Now some Political Action Committee named “Moving Virginia Forward” is littering the landscape with mailers using this same deceptive tactic to camouflage Ann Wheeler’s’ feigned concern for Prince William County taxpayers.
The return address on their mailers is the UPS store in Gainesville. Now that’s transparency.
Their mailers also misleadingly claim that she “made data centers pay their fair share” even though the county’s $2.15 computer and peripherals tax rate is still only 52% of Loudoun’s $4.15 rate, and Chair Wheeler initially voted against raising the C&P tax rate, which passed despite her opposition.
Who are the donors behind “Moving Virginia Forward?” You can’t tell because, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a Democratic PAC with that name went dormant in 2010. It must have been resuscitated just in time to conjure up accomplishments to bolster our beleaguered Chair’s reelection effort. It’s telling that our chair can’t even take credit for her own dubious self-promotion.
If Ann Wheeler wants to claim credit for something she actually did, she could brag about killing more trees than any of her predecessors. Nobody would give her an argument about that.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
I am writing to encourage my friends and neighbors in Prince William County residents to elect Jeanine Lawson for Chair of the Board of Supervisors.
I was fortunate to serve with Jeanine on the Board of Supervisors when our terms overlapped from late 2014 to early 2016. During our brief service together, I was able to observe Jeanine’s leadership firsthand. I was always impressed with her preparation and passion for the citizens of our county.
She always did her homework and worked to protect the quality of life that we in Prince William County enjoy. That quality of life, however, is not guaranteed. It takes leadership and the right vision to protect our community.
Unfortunately, on issues like taxes, public safety, and development, we are headed in the wrong direction. That’s why we need Jeanine.
Over the last few years, we have seen increases in our property taxes and the imposition of a new meals tax. This has given the board lots of new revenue. Yet despite all this new money, the board has not added police officers quickly enough to meet demand as per the county’s police staffing plan. And the countywide crime rate has risen each of the last two years.
In the area of development, we have seen the proliferation of data center approvals. While these may bring the county more revenue, they will obliterate the beauty and tranquility of our rural area, damage our environmental resources, and impact the quality of life of our neighbors. We have also seen new residential development that will increase the costs of infrastructure and government services. Yet we have not seen a commitment to preserving open spaces and natural resources as we grow.
We need a new vision. We need a new leader to address the issues affecting us all. That leader is Jeanine Lawson.
We need Jeanine because she’s proven she can tackle divisive issues and stand up for the majority of Prince William County residents. We want someone that will fight to protect our quality of life. We want someone to preserve open space and protect our watersheds.
We want a leader who will be smart about spending and make investments that will keep our community safe. Jeanine Lawson will get it done for us. She will stand up for our community–not political donors and special interests.
I encourage you to vote for Jeanine Lawson for Chairman. Please vote Jeanine
Lawson in the Republican Primary on Tuesday, June 20, between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. at your regular polling location.
Michael C. May
Former Prince William County Occoquan District Supervisor
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
This spike in violent and property crimes has impacted every corner of Prince William County, and our communities yearn for a leader who can decrease crime and ensure the safety of their neighborhoods and schools.
InsideNova reported that violent crime has risen to pre-pandemic levels, including the fact that there were double the number of homicides in 2022 compared to 2021. Violent and property crime rates often rise with warmer weather and it’s those types of crimes that the county is having issues with.
In 2022 there were 571 motor vehicle thefts which is more than double the amount in 2019. Last week was National Police Week and it’s difficult for a county police force dealing with staffing issues to combat rising crime.
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, who is running for Board Chair in the November
election, has been consistent on the need to recruit and retain the best police officers, increase wages, and get to work on solving these issues. Prince William County has historically been a safe area to raise a family, removed from the noise and dangers inside the beltway.
Supporting Jeanine Lawson for Chair can bring common sense solutions back to our law enforcement agencies who keep our community safe. With rising inflation and high taxes families are struggling more than ever to make ends meet.
It’s times like these that leave our residents vulnerable to theft, break-ins, and other crimes that threaten safety in our communities. Families work hard for the things they have and simply do not deserve to fall prey to theft or damage to their personal property.
I urge my fellow residents to stay vigilant and to support common sense leaders like Jeanine Lawson, who will work to keep our communities safe.
Tim Parrish
Woodbridge
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
There is no need to answer that question, as we all know the answer.
Democrats on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, Ann Wheeler, Victor Angry, Kenny Boddye, Andrea Bailey, and Margaret Angela Franklin, have stuck together like glue and voted to approve the data Center takeover of Prince William County.
Despite the overwhelming voices against this, they have moved forward without considering the devastation it will cause to the hard-working, taxpaying citizens who pay their salaries. They don’t care about the potential damage to our watershed, our environment, the electric grid, or the noise pollution and the visible destruction of our beautiful landscapes. And, as we continue to read in our local papers, they are encouraging more data centers in Gainesville and other locations around our county.
We have witnessed many great common sense questions directed at this group of supervisors without proper answers or solutions offered. Yet, the citizens of Prince William County are supposed to sit back and accept data centers placed one hundred feet from our homes and schools and our National Battlefield without any satisfactory answers regarding the many questionable issues surrounding the support of these data centers. Democrats believe we should acquiesce.
Prince William County Democrats are supporting Democrat Deshundra Jefferson, who promises she will fight against implementing data centers throughout our communities. But does she support parents in their fight against the sexual indoctrination of our children?
Jefferson is fully supported and backed by the Collective Political Action Committee and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. If you peruse Jefferson’s Twitter feed, you will see she believes in abolishing the private prison system. But isn’t this the very issue that falls in line with the ‘school to prison pipeline’ debacle? These horrific policies allowed rapes to happen in schools while administrators looked the other way.
Prince William County is at a crossroads and the 2023 elections will decide whether we free ourselves from subservience to developer exploitation or slip permanently into the abyss.
A positive change awaits in the candidacy of Deshundra Jefferson for County Board Chair. She vows to restore transparency and integrity to a government that has been quick to abuse your trust and give away the store to big tech predators who are gorging on your slice of the pie.
We must diversify our commercial tax base among ALL targeted industries, vice putting all our eggs in the data center basket, and focus on attracting small businesses by reducing barriers to their establishment. Read More
Just yesterday, I received a postcard with Jacqueline Smith, Clerk of Prince William County Circuit Court, and Prince William County Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey, pictures together.
The Circuit Court promotes Bailey when the State Supreme Court says she broke the law!
Am I missing something here?
Lucille Fry
Montclair
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
- Photo: VDOT
In January, we reported on Virginia’s new population estimates, which showed that Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads — but especially Northern Virginia — are now losing population while some parts of rural Virginia are now gaining.
QTS inquired into developing a data center campus along Pageland Lane, outside of the county’s designated Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District, as early as the summer of 2020.
Discussions included the Prince William County Department of Economic Development, despite the fact that such development was at odds with the county’s stated land use policy. QTS signed a non-disclosure agreement with Economic Development and their proposal was not revealed to the public until February 8, 2022.
On September 9, 2022, a QTS attorney signed a 31-page letter rescinding prior assurances made during the review of the Prince William Digital Gateway proposal. This letter was not unveiled until the eleventh hour of a Planning Commission public hearing after public comment had concluded.
More broken promises were evident in QTS’ Digital Gateway rezoning application of January 19, 2023, where it was revealed that data center buildings adjacent to the Manassas National Battlefield Park would be 75 feet high instead of the promised 45.
Now QTS is embarking upon a disingenuous public relations campaign claiming honorable intentions. When a demonstration was planned yesterday to call out their hypocrisy, QTS spin doctor Nick Blessing characterized it as “civil disorder.”
More like civic engagement, which QTS prefers to usurp.
QTS, who rode into town cloaked in secrecy, oozing deception and flaunting exploitation, now tries to repackage themselves as our benevolent saviors. Nobody is buying it, and it’s getting embarrassing to watch.
They need to click their heels together and go back to Kansas. Maybe their lawyers can figure out how to write this Prince William Digital Gateway fiasco off as a tax loss.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
Good luck, Paris!
I said goodbye to our spring intern, Paris Goodman, who helped to write original news stories and post press releases and other public notices to our website.
Paris, a senior at Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania County, is moving on to Texas Christian University in the fall and plans to pursue journalism.
During our final with her advisor, Ms. Gray, Paris told me that her experience at PLN helped her impress her college journalism instructors.
Paris, it was a pleasure working with you, and good luck! If you’re a high school student seeking an internship and want to learn more about local news and web publishing, apply today.
Take Your Child to Work Day
I had so much fun taking my three-year-old daughter, Saoirse, with me last Thursday for Take-Your-Child-to-Work Day. We climbed atop a new bridge to cover a dedication for a $109 million interchange on Prince William Parkway, and we interviewed the JROTC students at Potomac Senior High School in Woodbridge for an upcoming story.
It was such an experience for her to stand in the main hallway during dismissal, and she got to see what a vibrant and diverse place the high school is, from the girls’ dresses, the boys wearing Panthers sports team jerseys, and the students who gathered for an impromptu bongo drum concert. The school even gave her a lollipop — her favorite.
Reporter-Documenters
Our reporter-documenters are hard at work covering local meetings in our community. Lynn Forkell Greene has been documenting Manassas City Council meetings and the meeting about the $300 million Route 28 bypass outside Manassas.
This week on Zoom, we held our first reporter-documenter training session. I introduced the program to perspective documenters and outlined how to cover public meetings, how our systems work, and our payment process.
Please email me if you want more information about becoming a meeting documenter. I’ll schedule another documenter orientation Zoom meeting soon.
Our members make paying our meeting reporter-documenters possible. One annual membership pays for six hours of meeting coverage. Please support our mission of bringing your local news by becoming a member today.
Thank you for your continuing support of PLN.
