Tag Archives: Loudoun Museum

Sep 05 2012
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If you can’t beat ’em . . . just slip ’em a slow-acting poison

Loudoun Supervisor and Man of Principles (he has one to cover every eventuality) “Ken” Reid (R-Leesburg), having been caught by surprise (so what else is new) by the outcry over his proposal to axe all funding for the Loudoun Museum, now “explains” he never really wanted to destroy the museum, just “help” it.

“Ken”‘s motion to kill the museum was going to be voted on at the last meeting of the Board before its well-earned two-month recess back in July, having already been approved by the Board’s finance committee, with Reid and others murmuring very businesslike utterances about what a bad business museums in general are. Continue reading →

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Jul 23 2012
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Out of sight, out of mind

Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (R) made it clear from the start back in January that he wanted to put a big smiley face on the actions of his new all-Republican board to prevent the disaster of the previous GOP-majority Tulloch Board (2003–2007), which matched its corrupt giveaways to the developers with a remarkably confrontational and offensive public posture, which was a bit of a giveaway in itself. The Tulloch Board’s majority made a point of deriding anyone who spoke up for historic preservation, environmental safeguards, or who even attempted to make the obvious point that throwing the county open to unbridled growth would send property tax bills soaring to meet the need for new schools and other services.

The York strategy in its first six months has been to cloak its giveaways to the developers in bland congeniality while keeping any hint of controversy swept under the rug. Continue reading →

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Jul 16 2012
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Who needs museums when you have the Redskins, sort of

Without batting an eye, our unanimously fiscally highly responsible all-Republican Loudoun Board of Supervisors recently approved handing over $2 million of your tax dollars to the Washington Redskins football team — part of a larger $6.4 million payoff negotiated by highly fiscally responsible free-market champion Republican Governor Bob McDonnell.

Major Loudoun Tourist Attraction: A corporate office building

The deal, it was explained, will ensure that the Redskins keep their corporate HQ in Loudoun for at least a few more years. Supervisor Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run), a big fan, could hardly contain his excitement about what a coup this was for Loudoun . . . even though, just a minor detail, the team will still be abandoning its training camp in Loudoun next year. But Williams explained that the move of the training camp to Richmond was being made “for football related reasons” and, after all, who are we to question “football related reasons”: it’s not as if handing over a mere $2 million in free money to a large for-profit company entitles us to be that presumptuous.

The money by the way comes from the Transit and Occupancy Tax, and is required by state law to be spent “solely for tourism and travel, marketing of tourism, or initiatives” that increase overnight visitors staying in hotels and motels. Continue reading →

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