The continuing small-town power struggle in Purcellville

-View from the Ridge-

In the ongoing saga about how big Purcellville should get, what residents old and new want to preserve – or tear down, and how to keep taxes low and economic productivity high, yet another power struggle is bubbling up.

Mayor Kwasi Fraser, who enjoys overwhelming citizen support, has for years methodically reined in growth. 

Should a mini–Tyson’s Corner development of tens of thousands of square feet of residential, parking, and commercial development be allowed to overwhelm historic downtown Purcellville? Voters say, no.

Political Winds

The voters have said no to excessive growth in many ways.  And, Fraser has led the charge to enforce the voters will – sometimes with the help of the slimmest majority on the Town Council.

And, using creative methods to reduce the enormous $60 million-plus debt Fraser inherited from his predecessor, Mayor Bob Lazaro, Mayor Fraser has enforced the voters’ will to adopt a more fiscally sustainable economy and tax-model.

Fraser is also an innovator, turning Town assets into cash for the Town.

But, the political winds in Purcellville have lashed out repeatedly at Fraser’s managed growth, fiscal responsibility, and creative-solutions agenda since the day he took office. There are millions and millions of development dollars to be made here.

The Town is always just one election – or Town Council vote – away from backtracking.  And, today, the political winds representing the old, growth-at-any-cost guard are blowing again.

You may not have the Insider connections that allow you to corner a Town Council member at the end of a Town Council meeting. But, as citizens and voters, you are in charge.

Everyone deserves a seat at the table.  But, what about the voters’ will?

A key swing vote on Town Council vacated his post on May 31.

The developer elite, along with current and retired “pro-growth” politicos, see this vacancy as another opportunity to dash Fraser’s agenda.  

Big decisions are made at every Purcellville Town Council meeting, and the developer elite is there for each and every one of them.  But, so are many others.

Everyone deserves a seat at the table – citizens, developers large and small, and small and large businesses.

But, it is disconcerting at best to see a developer asking for higher densities, or zoning exceptions, or new roads for a project – while historic preservationists and fiscal conservatives oppose the same – and then to see the developer cozy up to their Town Council friends when the meeting is over, as if to say, “OK, what do we really want to do here?”

Citizens vote, but developers never give up

Slow growth and fiscally sustainable budget models – including lower taxes and less debt – have been the citizens clear and consistent choice.

But, time and time again, the vote happens, and Purcellville’s old guard reasserts itself and tries to take back the power they lost to the voters.

After each election, or consequential Town Council decision that didn’t go the old guard’s way, the special interest effort to develop the heck out of Purcellville begins anew, swinging back and forth, depending on how many Town Council friends the developers have, and how many Town Council members are willing the stick with Fraser and the citizens who put them in office.

In terms of composition, the Council is generally split 3 to 3 on Fraser’s agenda. 

That is why it is so important that the Fraser forces – and the citizens – get the right person in the vacated seat.

New vacancy on the Purcellville Town Council is a very big deal.

Ryan Cool

Ryan J. Cool served on the Town Council for four years, and has a proven record in favor of slow growth and sustainable fiscal policies. He has kept all of his campaign promises to the voters who put him there.

The interminable Vineyard Square debate is just one example of why filling the vacant seat on Town Council is so important.

For example, the question being debated now with respect to Vineyard Square is whether that project has, legally, and from a zoning permits perspective, “expired.” After all, it has been going on for more than eight years now.

But, in a recent Planning Commission meeting, the Town Attorney indicated that she had to meet with the Council to get a sense of what the Council members want to do.

More to come. Stay at your posts, citizens.

As of press time, there were five applicants for the vacated seat on the Town Council. Control of the chamber is up for grabs.

One applicant for that seat has had people send in endorsement letters. And one of the individual’s endorsers is former Mayor Robert W. Lazaro, the same individual who saddled the Town of Purcellville with that $60 million-plus debt.

Lazaro’s grow-at-any-cost approach went so far as to grow the Town’s water treatment capacity to accommodate massive amounts of development, not as it was happening, or, in response to in-the-pipeline growth, but to accommodate future growth.  Spend now, pay later.  

Lazaro also gave us the Vineyard Square project – a six story building on 21st Street.

We need leaders

Serving on the Town Council is not a popularity contest or a job for sissies.  Big decisions are made.  Big money is involved. 

The Town is a nearly $30 million dollar company. It takes tough work not to bend to development and growth pressure.

So, with the balance of power, and the continuing small-town character of Purcellville at risk once again, all need to speak their minds.

Purcellville’s future hangs in the balance.

You may not have the insider connections that allow you to corner a Town Council member at the end of a Town Council meeting. But, as citizens and voters, you are in charge.