Democrats Dropped the Ball on Oak Hill … Not Once, but Twice

By Delegate Geary Higgins

For the better part of the past year, I have been working hard to turn Oak Hill, President James Monroe’s home in Aldie, into a State Park. Unfortunately, earlier this month, House Democrats killed what was the final shot at making Oak Hill a state park this year, and maybe ever.

Not a single Democrat in the House, not even the other Loudoun Delegates, had the courage to break from the instructions of their party leadership and vote for Oak Hill. Not only did every House Democrat previously vote for the bill, but they voted for it when its posture was arguably worse, as the financial protections for the state were only added later by the Governor. 

The Governor’s amendment protected the Commonwealth from any financial burden and there were no other parks ‘in line’ ahead of it. There was no reason to vote against Oak Hill, other than selfish, partisan politics. Since when is preserving the home of one of our nation’s founders a political issue?

The Democrats had two chances this year to make Oak Hill a State Park. Originally, the Oak Hill State Park bill passed the House unanimously during the legislative session but was unexpectedly killed in the Senate by the Democrat chair of Senate Finance. Then, it was revived by the Governor in the budget during the “reconvene session,” only to be killed by House Democrats.

Following the Democrats’ failure to get this done during the legislative session, I called the Governor to ask for his help. The Governor and his team were initially concerned about the finances, as they feared maintenance costs would eventually fall back on the Commonwealth. I invited the Governor out to see the property and discuss the plan at greater lengths. He accepted.

The Governor spent almost three hours at Oak Hill, touring the property and sitting down to discuss the finances with the homeowner Gayle DeLashmutt, a representative from the Conservation Fund, his Secretary of Natural Resources, and myself. I was thoroughly impressed with the Governor’s in-depth understanding of every aspect of the plan as he dug in with questions to figure out how to make this work. When he left, we were both optimistic that we could get this done and address all of his financial concerns. 

A little over a week later, he let us know that Oak Hill would in fact be included in the budget, and announced the amendment in a press conference, crediting my “arm-twisting” and our site visit. The Governor’s amendment laid out steps and benchmarks that must be met to ensure that the Commonwealth would not carry any financial burden from the proposed State Park. The amendment successfully took away any possible negative aspect of the State Park plan—it would be a free State Park with no costs to the Commonwealth. 

Everything was moving in the right direction, and it looked like we would get a new, beautiful and historic 1240-acre State Park in our district. That was until politics for some reason reared its ugly head.

We got word a few days before the vote that members on the other side of the aisle were going to change their votes to oppose the park despite having already voted for it. 

Somehow, a free state park that would permanently conserve over 1,240 acres of open space and President Monroe’s home had become a divisive partisan issue. Every single Republican in both chambers had committed to support the Park, but House Democrats were convinced by House Leadership to change their votes.

When the reconvene session came around early this month, sure enough, the Oak Hill budget amendment was killed on a party-line voice vote. Republicans unanimously supported the amendment, but Democrats had just enough votes to kill it. 

I cannot understand why anyone would have voted against this. The park was entirely funded by private donors, non-profits, and a one-time grant of $22 million from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. There would be no cost to the Commonwealth for maintenance thanks to the Governor’s amendment and the large endowment. Everything about the park was great for Loudoun and great for Virginia.

This travesty truly displays the worst side of politics. Having served eight years on the Board of Supervisors here in Loudoun and one term on the School Board, I have held elected office for more than a dozen years. Never have I been a part of anything as divisive and partisan as the politics of Richmond. Killing a free state park not once, but twice in order to prevent your political opponents from garnering a so-called “win” is a level of nasty politics that was previously unfathomable to me.

I have heard a lot of blame thrown around for Oak Hill going down, but let’s be clear: this falls squarely on the 51 Democrat members of the House of Delegates and their leadership who put party politics above what is best for our Commonwealth and flip-flopped their vote to kill the park. Not to mention the Loudoun Delegation who did not support the county they represent or the Democratic majority on the Board of Supervisors.

I’ll be back next year, but I fear that Oak Hill may just not be. The family had given us a deadline of this year to sell the property, and there are fundraising and grant pieces that could expire. 

I will continue to support the acquisition of Oak Hill for a State Park and will be exploring every possible option, but I am incredibly disappointed in my Democrat colleagues who participated in this raw partisanship—killing the Oak Hill State Park not once, but twice, when we could have just gotten it done this month! Given the fact that the Democrats in the both the House and Senate have now gone out of their way to kill Oak Hill twice this year, I hold no illusions about an easy or guaranteed passage next year. 

Delegate Geary Higgins represents the 30th House of Delegates District, which encompasses Western Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties. He and his wife live in Waterford, Virginia where he raised his three daughters.