Data Centers
While I applaud your latest opinion piece about data centers, there was one aspect of it that I take issue with:
“We hear former Deputy County Executive Rebecca Horner has been sent back to the county planning department after several recent departures we told you about last week. She’s familiar with the planning office — she ran the place until she was promoted to deputy county executive in 2020. She may right the ship and create a plan because she’s one of the few people still around with institutional knowledge.”
Call it a canary in the coal mine. Call it the result of years of residents pleading for their local leaders to hear them. Call it a referendum on data centers.
Whatever you call it, the landslide election of Bob Weir to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors with more than 60% of the vote should serve as a wake-up call to those in power in not only Prince William County but those who see data centers as a cash cow for their respective jurisdictions.
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Weir beat his Democrat challenger Kerensa Sumers in a landslide 30-point victory today in a Special Election to determine who will complete the term of former Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, who designed in Decembe022 after 10 years on the job.
Weir’s election is widely seen as a referendum on data centers and development, an answer to a Board of County Supervisors that continues to press forward on plaBattlefieldeNationalr more server farms in both residential areas in Bristow, and historical areas like the Manassas Battlefield National Park.
A Special Election will decide who will serve the remainder of Peter Candland’s term on the Board of County Supervisors ending on December 31, 2023. Democrat Kerensa Sumers and Republican Bob Weir are vying to replace Candland, who resigned in December 2022 after ten years serving on the board.
You can find out where to vote here. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
And just like that, Prince William County Planning Director Mark Buenavista is gone.
Buenavista resigned this week, after less than a month on the job, according to sources who spoke with PLN.
Data from the Virginia Public Access Project (Elections: Prince William County Prince William County Supervisor – Gainesville (vpap.org) shows Democrat Kerensa Sumers raised $46,583, while Republican Bob Weir raised $20,005.
Sumers largest donors ($1,000 or more) included: