realloudoun

Among the lame excuses the all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors gave last year for why they could not enforce the law prohibiting people from sticking signs all over the public rights of way was that any fines collected have to go to the state Department of Transportation; thus the county could not recoup the costs of enforcing the law.

Of course the county does not recoup the costs of enforcing most laws —  laws are intended to protect the public interest, not generate revenue streams or pay for themselves. And the county already has the authority to remove illegal signs and seek court orders against serial offenders. (Not that it does either one, since the new Board abolished the *volunteer* sign cleanup program that cost virtually nothing.)

But now Creigh Deeds, Democratic state senator from Charlottesville, has filed a bill in Richmond Continue reading →

Back in November, when Loudoun Supervisor Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run) announced he planned to bring up a motion to strip as-yet-unindicted fellow supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) of his committee assignments as a sanction for his illegal fundraising activities on county time, Chairman Scott York (R) immediately canceled the next business meeting of the Board to prevent the matter from coming up.

Not a peep has been heard since about the Board’s views about Delgaudio’s ethical malfeasance and misuse of office and county-paid staff.

But lo and behold, when the new committee assignments for the year were revealed last week by York, and promptly unanimously approved without debate (as usual for this board), Degaudio’s name was not to be found among them. Continue reading →

From the get-go, our all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors set out to show their extreme gratitude to the commercial developers who poured half a million bucks into local GOP coffers for the 2011 election: among other steps, they immediately abolished the volunteer program to remove illegally posted signs along the county’s roads, apparently on the grounds that it was too successful.

The Board then promptly overrode the county’s carefully worked-out zoning rules for permanent commercial signs, allowing One Loudoun to erect two electronic billboards — something forbidden by the statute and not allowed anywhere else in the county.

Now the Board rings in the new year with more goodies for the developers who want to get around the sign rules everyone else has to follow Continue reading →

In the annals of politicians’ lame excuses, Supervisor Janet Clarke (R-Blue Ridge) seems to be vying with as-yet-undicted fellow supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) for the place of distinction on our all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors.

In her role as vice-chairman for the past year, Clarke has apparently been less than popular with her fellow board members, though part of the friction is no doubt due to Chairman Scott York’s well-known short fuse and condescending attitude toward women. Be that as it may, Clarke sent out a sudden “newsletter” three days ago announcing she will not be seeking to continue as vice-chairman (the position is elected by the nine board members themselves) for the remainder of her four-year term.

No politician in history has ever said, “I’m stepping down because I am a total failure,” of course, but Continue reading →

Loudoun Republican Supervisor (but I repeat myself) Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run) certainly has no shortage of chutzpah when it comes to carrying water for the commercial developers who bankrolled his election campaign.

This week he sent out another one of his “newsletters” bemoaning the terrible fact that “Loudoun’s residential-commercial imbalance has led to one of the highest property taxes south of the Mason-Dixon Line.”

Let us parse this statement. Continue reading →