Town of Purcellville Town Council Grewe slate

Caleb Stought

Caleb Stought moved to Purcellville in 2019 after ten years of service in the military.  He lives with his wife, who grew up in Loudoun County, and their two daughters in the Mayfair Community.  He currently serves on Purcellville’s Community Policing Advisory Committee, and works as a software engineer. He is running on a team with current Council Members Tip Stinnette, Erin Rayner, and Joel Grewe, who is running for Mayor.

Blue Ridge Leader: What do you see as your top priorities if elected?

Caleb Stought: I believe our top priorities for the town should be responsible management of our town’s resources, staff, and money. This means balancing our budget so that we’re not spending more than we take in, and ensuring we have consistent and appropriate streams of revenue. 

It also means supporting our town’s economy and local businesses. We must act in a fiscally responsible manner to provide town services without reckless spending or excessive taxes. We should focus on effective, realistic strategies that are proven to work over time, instead of pursuing options that will
never work, or applying a series of short term band aids that mask problems without solving them. 

We all want to preserve Purcellville’s small-town charm, and that requires good town governance that cares for our town, its citizens, and its resources. 

BRL: How would you keep water and sewer rates sustainable?

CS: Water and sewer rates are a difficult yet important topic in our town. I would like to raise rates no more than is needed to keep pace with the cost to our town of providing these services.  

This means ensuring that we have other streams of revenue to cover costs such as capital improvement and repairs to our facilities.  This is an excellent example of how important fiscal responsibility is to our town. Responsible spending and a balanced budget will help us avoid excessive rate increases that put an undue financial burden on town residents.  

Additionally, reducing our debt as much as we can will help put us in a stronger and healthier financial position.

BRL: Do you support extending O Street through to Hatcher Avenue?

CS: No.  There is no need to extend O Street to Hatcher Avenue and this would be an unnecessary expenditure by the town. There are other projects within our town, such as sidewalk repair and construction, where that money would go to much better use and serve more members of our community.

BRL: Why do you think you would be effective as a council member?

CS: I spent 10 years in the Army, where I served as a linguist speaking Spanish, French, Arabic, and Persian. I know that people from different cultures and places see things differently.  I also know that with mutual respect and shared values, we can find common ground even in the most polarized situations. 

Discussions about what is best for our town must be respectful. We should seek a level playing field with a government that serves all members of our community, not one group over another. 

In doing so, it’s important to remember that we are all neighbors, not enemies. I would be effective as a council member because I am able to listen to people with different perspectives and understand their viewpoints. I always show respect to people even when I disagree with them.  

Most importantly, service to others is a big part of my life and my family’s life. I loved serving in the military, I love serving in our church and our local community, and if elected, I look forward to serving the Town of Purcellville on Town Council.

Erin Rayner

Erin Rayner has lived in the Mayfair community in Purcellville since 2017 with her husband and two daughters. She currently serves on Purcellville Town Council, and runs a Women in Leadership program at George Mason University. She is running on a team with current Council Member Tip Stinnette, Caleb Stought, and Joel Grewe, who is running for Mayor. 

Blue Ridge Leader: What do you see as your top priorities if elected?

Erin Rayner: My top priorities remain the same as when I ran a year ago. We must focus on the economic revitalization and financial health of our town. We must focus on the key services the residents and business owners need. This is how we create a healthy work environment and community so Purcellville continues to be the place we love to work, live, and play in.

BRL: How would you keep water and sewer rates sustainable?

ER: For ten years the town has known that our water and sewer rates were not sustainable. External
consultants have advised that due to rising operational costs, debt, and general inflation, the town needed to raise rates or increase our income to offset the costs. We need more recurrent commercial revenue so that we are not forced to increase taxes for Purcellville residents and existing businesses to pay the burden. 

Purcellville has a 7.4 percent commercial vacancy rate; this is over double that of Leesburg, and the highest in Loudoun County. We need new businesses to help offset our water and sewer costs. 

To do this, the town needs an economic development staff position to attract and nurture prospective and current business relationships as well as the county economic bodies. We need to make the case that Purcellville is the Loudoun destination where a small business owner should start a business. 

Smaller towns in Loudoun have well-equipped, focused community development departments. By concentrating on this aspect of their government they have achieved zero percent vacancy rates. That in turn helps limit additional taxation on their residents at the same time as paying off debt. 

We do not need to expand Purcellville’s town limits. We need to use the existing commercial space and the empty store buildings. We must revitalize the aging buildings and infrastructure to make what we have a healthy, thriving community. We cannot stop change, but we can control what the change looks like. Many historical towns successfully mixed new and old to keep their small-town charm with a vibrant local economy. Purcellville can do the same. 

BRL: Do you support extending O Street through to Hatcher Avenue?

ER: The extension of this road is in the very dated Purcellville Transportation Plan. I would not support this extension of the road as it stands. We need an updated transportation plan. I would need evidence of public safety and traffic risks to consider this. 

Two other pressing road issues in the town are: finding a solution for the Pickwick and Kingsbridge entrance, and the fact that the town hasn’t planned for traffic downtown after the new interchange on 690/Hillsboro Road. Those are immediate priorities. 

BRL: Why do you think you would be effective as a council member?

ER: I am very invested and engaged in our community. As President of Mountain View Elementary Parent Teacher Association, I focus on supporting our local families and teachers who work and live in our beautiful town. 

I am active in many local non-profits, serving on the board of Virginia Regional Transport, a Purcellville non-profit. As the President of the Purcellville Business Association, I understand the pain points of our current business community, and I advocate for better and consistent business engagement in the town. 

Purcellville just gave me the privilege of serving on council over the last 9 months. I have spent this time listening to town staff and citizens, learning about the issues we face, and advocating for solutions to problems within the town. I have been vocal on issues of wasted money, bad behavior, and bad policy. I want to be a part of the solution, not the problem. 

My work here is just getting started, I will continue to work for all the citizens of our town and business owners. We deserve a town that has the small-town charm we love, is affordable to live in, and has a secure financial future. 

Tip Stinnette

Tip Stinnette has served on the Purcellville Town Council for four years, and has also served on the Planning Commission as Chair during the revision of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. He is a retired Colonel and is currently a Federal Senior Executive. He has two Master’s Degrees, one in Public Administration and the other in Strategic Studies. Stinnette lives in the Catoctin Meadows neighborhood with his family.

Blue Ridge Leader: What do you see as your top priorities if elected?

Tip Stinnette: I think our top-priorities should be to focus on the core services our community expects to receive from their town government, while ensuring our financial security for the future. 

I have found it is easy to become distracted from providing our core services and those distractions have a debilitating impact on our professional staff. Safety, roads, water, and trash are the things we need to lean into, and excellence in delivering these things are what our community expects. 

With respect to securing our financial future we need to manage our town budget much the same as each of us manage our own household budgets. We need to meet our commitments (debt), we need to provide for the basic essentials (core services), and we need to be wise with our discretionary spending (nice to have/do).

BRL: How would you keep water and sewer rates sustainable?

TS: Water and sewer rates are always a hot button topic, especially in an election season. We have two challenges to address. First and foremost, we need to service our debt. And hand in glove with that, we need to control escalating operational costs in a challenging economic environment. 

As to how to do both, we need to meet our debt commitments, seek ways to pay off debt early, and work with our professional staff to ensure our operations are efficient and cost effective as possible.

BRL: Do you support extending O Street through to Hatcher Avenue?

TS:For me this is an easy question to answer, “no” I do not support extending O Street through to Hatcher Avenue. Think of the changes that have occurred in each of our lives over the last thirteen years because that is how old our Transportation Plan is for Purcellville. 

I am not in favor of adding another inch of asphalt to our roads until we update our Transportation Plan. It is said if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian rain forest, it can change the weather half a world away. Our town’s road structure is the same, a small change in one place can have a large impact across the town. We need to update our Town Transportation Plan.

BRL: Why do you think you would be effective as a council member?

TS: I invite your readers to examine my performance over the past four years. I think and hope they will find that I have been responsive, balanced, rational, and independent. If those characteristics resonate with you, then I’m your candidate! 

I have been asked, why are you raising your hand for another term? And I had to think on that question for a moment, as the last four years have not always been easy. 

That said, the answer to this question has never been far off for me. It comes down to paying forward the service of others of which I have enjoyed, while in the military, over the course of twenty moves to communities such as ours. No one said it would be easy, but for me the rewards of serving others are worth the toil.