novatownhall blog

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.

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!

UPDATE: Dave Weigel unearths more about the image that launched a thousand hits (per half hour).

After the recent Halloween unpleasantness the best quick response was that of Shaun Kenney, who asked, basically: “Huh?”

[Note to LCRC: Next crisis, consider hiring Shaun as your first step.]

It’s a fascinating episode for one week out from what had threatened to be a pretty dry election run-up. On one level, you have the mistake itself, magnified by – in its devastating splendor – technology! – for without the means to quickly grab and circulate an image, the newsletter in question would have been before multiple pairs of eyes.

There’s the laughable immediate response from the LCRC, about which there will be PR and communications textbook chapters, mark my words.

And of course there is the usual mock horror from the usual sensitivity police, awaiting with hair trigger reflexes anything that can be construed as offensive. So when something like this episode occurs – a blunder which, coming from an official party committee, would have elicited an explanation even in less superficial times – most public figures are so well trained they race to the denunciation podium. “Most” – thank goodness – not all.

To put it all in perspective, and say thanks to all the public officials who held their voices for a day, here are some images pulled from around the Web out of a quick image search, including great compilations at Zombietime blog and Sodahead.

There may be coverage, or not, depending on the weather. It may be too sultry to blog.

In any case, we have the comments and can use them. Or you can just visit Too Conservative.

UPDATE 1:05 pm:

I think York won – just saw a disappointed person from
the Stockman camp walk out of the counting room.

UPDATE:

York: “We will make the board Republican 9-0.”

Chapman wins 2567 – 1114.

UPDATE:

It ended with a very upbeat request for nominating Scott York by acclamation by Steve Stockman. He was a complete gentleman and, as Barbara Munsey noted on the way out, Stockman handled the Convention exactly as it is supposed to be done. You play by the rules and accept the results graciously. Thanks to Steve Stockman for the hard fought campaign.

UPDATE: # of delegate and “votes per delegate” weighting:

Dulles 43 – 9.67
Algonquin 97 – 5.22
Blue Ridge 166 – 3.30
Catoctin 245 – 2.33
Leesburg 125 – 3.49
Broad Run 74 – 5.47
Sterling 100 – 3.32
Ashburn 111 – 4.63

UPDATE:

The E.W. Jackson table looked like the busiest section of the candidates’ tabletop area following the morning speeches. Who is E.W. Jackson? I did not know either, but after giving the only speech of the prospective 2012 Republican nominees for U.S. Senate that stirred excitement in the room, a lot of Loudoun County Republicans were asking the same question. Wow. Visit him on Facebook and Twitter. (Yeah, I am in the tank for him already):

Because much information from the 1980s is not readily accessible online, facts about Steve Stockman’s record as an elected official in Loudoun County are hard to come by. But not impossible.

To summarize:

In 1984, while homeowners were seeing their real estate tax bills increase substantially, and the new proposed tax rate was at $1.10, Steve Stockman wanted the county to spend even more on government projects that were important to Steve Stockman but definitely went beyond (as he likes to say in his 2011 campaign materials) “what the taxpayer can reasonably be expected to pay.”

In 1988, Steve Stockman joined with the Democrats to raise taxes, raise spending, and increase the size of the Loudoun County government by 12% in a single year.

When he held elected office, Steve Stockman was no champion of fiscal restraint and there is no evidence he was as fiscally conservative as Scott York.

Steve Stockman, a candidate for the Republican nomination for chairman of the Loudoun County board of supervisors, is challenging Scott York, the current chairman.

Mr. York is a conservative who left the Republican Party early in the last decade following an intraparty dispute, and since has been elected to consecutive terms in the chairman’s seat as an Independent. He has rejoined the local GOP for the current election cycle, and has garnered the endorsements of every local elected Republican to make an endorsement for the chairman’s race as well as from many other prominent Virginia Republicans.

Mr. York has served on the board of supervisors since 1996. Mr. Stockman served on the board from 1983-1991.

Mr. Stockman’s main selling point during his campaign of the past two months has been to imply that he is the more fiscally conservative of the two, evidenced primarily by the fact that real estate tax rates have risen during Mr. York’s 15-year term in office and that Mr. York supposedly has shown insufficient commitment to reducing taxes and the size of local government.

Mr. Stockman’s supporters, in particular at this blog, have certainly painted him as the true conservative in this race.

Mr. Stockman has presented himself as a tax cutter and reducer of government spending, albeit with no data to make his case save for that contained in campaign literature circulated by the Stockman campaign in the past few weeks.

For example, a recent Stockman campaign email claimed: “Tax rates were never above one dollar and two cents in all the years Steve Stockman was in office, and it was significantly below a dollar in those years.” Mr. Stockman’s literature gives the impression that he personally stood for absolute fiscal restraint during his terms in office.

Press reports from the 1980s (from the Washington Post archives) tell a different story.

The Washington Post, May 10, 1984

The Post reported the board’s vote approving

…a $71 million fiscal 1985 budget, which includes a 10 percent increase in teacher salaries and a 3-cent cut in the real estate tax rate to $1.10 per $100 of assessed value. The budget represents a 10.6 percent increase in spending over the current fiscal year.

Despite the rate cut, homeowners will still be paying more in real estate taxes next year because home assessments in Loudoun have risen an average of 11 percent. The owner of a home valued at $70,000 will be paying about $55 more in taxes because of higher assessments …

Two supervisors who voted against the budget said they did so for different reasons:

Supervisor Andre R. Bird III, a Republican, said the board should not have singled out teacher salaries for cuts without trimming the county’s general budget as well.

Supervisor Steve W. Stockman said the board did not leave enough in the budget for ongoing capital projects. He cited the county’s commitment to provide the Center for Innovative Technologies with utilities and a landfill project as areas that may be inadequately funded.

Source: The Washington Post, May 10, 1984, p. VA B8

Mr. Stockman voted against the budget – because it reduced county spending by too much – even while the average Loudoun County taxpayer was being squeezed by increasing assessments.

The Washington Post, May 17, 1988

In 1988, the Post reported on the previous day’s vote by the Loudoun County board of supervisors to approve a budget to “raise real estate taxes for the typical homeowner by 23 percent,” resulting in a county budget 32 percent higher than the previous year.

On a 6-to-2 vote, the board boosted the tax rate from 88 cents to 95 cents per $100 of assessed value…

Much of the increased spending has been earmarked for services.

The FY 1989 budget included:

• funds to buy land for a new county office building
• purchase of the Claude Moore farm site
• add more than 100 county staff positions to the 900 then-current employees

One of only two Republicans on the board, Supervisor James F. Brownell (Blue Ridge) voted against the increase, saying, “We’re spending so much money so fast.”

The board’s only other Republican, Steve Stockman (Broad Run) voted with the Democrat majority for the tax and new government spending increases.

Voting for the budget and tax plan were Bos, Chairman Betty W. Tatum (D-Guilford) and Supervisors Alice G. Bird (I-Sterling), Thomas S. Dodson (D-Mercer), Ann B. Kavanagh (D-Dulles) and Steve W. Stockman (R-Broad Run). Opposing it were Brownell and Supervisor Betsey Brown (D-Catoctin).

Source: The Washington Post, May 17, 1988, p. d.05

Those acquainted with Scott York know he is a fiscal and social conservative seeking to restrain the growth of the government, reduce public spending and build the business tax base in Loudoun County – which by most accounts would be considered the “conservative” platform for county policy during the next four years.

Of course, over the course of 15 years, nearly all “conservative” elected officials will commit political or public policy acts that will tick off others, and Mr. York has been no exception.

Those acquainted with Mr. Stockman also know he has conservative tendencies – at least in his talking points – but the record shows that when he was in office he was enmeshed in the same nuances and gray areas as anyone else involved with public policy. To put it more bluntly: The record shows that when he served on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Steve Stockman voted for bigger government and higher taxes while taxpayers were being squeezed already.

The record also shows – by its sheer emptiness – that since 1991, Mr. Stockman has taken no role in promoting or implementing conservative policies in Loudoun County, even in recent years when many, many elected and unelected citizens, including Scott York, were working publicly to do exactly that.

And now that Steve Stockman is once again talking about public policy, one has to wonder whether he even understands the issues in Loudoun County.

He said recently that transportation is “not that big” of an issue because “You can make improvements around the margins, but people will decide to live and commute based on their own individual choices … You know, commuting, it’s all voluntary.”

That position reveals an aloofness – a distance from reality – that many Loudoun residents should find troubling in someone aspiring to hold the highest elected position in the county. It shows Steve Stockman to be much more a “country club Republican” than a conservative or even just a problem-solver, regardless of ideology.

This is from the Scott York campaign.

Dear Delegate,

Yesterday, Loudoun taxpayers and commuters won a great victory on the Rail to Dulles project. The Airports Authority finally agreed to my demand and cut more than Half a Billion Dollars from its bloated budget by switching from their boondoggle below-ground rail station.

I have worked hard with Governor Bob McDonnell’s administration and Congressman Frank Wolf to force MWAA to scrap the underground station and build the much cheaper aerial station. With this victory yesterday and other cost-saving measures such as privatizing the parking garages and reducing the size of the rail yard, the cost of Rail to Dulles is nearly back to its original projected price tag instead of grossly over budget.

Steve Stockman simply does not support rail to Loudoun. This project is vital to the growth of the commercial development in the Dulles corridor and expanding Loudoun’s commercial tax base so we can lower residential property taxes!

On Saturday, you have an opportunity to support the one Chairman candidate who has been actually doing something to fix our transportation problems – and cut costs. Mr. Stockman still thinks transportation is “not that big” of an issue. (Ashburn Patch, May 24, 2011 candidate interview)

I would be honored to have your support at the Republican convention! Please vote for Scott York to help keep Governor McDonnell’s promise of keeping Virginia moving forward.

Sincerely,

Scott York