Town of Purcellville campaign contributions: follow the money

By Valerie Cury

In the race for Purcellville Mayor and Town Council, there are two distinct clear sides from which the two opposing teams are receiving donations.

Stan Milan, who is running for reelection for Purcellville Mayor as of the Oct. 15 filing date, received two donations. A donation of $2,000 came in on Aug. 5, 2024 from a land owner whose 12.5-acre property will be annexed into the Town of Purcellville if the majority on Town Council decides to enter into negotiations with the County and the owners of the Valley Commercial Center annexation proposal. The proposal is for the annexation of 117.07acres which is currently zoned Joint Land Management Area-3 for 39 homes—and if annexed into the Town the plan is for 1.2 million square feet of industrial on Purcellville Road across from the Mayfair Community.

The same donor is also asking for three uses to be added to a property they own at the traffic circle at the junction of Main Street and Rt. 287 on West Colonial Hwy.  The designation for the property is Agriculture Tourism Commercial due to its proximity to the traffic circle. The property owner is asking for the uses of a school for 100 students, a hotel, and a senior center facility, with a special exception process, to be added to the low density Agriculture Tourism Commercial designation. 

Milan’s second campaign contribution of $10,000 was made on Sept. 12, 2024 from an employee with the development company called Mountaineer Pipe which is located in the Town of Purcellville. The owners of the company are developer Casey Chapman’s uncles. The donation was made by a project manager with the company, David Hornbaker. The company handles land development, and commercial and residential development.

On Sept. 2, 2022, Natalie Hornbaker, also an employee with Mountaineer Pipe, made a $10,000 contribution to Erin Rayner who at the time was running for Town Council. Natalie Hornbaker is currently listed with the company as a manager.

The other candidates who are running with Milan have not declared any contributions as of press time, as the contributions are going through the Milan for Mayor account. 

Chris Bertaut who has been on Town Council for four years and is running for Mayor has as of press time received $5,000 from a Town of Purcellville farmer who has a 90-acre in town property which is in a permanent conservation easement. 

Bertaut has donated to date $5,590 to his campaign, and he has received three contributions from Purcellville residents.

Ben Nett, who is running for Town Council, has received a total of $10,129 in small donations from Purcellville residents. Other members running with Bertaut are financed through the Chris Bertaut for Mayor, and the Ben Nett for Town Council campaigns. 

The next filing is the end October, and can be viewed at VPAP.org.