“Whatever you want, I’ll make it happen”

Hot mic reveals the inner workings of Purcellville politics

By Valerie Cury

It is a cardinal rule of politics: Always assume the mic is on.

An influential Town of Purcellville staff member and a well-known local developer must have missed that memo. 

In the hour and 27 minutes that followed a lengthy fall 2021 Planning Commission meeting – after citizen participants had been dismissed – their cozy relationship was laid bare as the staff member, speaking on a hot mic, told the developer of a large controversial downtown project, “Whatever you want, I’ll make it happen.” He added, “It might take an election cycle or two.”

Whatever has been expressed by the public in lengthy years of meetings before hand, testimony in the now years-long record from traffic experts, the opinions of opposing Town Council members, Town’s Architectural Boards etc., etc. was, essentially irrelevant.  What the developer wants the developer gets.

A glimpse at local politics 

Rarely does one get a glimpse into what happens behind the scenes in local government.

If anyone stayed behind online after the Oct. 21 Planning Commission meeting ended, they would have gotten an earful. A staff member and a local developer talked for one hour 27 minutes, and the mic was still on after the meeting.

In the beginning of the conversation the staff member promised the developer, “Whatever you want, I’ll make it happen … it might take an election cycle or two” – referencing how local elections might play into it.

 The member of the staff said he didn’t pay attention to committees, commissions and boards. “I have them looking at a big red shiny ball over here, while the real issue is over there.”

He assured the developer that when residents are happy and comfortable, they don’t care what’s going on outside the boundaries of their property.

The exchange ended with the developer saying, “If you need anything just let me know,” and the reply was reciprocal.

Lots of after-meeting chit-chat

The Oct. 21 Planning Commission meeting ended around 9 p.m. But the mic was still on and the developer and staff member remained in the chambers not knowing that the mic was still live.

Anyone viewing the meeting at the time could have heard the conversation – which started right after everyone left, and lasted until 10:27 p.m.

This hot mic event was brought up at the Purcellville Nov. 9 Town Council meeting. Council Member Stan Milan said he “would like to notify council and staff that on Oct. 21 we had a Planning Commission meeting, and we finished the meeting about 9.” 

He explained that after the meeting everyone left, and he “was shocked and appalled” by what he “overheard in a conversation by a senior staff member and a developer …” 

Milan said, “There was, like I said, a following meeting directly after the meeting – in the council chambers after everyone had left.” 

The red shiny ball and upcoming elections

“I overheard statements from the staffer that really shocked me … the staffer talked about the Planning Commission and Council inefficiencies. He made statements about his professional experience, “I don’t take directions from any CCB’s” [committees, commissions and boards] … statements like “I have them looking at the red shiny ball, they look over here, and the real issue is over there.”

Milan said the staffer had remarked, “You have to wait a few election cycles to get what you need.” He said this after he told the developer, “Whatever you want, I’ll make it happen.”

Milan explained this was a conversation “where we rely on this person’s professionalism and insight to help lead the Planning Commission … When you hear these comments,” said Milan, “that are disingenuous to the efforts of the Planning Commission and the Town Council, it shakes your confidence on what you are being presented. Are we constantly being presented with red shiny balls … and being distracted by the issues at hand?”

Vice Mayor Chris Bertaut also heard the hot mic conversation. He said he heard “some of these disturbing comments that took place between a couple of individuals, and I can concur that I heard the comment about holding up a big shiny ball in order to distract the public.

“I heard the comment about not taking direction from the CCB’s [committees, commissions and boards]. I also heard a somewhat disturbing comment that went along the lines of ‘When people are happy and comfortable, they don’t care what’s going on outside the walls of their property.’”

Bertaut said, “One comment that shook me to the core was, ‘You tell me what you want to do, and I’ll make it happen.’

 “I consider none of these to be in the spirit of cooperation of respect for one another’s roles within this community.”