Purcellville voters are not fooled and will surely say so on Nov. 2
View from the Ridge
There’s a special election in Purcellville on Nov. 2. The choice for voters – how to fill the Town Council seat vacated by Ted Greenly. Erin Rayner, who lost a Town Council bid in 2020, is running against Sean MacDonald. Whoever wins will complete a short Town Council term ending in November 2022.
MacDonald, endorsed by Mayor Kwasi Fraser, and Council Members Stan Milan, and Chris Bertaut, is the true slow-growth-lower taxes tight budget candidate. He works for the Department of Homeland Security. Rayner is the Vice President of the Purcellville Business Association.
An apple is not an orange
In a recent letter to the editor, supporters of Rayner let loose on Fraser, and this newspaper, equating the four-term mayor’s administration to an “ideological cult” ready to spend the citizens of Purcellville into oblivion and sell off the Town’s small-town character.
Sometimes, the bigger the untruth you tell, the more you think that people might just believe you. Fraser has stopped rampant growth in Purcellville and championed its small-town character since the day he took office.
But, an apple is not an orange. And, Purcellville voters, who have elected and re-elected Fraser four times by wide margins know this.
It’s no wonder there are prominent Rayner signs on the outskirts of Purcellville on land that has been waiting to be annexed into Town for years. Her signs are also on developer’s land in Town properties.
These annexations are taxpayer money pits that only benefit developers. Often challenged by Fraser. They are gunning for him and for a Town Council majority, since the current Council is evenly split.
Blue Ridge Leader also targeted
This newspaper has been reporting on these development pressures for years, and Rayner supporters and developers don’t like it. A private Facebook group called Purcellville Matters Uncensored, started by a developer, has gone so far as to splice Town Council videos to make opponents look bad.
But again, an apple is not an orange.
Purcellville voters are not fooled. Fraser will have a slow growth partner with MacDonald on Council, but not with Rayner.
Oh, boy
It is hard to overstate the ridiculousness of the recent letter to the editor by supporters of Rayner.
They claim that Fraser’s “slow growth, innovative solutions and small town charm” rhetoric is basically a scam. “These are phrases that Purcellville residents have heard over the past few years,” they say.
“Mayor Kwasi Fraser’s campaign and the Town Council members that ran with him use these slogans incessantly to convince us that only their agenda can protect us from an inevitable fate – being overrun by development and becoming the next Leesburg or Ashburn.”
We stick by our reporting and our opinion
The Blue Ridge Leader said in a recent editorial that Purcellville is fighting for its life.
Purcellville voters know their Town is fighting for its life.
We stand by our opinion that the Town Council seat on the ballot on Nov. 2 will determine whether Purcellville continues its progress towards fiscal sanity, or flips over and succumbs to projects such as Vineyard Square, which would transform historic downtown into a mini–Miami Beach.
Supporters of Rayner don’t like it when we describe the six-story commercial and residential development that way. But, do we really need an outdoor fountain and six stories across from the old Nichols Hardware store, or a big box structure on Hatcher?
Rayner supporters do have one thing right, though.
They say that there is “more that unites the Town than divides it …”
We agree.
Vote Nov. 2
This is the state of affairs in Purcellville politics.
Voters, old timers and new comers, have consistently supported the slow growth, reduced taxes, and lower debt of the Fraser administration.
Mayor Fraser’s record of reining in tax increases is solid. Mayor Fraser’s record of slowing down excessive development is solid.
Mayor Fraser’s record of doing the voters’ will is the strongest of them all.
But, with developers and others constantly nipping at his heels, he needs to maintain a majority on the Town Council.
Fraser’s record, for the record
Reduced all Town debt from $61.6 Million to $53.9 Million.
Town will receive over $1 million from the sale of nutrient credits – over 900 percent return on taxpayer’s investment, and planted 110,000 trees for environmental and economical value for generations to come.
Completed multi-million dollar infrastructure improvements on 21st Street, which is leading to growth on 21st Street.
Welcomed over 400 businesses to the Town of Purcellville.
Rejected three major annexations.
Maintained AAA credit rating.
Insulated residents from multi-million dollar increases in sewer debt payment, through refinancing and restructuring of inherited debt.
Advocacy with National League of Cities and Congressional leaders, to obtain $10.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Established a Makerspace, on a previous vacant dilapidated Town facility.