Political Shift In Loudoun County?

February 1, 2006

We try to stay away from commenting on the politics of the county but recent election results are interesting enough to make a statement. First, our new governor Tim Kaine follows Mark Warner, both democrats. A prominent republican state delegate, Dick Black, lost to a democrat. And now, a special election held yesterday to replace republican state senator Bill Mims went to Mark Herring, also a democrat. The statement being made by county citizens is that we need to put the brakes on accelerating growth, fix our transportation problems and focus on improving education. Turn out was light as 14% of the eligible voters elected Herring with 68% of the votes.

Here is a simple look at the problems our elected officials are facing:

• Adequate transportation is not keeping up with the rapid growth in the county (same is true for all of Northern Virginia). It takes hours at times to get somewhere that should only be minutes.
• New schools are being built at break neck speed because of the population explosion. Loudoun has consistently ranked in the top three counties nationally for growth.
• Average tax assessments have risen by 20 to 25% per year for the past 3 years. County government spending is rising on the order of 17% per year.
• Loudoun County continues a trend of being one of the most affluent and, at the same time, unaffordable to those we need to provide police and fire services and teach our children. Many of these town and county employees live 25 to 50 miles away from the county center in more affordable areas of West Virginia (also experiencing rapid growth and rising home prices because of the demand).
• Growth controls in the western part of the county that is predominately rural has land owners up in arms because government is taking away their appreciation in land values. Their property value may be the only asset remaining in their families.

We are on a collision course with transportation grid lock (already developing) and not enough money to fund badly needed county services and to build new schools for our children. Who got us into this predicament? Our elected officials see sawing to the extremes by special interest groups. I don't know who has the better solutions; democrats or republicans. What this commentator does know is that we need to STOP the extreme views and demand that our elected officials at the state and local level find a central ground that puts us on a corrective course for the next several years. No matter what, I suspect we will be paying higher taxes to pay our way out of it. Government has us by the nose and it is beginning to hurt.

"Here's another fine mess you've gotten me into!" [Oliver Hardy]

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