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

The term housing units used in the Comprehensive Plan is over inclusive. I would place a “divide the question” item on the agenda asking for the BOS to approve the separation of student generating housing (2 bedrooms and more) from single and lower income housing which is less likely to generate students which need to be educated. This should develop into a proportional view meaning that far more housing units which don’t automatically generate students would qualify for approval than multi-bedroom which is much more expensive housing. I do believe that the county itself can financially assist professionals who support the county such as teachers, police, firemen, emergency medical support personnel etc., to move back into Loudoun with property tax credits.

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.

Yes. In discussions with many Supervisors over the years the state itself and VDOT don’t provide their fair share. VDOT doesn’t even meet its own “MINIMUM” published standards for provisioning and maintaining roads it is responsible for. This includes ditches to reduce hydroplaning, well traveled two way roads which are too narrow for lanes to be painted in the middle or using one lane culverts. I believe commutation traffic congestion Loudoun suffers from needs to be addressed with the involvement of the federal government as this is clearly interstate commerce well within DOT jurisdiction. I have publicly discussed this with our current Congresswoman. She is onboard with bringing federal transportation resources into meetings to work on long term solutions. Hopefully, with federal participation, we will see both Maryland and West Virginia also being cooperative. Loudoun needs to go beyond expanding its main arteries. Many roads that interconnect with major roads need to be upgraded. Some obvious examples near where I live are New Valley church, Montressor, Limestone School and Wilt Store Roads all of which could be used by local traffic to get off of Route 15.

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

Yes. The balance between quality commercial and residential has been a long time goal of all the boards since I moved here in 1994. As a former school board member I would assume at some point the more artistic in our community will figure a way to beautify the outsides of these buildings. From a cash flow perspective I would consider asking some of the most flush companies (eg; Microsoft) if they would like to receive a discount on their property taxes by paying in advance so we can catch up on both road infrastructure and school construction both of which seem behind what we need in the county. I would also work with Building and Development to see if there are considerations that could be initiated to put more of these buildings underground as we have both air travel issues and scenic issues to consider. I would not want to see such facilities eat up valuable farmland but I also see such facilities being quite useful to expand rural access to high speed internet by allowing antennas on the roofs of these buildings.
 

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?

Part of the answer is covered in #1 above. I don’t believe the term housing unit is definitional enough to allay concerns over crowded schools, heightened property tax concerns, affordability and traffic concerns. I operate on the basis of focusing on fairness, efficiency and community support when evaluating any public issue. It is with this same level of discipline that I chaired the LCPS finance committee for 7 of the 8 years I was on the school board. Promises made need to be kept so the portion of this plan that seems to violate the prior promises regarding the Transition Area need to be reviewed for consistency or else folks will just vote no to any future plan. There doesn’t seem to be enough discussion in the plan on how each new facility will be traffic neutral or at least how there is a balance being drawn so the net result is positive for the community. With the school system now being about $4.4 Billion behind in school construction there seems to be a gap in proffers or else the BOS needs to raise the cap on capital investment given the current low interest rate environment. I would entertain putting BOS requested revisions on the agenda for consideration.

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

I plan on putting together a BOS meeting with Fairfax in 2020 so we can accomplish some major objectives together which should solve many problems but also open significant opportunities which would include Class A Office Space in Loudoun. The state of Virginia “TAKES” hundreds of millions every year from both Fairfax and Loudoun out of sales tax returns we should receive to support our schools. VDOT is under budgeted in our northern/boundary counties. Dulles Airport is in both counties yet due to a national security law some 40 years ago it was taken over by the federal government providing a sweetheart deal to MWAA. Each of these issues along with the obvious benefit of joint bidding with Fairfax for commodities to lower our costs and expand revenue opportunities should be pursued. Just one of the results would be a better understanding how Class A office space on the border of our counties can be pursued by both counties cooperatively. Even when on the school board I could envision some county offices co-existing with school construction which should be considered as school buildings are community buildings.

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

I am a recently retired attorney with time to fulfill this full time role as a service to the community. I have no ethical or legal conflicts blocking me from accomplishing this. If I was part of an active law firm these would be serious issues that would need to be addressed as there are statutes and ethical rules that would apply. I am quite familiar with the County as I have decades of volunteer experience in the County including the Loudoun Bar, Loudoun Crime Commission, 8 years on the School Board, member of Ruritans, Lucketts pantry volunteer, St. Theresa job help program and 10 years helping the homeless as Vice Chair of the Good Shepherd Alliance. I received 25,000 votes countywide when I ran for Commonwealth Attorney which was more votes than the current incumbent Chair of the BOS so I guess I should be considered the favorite. I practiced law in Loudoun for 24 years and have decades of executive level business experience. I taught finance and government contracting at the Community College level and published a book on investing so working on a countywide budget would be well within my wheelhouse. I have no political aspirations other than to serve the Loudoun community which I doubt is the case for either of my opponents.

Source: BizVotes Candidates Questionnaire