novatownhall blog

Frank Wolf has just released a damning indictment of MWAA’s crooked accounting and business practices. How can our BOS continue to pursue rail under these conditions? Thank God at least one of our elected officials is standing up and looking out for the Loudoun public at large. It is a shame that none of our elected ‘conservatives’ on the BOS, have not been able to find a voice as clear as Congressman Wolf …

Dear Secretary LaHood:

I am deeply troubled by the findings released today in the interim report from the department’s Inspector General (IG) on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (WMAA) Board of Directors. I requested this audit last year and am sure you agree that the report raises significant concerns about the current board’s policies and procedures, including contracting practices, ethics and transparency. This demands immediate action.

Most egregious are the IG’s findings about MWAA’s contracting practices. The report notes that in many cases MWAA failed to even abide by its own established contracting procedures, which already fall short of industry standards. Particularly concerning are the number of sole source contracts issued. As you know, MWAA is required by law to fully compete any contract over $200,000, with limited exceptions. Yet the IG’s report states that “[d]uring the period of our review, MWAA awarded five sole source contracts that were over $200,000, but did not fall under any of MWAA’s categorical exemptions. These contract awards, which amount to $6 million, did not have Board approval.” Not only did MWAA abuse the exemptions permitted under federal law, they issued numerous contracts that failed to meet even these basic standards.

The report points out that while MWAA’s Contracting Manual says some exemptions are allowed, but “comprise only a small portion of MWAA’s contracts and their dollar value,” the IG found that the use of exemptions “has amounted to 40 percent of the Authority’s $589 million in contract awards during the period of our review.”

The rest of the letter only gets worse, the rest of it can be found here. Scott York, Ralph Buona, Shawn Williams and Matt Letourneau are hellbent on hitching us to the MWAA/WMATA plow. Please call or write to these men and try to talk some sense into them. Time is running out for Loudoun.

The proposition of having 2.6 miles of light rail track connecting Ryan Rd and Old Ox to the rest of the Silver Line is currently being considered by the BOS. It appears that support for this measure is crumbling in the face of the fiscal reality. What worries me most is the fact that this board is trying to come to a final decision in less than six months. Metro will have a larger monetary impact on Loudoun County than the CBPO. Think about that.

All this to get an estimated 12,000 riders? The report that claims this number assumes people are willing to pay for a $10-$20 round trip into Fairfax to DC. Why do this when the current bus system does the same job for a lot less? Why ride when driving costs less, but is more convenient? The price does not include the cost of parking your car at the Metro. The estimated ridership has been called into question given the reality of the cost for using the service. The ridership will be lower. We are looking a cost per rider to the tax payer that is in the thousands. Think about that.

Now, The in politics the golden rule is, “He who controls the gold, makes the rules.” How much Loudoun tax money will MWAA and WMATA have control over, if Loudoun opts-in? Loudoun will be giving up a fair amount of autonomy because the county will be on the hook to feed the Union Machine that is MWAA/WMATA. This is a lot of money for Loudouners to pay just for two periphery stations at the end of the Silver Line. The time for a Loudoun Rail has not yet arrived — and it should never yoke us to the union machine in DC.

MWAA and WMATA are organizations that do not represent the interests of Northern Virginia. They are run by union interests; 80% of metro employees are union members from Maryland and DC. The boards of these organizations force Fairfax, and the other NVA municipalities to pay more than their fair share for rail service, but these municipalities do not have much of a voice in the decision making processes. Governor McDonnell, in an interview on WMAL, lamented this fact. WMATA and MWAA cater to their DC and Maryland Unions, not to the tax payers of Northern Virginia. This is the political landscape that York is rushing us into. Why?

Currently Loudoun is on the hook for 4.8% of the $6.0B that is the price tag for Silver Line construction. The construction bonds could be in MWAA’s name. MWAA due to its poor historic handling of its finances, has a BBB credit rating. This means that they cannot secure 4% loans; the best they can get is 6%. The life time cost for servicing what would be Loudoun’s $285,000,000.00 share of these bonds is around $605,000,000.00. Lets now consider the Capital Improvement Costs that are in the neighborhood of $13.5B, what if Loudoun were saddled with 4.8% of that mountain of debt? Then add in a yearly operating budget of of around $13M. The operating budget is based on WMATA’s estimate — this organization has a poor record when it comes to all matters fiscal — the real operating budget likely will be far higher. Think about what this will do to our taxes. Now remember that MWAA and WMATA get to pump all this tax money into their general fund before it is put towards its intended use. Think about that.

This is a bad deal for Loudoun. Mr. York should know better, but he apparently does not. We are being set up to pay millions per year in order to restore the badly mismanaged MWAA budget. Even the original loans for metro, still have not been fully retired. We are seen as a cash cow by DC and MD Unions; a cash cow that is to be milked for all it is worth. All this just to get 2.6 miles of rail into one corner of the county. York claims this is needed to reduce traffic congestion, when the studies show it will do no such thing. The plan makes no sense Chairman York, why are you pushing us into this?

Why is Loudoun County considering spending a fortune on rail? Proponents claim it will bring business to our county. But at what cost? What will happen to property taxes? How much debt will Loudoun incur? What is Loudoun’s part in subsidizing WMATA? These questions cannot be answered yet as the needed information, for an informed decision, does not yet exist. The eye-popping figure of $2.5B to $3.5B is the price for a commuter line to Loudoun with stations at Dulles Airport, Old Ox Rd. and Ryan Rd which is only Part II of the program.

Who currently owns properties that will benefit most from these public infrastructure upgrades? Moorefield Station will be zoned for 1500 units without rail. With rail, it will be zoned for 6000 units. The people of Loudoun are being used to finance these capital improvements. Normally a tax district for such public works is established so that those who benefit the most will bear some of the burden directly. York and some on the BOS prefer instead to cut from one program so that he can the throw this venture’s costs onto the back of the Loudoun taxpayer. The figure may grow if union set asides are not rejected. Yet, with all these unanswered questions and no tax district, Chairman York claims this is good for Loudoun?

The debt service for WMATA is currently unknown. Wolf has called for an audit, the report is due in May. York is resolved to give WMATA Loudoun’s buy-in by July despite not knowing what will be our share of this debt burden or its size? The MD-DC-VA Metro system is 35 years old, it is falling apart, the reports of escalators failing and trains breaking down are but the tip of the iceberg. The BOS does not know the overhaul cost of the system. The BOS should not sign on until after the price tag has been explained and the public been given time to determine if the service is worth the price. On April 17th WMATA makes a presentation at 7PM to the BOS to address some, but not all of the issues. Public input follows in May and a vote has to happen by July? The rush is reminiscent of the CBPO boondoggle, where York jumped ship.

If Loudoun has to raise $300M in bonds to pay for its share of the Silver Line costs, it will cost $17M per year to service the bond, assuming a 30-year bond at 5%. Such a bond would lead to a two cent hike in the property tax. The total price tag could be far higher. Currently bond service is divorced from ridership for all of Metro. With a population of 310,000, Loudoun does not have enough potential rail commuter demand to justify all these potential expenses. Currently, Fairfax subsidizes the cost of the rail lines to the tune of $0.58 for every dollar spent. Given Fairfax has 1.1M people, it is likely the Loudoun subsidy will need to be far higher. York, who claims this is a good idea, has not yet exercised proper due diligence in this matter. MD-DC-VA-Metro rail has been a money pit since its inception. How is Loudoun’s joining that failed venture a good idea? How is an increased tax burden going to bring business to Loudoun?

Driving the Dulles Toll road, you can see office buildings on both sides of the road from Tysons to Reston to Herndon. Loudoun has become the bedroom community for Fairfax. The Dulles corridor was built up without the help of a rail line. In Reston town center you will find bus stops, but no train station. Rail is coming to Reston and Herndon. First came the roads, then the office buildings, the town center business parks and the restaurants and shops to service these enterprises. Then comes the rail. This robust development is the result of professional community planning that is logical, has vision, and adds the most expensive elements once there is a business base in place to shoulder the cost.

We are 20 years behind Fairfax because, under Chairman York, the BOS’s engaged in unprofessional and unpredictable community planning. First came the homes without roads. Then came the Democrat-dominated board in 2007, that was actively hostile to business. These Democrats were publicly endorsed by Chairman York. This last board raised business taxes, resulting in a loss of businesses in Loudoun. With the business community collapsing, the York protegees decided that the most pressing business was to enact the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance? Today you can see where the Fairfax County border is on VA28 and US50 very clearly. It is where the office buildings and business parks suddenly end. Such is the legacy of York’s leadership the past 12+ years as Chairman of the BOS.

Will York stop the current rush to Rail? First Loudoun needs some solid community planning, a business friendly climate, and a professional, predictable process for business development. When the Greenway from Dulles to Leesburg begins to resemble the Toll Road corridor between Reston and Herndon, and when VA28 north of Dulles has the office density that one sees in Chantilly, then it will be time to consider Metro rail. Right now, Mr. York, that consideration is still years away.

To understand the role the gay/LGBT ideologues play among liberal activists requires only three words: “Abigail Williams Syndrome” (with a hat tip to Arthur Miller).

In the following video, Winona Ryder portrays David or Jonathan Weintraub – take your pick; the group of cowed, compliant girls are liberal activists; and the judge is, well, you.

Get the full force of the metaphor – by all means watch the entire movie.

In compiling a wrap-up of all the anger and misinformation that outsiders brought into the Sterling community during the campaign season (and continuing right into election day), I found the witch hunt against Eugene Delgaudio stood out as Exhibit A.

The gay/LGBT “pink piper” ideologues have successfully convinced most liberals that anyone disagreeing with a gay fatwa is evil, hateful, and inciting others to violence.

The phenomenon was brought vividly into focus for me after the election during this attempt at across-the-aisle conversation. If you were to read all the comments – which I would not presume to recommend, but go ahead if you have the time – what you would find is that local liberals cannot even engage in open discussion when the subject is someone under accusation (particularly when Abigail herself is in the vicinity).

I wander over to that blog once in a while, and nearly every time I am subjected to interrogation regarding Eugene Delgaudio. And as you can see, regardless of what I say, the only acceptable response I could give would be to pronounce Eugene evil, to join the witch hunt – to fall in with the choir of shivering girls.

How has the local “Abigail Williams” faction gained such an opinion-forming role in the political community?

This is just a theory, and not just about Loudoun County but the country as a whole, so it may be overly general, but I think it gets close to the truth:

I think the gay spokespeople have stepped in to fill a void in the liberal value structure, and conservatives have been caught so flat-footed by the challenge from “left field” that to a large extent they have not yet put it into perspective nor fashioned a forceful response.

With the dismaying conclusions of the Clinton and Bush presidencies for liberals and conservatives, respectively; the unresolved natures of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; the extended financial crisis; the continuing disappearance of any articulated moral consensus in popular culture (including within the religious communities); and the crushing reality of a disappointing Obama presidency – “liberalism” and “conservatism” are now being redefined, as we speak, both in terms of philosophy and public policy.

Amidst this period of redefinition – this fluid landscape – there has blossomed a moment of influence for progressive sexual ideologues.

And why not? They are one of very few players in that space right now.

“Family values” is but a hoary remnant of political-sloganeering days gone by; abortion (for or against) is hardly a front-burner issue. About the only … well that may be an exaggeration, but certainly among the most ubiquitous and consistent statements regarding sexual morality and sexual matters in general are coming from the gay community. They’ve got a core set of issues which they continue to talk about, and whether you agree or disagree you must acknowledge they are focused, persistent and effective in the court of public opinion.

And they’ve done a very good job during a period of fading moral consensus of claiming, for a time, the high ground.

Make no mistake, they have not taken that ground by persuasion nor consensus of the majority population. They have commandeered a perch of moral superiority through scorched earth tactics and a flamethrower ready for any voice of opposition.

Opponents of the gay agenda are only of two types, according to the progressive ideologists:

Either they are quietly uneducated or ignorant, which means they simply have not yet learned to vote correctly.

Or, they are loud and influential – which means under fatwa; evil, hateful, inciting violence; walkers with the Devil …

Witches.

We all know which category Mr. Delgaudio has gotten himself into.

Like Abigail, convinced of the sanctity of their own personal agenda, the gay ideologues allow no opposition – for opposition is of the Devil – and they also allow no wavering among supporters nor those erstwhile on the sidelines. Anyone and everyone within earshot must join the choir of accusers, must agree that the accused is wholly and truly a witch who must recant or be hanged – and all who do not join in the accusation are immediately charged as witches themselves.

The insanity and hysteria was over in Salem, Massachusetts by 1700. Perhaps on November 8, 2011, the citizens of Sterling, Virginia finally signaled an end to the Loudoun County witch hunt.

UPDATE: As Wolverine just summed it up: “You either bend a knee to the resident judge of all moral standards, swear to reform yourself, and condemn Eugene Delgaudio to perdition or you are labeled permanently as immoral.”

In yesterday’s election, Republicans swept all major offices in the Loudoun County government (click here and scroll down to see all results).

Loudoun County winners and your key elected officials for the next four years:

SHERIFF: Mike Chapman
COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY: Jim Plowman
COMMISSIONER OF THE REVENUE: Bob Wertz
TREASURER: Roger Zurn

Board of Supervisors

CHAIRMAN: Scott York
ALGONKIAN DISTRICT: Suzanne Volpe
ASHBURN DISTRICT: Ralph Buona
BLUE RIDGE DISTRICT: Janet Clarke
BROAD RUN DISTRICT: Shawn Williams
CATOCTIN DISTRICT: Geary Higgins
DULLES DISTRICT: Matt Letourneau
LEESBURG DISTRICT: Ken Reid
STERLING DISTRICT: Eugene Delgaudio

In other races, Dick Black won the 13th Senate District seat; Patricia Phillips fell short in her second attempt to take the seat of Democrat Mark Herring in the 33rd Senate District; Randy Minchew won the 10th District seat in the House of Delegates; and David Ramadan holds a 50-vote lead in his bid to win the new 87th House seat over Democrat Mike Kondtratick – a result that likely will be determined after a recount.

The local results represent a stunning, historic triumph for the Loudoun County Republican Committee (LCRC), which only a week ago was enmeshed in a controversy over a Halloween-themed email. Loudoun voters apparently were far less concerned about that email than about the future of the county.

Congratulations to the LCRC and the successful slate of Republican candidates!

At Santini’s in Sterling this summer, George Allen summed up what has made Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio such an asset to the Sterling community for the past 12 years.

Former Virginia Governor and Senator George Allen’s statement of endorsement for Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio:

What we can show here with Eugene Delgaudio is a person who is applying those common sense conservative principles.

Those foundational values. That philosophy of trusting free people and free enterprise.

Here at a local level he is taking care of what people care about.

He cares about transportation. That’s a kitchen table issue for any one of us in the region.

He cares about safe communities – to make sure our children are safe. He has been a leader in that.

Eugene cares about accountability in the schools: not just how much is being spent, but also making sure young people are being taught how to read and write and speak the English language and higher levels of math and science and history.

Eugene has been a firebrand for our principles.

Eugene has been a firebrand – though with results.

You see it here in Sterling District. He has also been one who has survived a lot of different waves

(Eugene is) one who keeps winning

With Eugene Delgaudio you have someone who is a proven leader.

A person who you know where his principles are and you know what his philosophy is and you have seen his votes.

He got involved fighting the meals tax long ago. I worked against meals taxes too. I have fought the meals tax.

Eugene Delgaudio has been that person, a leader who has been the taxpayers friend.

Thank you for supporting Eugene. He’s a great guy and a great worker.

The color orange, for the campaign color, shows a fighting spirit.