1. How do you plan to address Loudoun’s housing affordability crisis?

When elected I will promote and lead collaborative initiatives among government, the building industry, the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses to increase the availability of affordable housing. This includes working diligently with applicants and county staff on re-zonings that maximize ADU’s and workforce housing. In addition, I will pursue more opportunities to utilize the Housing Trust Fund (HUD and VHDA).

2. Currently, roughly half of Loudoun County’s Capital Investment Plan is dedicated to transportation improvements. Do you support this level of priority for transportation investment? Please explain why, or why not.

I support keeping a high priority on transportation spending. When elected I will work to lower the percentage that comes from local tax dollars and diversify our revenue sources.

3. Should Loudoun continue to encourage the future growth of our data center industry or do you feel certain restrictions are necessary?

Loudoun’s data center business sector is highly successful and makes a substantial contribution to our tax base and community welfare. It is one of Loudoun’s most notable economic assets and should be fully supported by the BOS.

By their nature, data centers need to be clustered. Proximity is a key to performance, and the BOS ought to support this sector as it grows and evolves in current and new industrial and business areas. There are legitimate issues of aesthetics and location and these should always be considerations too.

4. On June 20th the Board of Supervisors adopted the 2019 Comprehensive Plan. What are your thoughts on the adopted plan and how will you seek to improve upon it?

Overall this was a failed process that took too long and lacked the necessary direction from the BOS from the outset. As a result, notwithstanding the best intentions of a wide variety of stakeholders, what was approved was a modest change to what is already in place -- in a sense, “do as little as possible in an election year” to a plan that had not been comprehensively updated in 18 years. We missed the opportunity to properly plan for our future economic development and housing needs and not just worry about the next election.

I attended five of the input sessions and did not see a good cross section of business representation. Small businesses were left out and we need ought to take steps to rectify this. Implementation by the next BOS will be crucial, and when elected I will seek input from small and large business owners to be sure county government takes their needs into account and has an action plan, especially in the area of workforce housing and training.

5. How will you seek to address the scarcity of available Class A office space in Loudoun County?

Getting financing for Class A Offices is challenging, especially for speculative construction. We have seen some of the large office parks built in the 80’s and 90’s in Fairfax County become vacant as the market has changed, and this should never happen in Loudoun if we’re well-prepared to adapt to current and future marked realities.

When elected I will immediately meet with the Department of Economic Development and other stakeholders to discuss strategies for encouraging mixed use development and target landing “Class A users” as part of the project. In 2012, the BOS put in place an incentive fund to attract and retain companies, and I will work to go beyond that fund to attract Class A office, potentially including we may fee and tax incentives.

6. Please tell us why you are the best candidate for this office?

I am the best candidate for the Broad Run District representative on the Board of Supervisors (BOS) thanks to my 20 years of local community leadership and accomplishments. I am a pioneering leader on behalf of Loudoun’s youth, sports, parks, trails and communities, and have served for many years on BOS-appointed boards and commissions, HOAs, and local, state and national non-profit boards, as well to complete an unexpired term on the BOS. My level of community contributions is well known, as is my hard work and willingness to make the tough decision, not just the popular ones.

Through my business, community and government experience I understand the importance of a strong local economy and low taxes, and that an effective economic development strategy must address transportation, education and housing. I will work to ensure the success integration of the new Metro stations into our local economy and transportation network, and on behalf of other transportation solutions too.

I am campaigning in support of positive change in Loudoun County, with a focus on bipartisan solutions to non-partisan challenges.
 

Source: BizVotes Candidates Questionnaire