May 09 2012
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Ken looks to the future

Poor publicity-starved Loudoun Supervisor “Ken” Reid (R-Leesburg) can always be counted on to make a beeline for the Washington Post reporter in the room, and today he was right there following the meeting of the state’s Transportation Secretary with the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce to discuss the Metro extension to Dulles and Loudoun.

By the way, it is apparently now the standard M.O. in Loudoun County that if you want to be a part of high-level discussions about transportation, you need to join the Chamber; this is the second time that the all-Republican cast of  supervisors, since taking office in January, has decided that the fair and open way to have an important meeting in which state officials discuss Loudoun transportation issues is to do it at a Chamber meeting, where you either can pay to attend or be a member. This has nothing to do with all of the help that key Chamber people gave Chairman Scott York (R) in the way of organizing fundraisers, making campaign contributions, being his buddy on an official trip to Germany, etc etc etc.

Anyway, Ken explained to the Post this morning why he is (apparently) going to vote against Metro, offering yet another fine specimen of his keen logical mind at work:

Ken Reid, a Loudoun County supervisor from Leesburg, said he isn’t sure how the Loudoun board will vote on whether to support helping to pay for the second phase of the Silver Line.

He said the new rail line doesn’t relieve traffic congestion in the area because it is expected that there will be more people driving in the future.

Actually, this reasoning offers all sorts of cost-cutting possibilities. We assume Ken will also from now on oppose all road projects, since they too will fail to relieve traffic congestion — since there will be more people driving in the future. Likewise, hiring new teachers will not reduce overcrowding of classrooms since there are expected to be more students in the future; and hiring more deputies will not reduce crime as there are expected to be more criminals in the future.

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May 07 2012
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Scott York’s road-trip buddy

You’d never know about it from reading our local newspapers (no surprises there—but remember, there’s still time to contribute to the Buy Erika a Phone Campaign), but traveling along with Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (R) on his recent extremely important official economic development trip to Germany was Major Republican Campaign Donor (and Owner of the Loudoun Hounds Baseball Team at Kincora Development Maybe Someday) Robert “Bob” Farren.

Scott York (rechts) und Bob Farren (links) auf dem Trainingsgelände der Redwings (courtesy Hofheimer-Zeitung)

I should clarify that the presence of Mr. Farren on this trip was reported in some local newspapers; those newspapers just happened to be in Frankfurt, Germany.

The German media made much of York’s and Farren’s visit to the local baseball team, Die Redwings, in Loudoun’s sister county (“partnerdistrict” in German) Main-Taunus and the exciting news that cooperation between these two very semi-professional ballclubs, one of which does not exist yet, will be “explored.”

Who says these trips don’t produce results.

The Hounds, which is owned by Farren’s Virginia Investment Partnership, is not even going to be a real minor league team like the Frederick Keys (Class A farm team for the Orioles) or the Potomac Nationals in Woodbridge (Class A team for the Nationals)—it will have no affiliation with major league baseball at all. Exactly why Continue reading →

May 03 2012
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Buy Erika a phone!

Our heart goes out to Erika Jacobson Moore, political reporter at Leesburg Today, whose employers are too cheap even to supply her with that basic reporter’s tool, a telephone.

How else can one explain the article after article she writes, quoting only our local elected officials, and never even seeking comment from anyone who might have a differing viewpoint?

Her story yesterday on the supervisors’ vote in favor of the non-Beltway Beltway was only the most recent case in point.

She quotes Chairman Scott York (R-As of Last Year) disparaging critics of the Board’s action, notably the Piedmont Environmental Council: “Come on PEC, lets’ get with it.” But sadly, owing to her employers’ impecuniosity, she was unable to perform even that most elementary reporter’s task which consists of phoning Party B to ask for comment when quoting Party A slamming Party B. Continue reading →

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May 03 2012
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An Outer Beltway by another name . . . still stinks

“Ce n’est pas un Beltway”

Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (R-When It’s Convenient) is absolutely indignant that critics of his new all-Republican Board’s efforts to do the bidding of the developer and road-building industry and pave the way (as it were) for their long-cherished Outer Beltway would have the temerity to actually say out loud that it’s the Outer Beltway.

“It is not a frickin’ beltway,” the eloquent chairman said.

The Board as one of its first acts in January hastened to order up an amendment to the Countywide Transportation Plan widening Belmont Ridge Road/Rt 659; with dazzling speed the amendment sailed through the Planning Commission and was put on a fast track for the Supervisors’ final approval, duly voted yesterday. Although last-minute neighborhood opposition succeeded in keeping Belmont Ridge Road designated as an eventual 4-lane (though still within a 150-foot right of way  . . . hmmmm), the Board approved expanding the rest of the road to 6 lanes. Continue reading →

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May 01 2012
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Still MORE stupid sign tricks

Tomorrow our fearless Board is scheduled to take up the various brilliant schemes that Supervisor Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian) et al. have devised to pretend to be doing something about the epidemic of illegal signs littering our roadways.

Since abolishing the extremely effective volunteer clean-up program promptly upon taking office in January as  (a) a payoff to the developers who put them in office and (b) payback to those who opposed them, the new Board has been scrambling to cover its collective posterior with all sorts of half-baked schemes that will give the illusion of enforcing the law against illegal signs, while doing almost nothing in reality. Continue reading →

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