Rural Loudoun County on Trial

By Senator Dick Black (Ret.)

The trial of Kwasi Fraser is not about him—it is an epic battle over lucrative land deals.

Back when slow growth struggles dominated county politics, a majority on the Purcellville town council planted a time bomb that was designed to eventually force voters to accept high-density development inside expanded town limits.

They purposely built a sewage treatment plant far larger than the existing town limits would ever use and more expensive than the town could afford. They thought the heavy debt would drive up taxes until exhausted taxpayers quit fighting and allowed the town to expand its boundaries. Then, they could sell the excess sewage capacity in order to pay down the debt. That would make fortunes for land speculators.

But voters had different plans. They drafted Kwasi Fraser, a political novice, to run for mayor. Fraser promised voters that he would keep taxes down, reduce the debt, and not extend sewage beyond the existing town boundaries. That required fiscal austerity, which is always a struggle.

Kwasi won a stunning upset victory and, like George Bailey in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, Kwasi Fraser went on to keep Purcellville a clean, wholesome, rural town.

Mayor Fraser became Loudoun County’s first African American mayor. He was a corporate executive who held a Bachelor in Engineering Degree from prestigious Stony Brook University and an MBA from Rutgers. He was imminently qualified and ran the town like an expert.

Throughout his tenure, the growth battle over sewage and development simmered. Nonetheless, when Mayor Fraser retired eight years later, the town had 200 new businesses, meals tax revenues had doubled, the debt had shrunk from $61.1 million to $52.5 million, the streets were safe, and Purcellville had earned a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s. 

Kwasi never raised property taxes in eight years. He did exactly as he had promised.

Two years later, when the town manager left, Kwasi was hired to replace him. But just two months afterward, he found himself indicted by a grand jury. The charges read, “rigged gov’t bidding” and “commercial fraud against the government.” Sounds serious, but here’s the rest of the story.

The big kerfuffle is over a tiny personal services contract for just twelve thousand dollars—about the cost of replacing a worn-out air conditioner. No one stood to make a dime except the fellow who did the study for the town.

Rigged government bidding? Commercial fraud? Give me a break. This case is about land speculators fighting to extend sewage treatment beyond Purcellville’s present boundaries so that high-density expansion can begin.

When a land owner applied to incorporate a large tract of land within the town boundaries, he hoped for a major increase in zoning density. But Mayor Fraser during his tenure as mayor, and more currently the town council majority this year voted it down—again under a different owner. Voters elected them to preserve Purcellville’s small-town atmosphere and that’s just what they did.

I’ve never interfered with local land use issues; those are for residents to decide. But as a career prosecutor, I’ve always hated political trials; I don’t want innocent men imprisoned for personal gain.

I’m not suggesting that particular land owners are behind these charges, but I know how money clouds people’s judgments. 

Maybe there’s a surprise up their sleeves, but as near as I can tell, Kwasi Fraser committed no crime. By law, he is presumed innocent unless proof beyond reasonable doubt can be adduced at trial.

Someone complained about me questioning the charges against Mr. Fraser, but that same critic admitted that there are, in fact, property owners trying to annex properties into the town in order to up-zone them and sell the properties for significant financial gain. 

And that is exactly my point. In a nation where the presumption of innocence is sacrosanct, we must look hard and long before jumping to conclusions.

Kwasi had scarcely begun his job. He had only had time to approve a single contract and that was so small that he could have awarded it as a sole-source contract without any competition at all. Now how do you make a grand jury case out of that?