens from settling here.
Overall, I think 80 percent of the audience was primed to hear how the illegal immigration problem in Sterling was going to be solved. There was a small contingent of Help Save Loudoun members present, of which only one spoke (and not me – I am not even in the group anymore and I have already spoken plenty in this burg, and I am out of that game). But many residents of Sterling are apparently aware of what other jurisdictions have done, and there was loud approval for each call for Loudoun County to do what our neighbors did. HSL might still be small, but the Sterling community has lots of other people who want the problem solved.
Anger about Loudoun County’s lax approach to illegal immigration simmered just beneath the surface of the discussion tonight. It was apparent in the crowd’s frustration when platitudes were being delivered from the podium. But it was also evident in the negative reaction to the few speakers from the audience who tried to make the case that we should not view illegal immigration as the problem here.
Here’s why I think our county officials should pay very close attention to what happened tonight.
Supervisors Buckley, Delgaudio and York specifically addressed the problems everyone sees here every day, and they all stated a sincere commitment to revamping zoning enforcement in eastern Loudoun. That was good. But from other remarks from the dais, the response was not as good. There was a lot of talking about response times and “hotline” numbers for law enforcement bandied about – but everyone in Sterling knows that complaint calls to zoning enforcement are calls into a black hole. According to many local residents, zoning enforcement never enforces anything. And while there was mixed opinion about the Sheriff’s Office, definitely a significant proportion of the crowd had complaints about the department’s effectiveness in Sterling. So there was an undercurrent of cynicism in the audience. Cynicism, and frustration.
By the huge turnout tonight – on short notice – relative to any other community meeting held in Sterling the past four years, it is clear the silent majority is becoming much louder. If there continue to be “incidents” here, the undercurrent will not remain beneath the surface. Tonight we saw frustration, even talk by two audience members of arming themselves and taking action against local gangs. We also saw quite a lot of extreme criticism of the Sheriff’s Office and the Board of Supervisors.
Eastern Loudoun County is a tinderbox. Residents are on edge about the criminals in our midst and about our government agencies not doing their job. The citizens are paying close attention to the government and they are expecting more enforcement of our laws and regulations, quickly.
The next gathering of this sort may require more crowd control if things don’t improve here.
Tags: Sterling
Sally, as is evidenced by every post you write, you are politically tone-deaf, and you see only what you want to see…..facts be damned. Ms. Artman (or the acting Admin) can only do WHAT THE SUPERVISORS gave them authority to do. And the Gang of Five laid theis squarely on the County administation books. It all rest directly upon Rural Economy Lots that were reduced from 15 acres to 7 acres, and the new regulations introduced in 2006 that did not exist prior to that yearby …..Staton, Tulloch, Snow, Clem and Delgaudio. As much as you’re in denial about that, it is fact. Ms. Artman (or the acting Admin over there now) HAS ZERO INPUT as to how they feel about it. They can only execute what they’ve been instructed to by that Tulloch/Staton Plan.
Dean, why don’t you ask Mr. York about it. Ms. Artman made a determination this year that is being appealed to the BZA, and is also the subject of revising the zoning ordinance. It has NOTHING to to with the rural down zoning which INCREASED the size of the rural economy lots to 15 acres, and as you may recall, Staton and Snow voted against that–it was York, Waters, Burton, Kurtz and Tulloch who adopted the rural down zoning and the 15 acre rural economy lot. This has nothing to do with that, it has to do with interpreting the zoning ordinance to conform to the land use rules, which say you have to have 5 acres to qualify for land use–but they do NOT prohibit someone with 4 acres from having a few chickens, several rabbits and three goats in an agriculturally zoned district. You need to check your facts and stop calling me tone deaf–you don’t know what you are talking about.
OK, I have many, many chickens that are pets to my kids (seriously)and also producers of eggs and meat for my family and friends. We also grow corn, tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc. I live on an acre. I am assuming that this new regulation does not apply to folks who have had animals on their less than 5 acres before it was passed. However, if this turns out to be retroactive and zoning shows up at my door I am going to purchase a home in Sterling Park (preferably close to Joe and Linda) and move in with the hubby, kids, dogs, chickens, and perhaps a cousin or two, where I will surely not be bothered by zoning officials.
Laura – that would be an improvement over what is there now in some areas!
HA! You got that right, Laura.
I’d say you need to read what actually passed, Sally.
We wanted 15 acre REL if we could not have the original 2003 plan readvertised and reinstated. Clem switched his vote in the last days before the vote occurred, did not back his own Burton-Clem plan, and it instantly became the Tulloch-Staton Plan, complete with 7 acre REL.
Not sure why you want to argue about Rural Economy Lots (which only come into play when someone is subdividing under the new rules–and there is no subdivision here, only the use of an existing lot.) The issue has to do with keeping small numbers of animals –not a business, but 4H animals–on a lot less than 5 acres–which has nothing to do with “rural economy lots.” As you know, agricultural uses on lots less than 15 acres are allowed, and has always been allowed. And people have always had animals on lots less than 5 acres. New “interpretation” this year, by Melinda Artman, after a neighbor complained about 3 goats, and a notice of violation issued, and appealed to the BZA.
What I am talking about is the extreme over enforcement of zoning in western Loudoun as compared with do nothing zoning enforcement in eastern Loudoun, and the money devoted to the extreme enforcement of our ordinances in western Loudoun. See link for Milari Madison’s house plans that the County has been fighting her from building since 2003. Why would the county spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting the construction of ONE home, when it could be hiring sheriffs and enforcing the zoning ordinance for many in eastern Loudoun. See the Madison’s house plans, and other approved plans and ask yourself why is our government spending so much to fight this and ask yourself if this is a wise expenditure of funds. /Users/Sally/Desktop/Madison Drawings.doc I am not sure if this link is working but I have Milari’s permission to reproduce it, and I think the citizens of this county should see how its leaders are wasting our money fighting ridiculous issues like stopping her from building a very nice home.
DHS illegals tipline 1 (866) DHS-2-ICE
Check this out! As if..
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1135542.html