While there are many issues important for Leesburg, here are three of particular interest for Suzanne.

End a Toxic, Authoritarian Town Hall

Extreme partisan politics has taken hold of our local government and it has created a toxic environment killing any desire for cooperation and compromise to address our growing list of problems. Individuals are discouraged from bringing forward new ideas that could prove helpful or more importantly others are reluctant to speak up against a course of action that would ultimately be harmful. Our town’s current leadership acts in an authoritarian manner that is not beneficial to the long-term health of our beloved community. It has been harmful for several years now and this November we have a real chance to stop it.

 

Leesburg Gets Its Fair Share

Loudoun County has become the data center capital of the world. But, not one data center, or the millions of dollars in local revenue that it can generate, is located in Leesburg.  It isn’t because of lack of land or space. It even isn’t about data centers. An explosion of economic growth has blessed the county over the last decade.  Drive any direction out of town and you can see that growth.  Simply put, Leesburg has been left behind. We have not enjoyed the same level of success as other communities have in the area.  We are the seat of the county. We had infrastructure and services in place long before the first construction projects occurred on the farmland once surrounded our town. Leesburg was well positioned to lead the way. We would’ve had a quantum leap forward as a town. But unfortunately, we were left behind. Our town’s current leadership watch as other around us moved ahead by leaps and bounds. This year is our chance to change all that and put in place new leadership that will not simply settle for being “an afterthought”. 

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Taxes Hand in Hand with Accountability 

While Loudoun County government has been able to fully fund numerous transportation projects and other infrastructure improvements, often while keeping an equalized tax rate. Leesburg has been struggling with the same issues for years, while raising taxes every single year to keep trying to solve the same problems. We have been doing it for years. It hasn’t worked yet and it isn’t going to work.  Our town’s current leadership is dominated by petty partisanship, an authoritarian attitude that it is their way or the highway, and a generally poor mindset that the only way to solve a problem is keep throwing money at it. This year we can start a new era of local government that puts a stop to the attitude of raising taxes as the only answer and increase the accountability of those tax dollars in the first place.