Candidates for Town Mayor

Blue Ridge Leader: Name three reasons why you want to be elected to serve the citizens of Purcellville.

Chris Bertaut: I want to be elected to preserve the town’s character through slow growth, minimize the burden of rates and taxes on our residents, and fulfill citizen direction captured in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. I have proudly served this great community for four years on Town Council. I am running for Mayor because Purcellville’s citizens deserve a Mayor with integrity who places their interests first.

Unlike my opponent, I kept my campaign promises to protect the town we all love. As Mayor, I will continue to listen to citizens, who overwhelmingly want to preserve our small town, by implementing their 2030 Comprehensive Plan.  

When I first ran for office, a top citizen priority was protecting our town through slow growth. It remains on everyone’s mind. Unlike my opponent, I will be the strong, transparent Mayor Purcellville needs when annexation and development applications come before the town. 

With each developer proposal I will focus on the impact on our residents. As Purcellville’s history shows, we cannot grow our way out of debt. Since my opponent’s about face on the issues he ran on, he has emphasized double-digit water and sewer rate increases and massive development. Developers are speaking with Council Members privately, instead of presenting their ideas in a public forum. This is unacceptable.

My administration will focus on fiscal responsibility with full transparency, administrative integrity and open discussions. My opponent’s false claim that the town’s debt principal would have been $12.6 million lower without the debt restructurings in 2017 and 2021, because the amount of principal due would not have been reduced through refinancing. At the time, decisions to refinance were guided by Purcellville’s financial advisers to increase reserves and reduce the burden on our citizens from our inherited debt in 2015. 

I will work with Team Mayberry to reduce projected water and sewer rate increases immediately. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. I will streamline our government for more efficient operation, and reduce debt. I voted against this year’s utility rate increases. Our town has a population of approximately 9,000 residents— yet our budget is $30.6 million. 

My opponent is taking the low road by playing on fear to sway voters to his agenda rather than represent their interests. He claims to favor keeping our small town charming and livable but supports unwanted annexations and inappropriate density not envisioned by our citizens in our Comprehensive Plan. His agenda pushes government and infrastructure costs onto our residents. My opponent says that businesses are the economic engine of this town. I say we, the residents, are the economic engine, and we are empowered to make this small town better.  

BRL: Do you support the annexation of the Valley Commerce Center and other annexations?

Bertaut: I do not support the Valley Commerce Center (VCC) annexation, and I do not support other recent annexation proposals. Purcellville’s citizens have spoken loudly on this issue. It is also clear in our Comprehensive Plan that most residents do not want annexation. 

Furthermore, the Loudoun County Planning Department has stated that Loudoun County’s General plan does not allow the proposed Valley Commerce Center for this parcel in the County. A proposal to grow the town’s borders and add 1.2 million square feet of industrial space is inappropriate. It doesn’t stop there. If my opponent succeeds with this annexation, we will likely be pressured to annex more properties in that corridor. 

This annexation would also bring 3,500 additional weekday vehicle trips, which is unacceptable to both the town and our neighbors. With my vote I refused to pursue this annexation. Unlike my opponent, I have also refused to meet in private with the developer.

Annexation fever doesn’t stop with this proposal. My opponent recently expressed disappointment that he couldn’t annex Valley Springs Estates on A Street across from Blue Ridge Middle School. Citizens rejected this annexation because it would have increased the number of homes from 26 to 242, resulting in 726 new cars instead of 78. Also, during a review of another developer annexation proposal to build a large hotel, gas station/convenience store, and market at the corner of Rtes. 7/287, my opponent said the proposal is what he wanted to see, and asked “What’s next, annexation?” 

My opponent, and members of his slate say, ‘If we annex it, we can control it.’ Land outside the town’s borders is controlled by County zoning at far less density than in-town zoning. Regarding the Valley Commerce Center proposal, citizens have said they prefer 39 homes in the County to 1.2 million square feet of industrial in town. 

It is unlikely that the County will allow this project if it remains in the County. The County cannot provide off-site sewage treatment, while on-site sewage treatment requires large amounts of land for septic and wells. This is an example of playing on our residents’ fears.

BRL: Is it necessary to raise the utility rates double digits for the foreseeable future?

Bertaut: Previous utility rate projections from the town’s utility consultant and a careful look at the way the rates were modeled reveal that the outrageous rate hikes foisted this year on Purcellville’s residents are the result of uncontrolled operations costs in the utilities coupled with a refusal by the current Council majority to consider savings in the general fund. 

A portion of the existing $3 million in Meals Tax revenue can be applied to debt service for the town’s utilities by policy. In addition, more than $1 million is siphoned out of the utility funds into the general fund through charging for services rendered by general fund personnel for the utility fund. These chargebacks need to be audited for accuracy, and trimmed to reflect the true value of services.  

Recently my opponent said the rating agency, Fitch, might downgrade Purcellville’s AA+ rating, after Fitch changed their rating criteria. After reviewing the town’s revenue and debt profile for the past several years, Fitch upgraded our rating to AAA. Our upgrade was due to several factors, including lowering the town’s debt by $10 million during former Mayor Kwasi Fraser’s terms in office, keeping at least a 7.5% reserve in the general fund (we’ve had no less than 52% over the last ten years!), and by not incurring new debt.

Standard and Poor’s continues to give Purcellville a AAA rating.

BRL: Do you support working out a deal with the developers of the Vineyard Square project on 21st Street?

Bertaut: I am 100% in favor of continuing to revitalize our historic downtown area. The permits for the ill-conceived Vineyard Square, approved 14 years ago, expire in June 2025. The developers need to come to the table with a serious proposal that matches the scale and scope of the area. A six story 40 condo building is inappropriate. Plus, the zoning they were given was and is not allowed in the Historic Downtown area. I do not support giving developers special favors.

The developers have shown before Council, after a private meeting with my opponent, a scaled down version, which would reduce the condo part of their plan by 4 condos, and spread those condos among several 4 story condo buildings behind 21st Street. 

I am not in favor of working out this kind of “deal.” Rather the owners should come before Council and with public input work on a new plan that contributes to our Historic Downtown area. 

Currently two and a half story buildings with two apartments are allowed in this district. My opponent along with others running with him are in the process of changing the make-up of the slow growth Planning Commission. They will then most likely change the Zoning Ordinance the commission just recommended for passage to the Town Council. Then they can amend the zoning to allow taller buildings, and hotels and multi-family in this area. 

I do not support turning the 21^st Street corridor into San Diego’s Gaslamp District—which was the focus of my opponent’s State of the Town address this spring. Revitalization of our downtown corridor is a must, but not at the expense of Purcellville’s small-town character and charm.

BRL: Do you support the revised zoning ordinance recently passed by the planning commission?

Bertaut: I fully support the revised zoning ordinance. The Planning Commission worked successfully for several years, with the full support of my opponent, until he flipped. 

To push his agenda, my opponent and others running with him have said that the town needs a new Comprehensive Plan—even though the plan is a ten-year plan. It’s only been four years!

We have realigned our zoning with the desires of our residents expressed in the 10-year Comprehensive Plan. Our citizens wanted to “protect and sustain” our town. 

The revised Zoning Ordinance addresses multiple concerns voiced by residents to retain their current rights, while adding additional protection against unreviewed requests to demolish historic structures—currently any person with a contributing historic property can tear it down with no notice. 

Existing buildings and uses are fully protected by the new Zoning Ordinance as conforming uses. This includes cluster development neighborhoods like Kingsbridge, Villages of Purcellville, Locust Grove, and Hirst Farm—well as Planned Development Housing like Village Case, and Mayfair. Existing duplexes are also protected, and duplex by-right uses throughout the R-2 and R-3 districts are no longer allowed. 

The developers are not happy with the revised Zoning Ordinance because they want fewer restrictions on what they can do throughout our town.