Town of Purcellville Town Council Milan slate

Ron Rise

Ron Rise moved to Purcellville with his family in 1998 when he was a freshman at Loudoun Valley High School. Since graduating, he has chosen to make Purcellville his permanent home due to the small-town atmosphere, the high-quality schools, and safe neighborhoods. He is a software engineer for a cybersecurity startup, and a licensed airplane pilot and instructor. Rise’s wife, Lorraine, was born and raised in nearby Hamilton and also graduated from Loudoun Valley High School. She now runs a Purcellville-based business, and together they have a daughter, Samantha, who attends Blue Ridge Middle School

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

Ron Rise: My top priorities include keeping the town’s rate of growth slow, promoting fiscal responsibility, and continuing Mayor Fraser’s efforts to reduce our debt.

As a Town Council Member, I will ensure that Purcellville’s zoning is guided first and foremost by our Comprehensive Plan. Large-scale development projects, such as Vineyard Square, do not align with our town’s character or best interests, and are the type of project that I oppose.

 When elected, my plan for Purcellville will include implementing slow growth strategies that will allow our town to grow while still maintaining a small town feel and not burdening the town’s resources. I also believe that there are better ways to offset our costs and drive revenue for the town than raising taxes on the residents.

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

RR: I don’t believe we need to raise water and sewer rates, which are already higher than average. The models provided to us for our water and sewer rate forecasts are inaccurate as they are based on a rapid growth and expansion model and not a slower growth model more appropriate for our town.

When elected, I will advocate for applying a percentage of the meals tax revenue to the town’s utility fund, rather than the general fund. Applying even just 1-2 percent of this revenue to the utility fund will help offset our utility costs and reduce the need for increased rates.

The town also needs to restructure how it manages charge-backs which currently run over $900,000. These are charges for General fund staff work that are paid out of the Utility Fund. This is a significant contributor to our utility costs and must be managed better in order to keep our funds where they should be. We also need to better manage our operations and maintenance costs in the Utility department.

Additionally, there is town land available that could be leased to telecommunications services. Doing so would provide additional revenue and increase cell service on the south side of town, thereby solving two issues at once.

Ultimately, I believe there are other ways to offset our utility costs without burdening taxpayers further.

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

RR: No. I do not support extending O Street. This would only benefit the Vineyard Square project at a cost to the taxpayers of millions of dollars. I don’t believe that a six-story building with 40 condo units is suited for Purcellville. 

Extending O Street through to Hatcher Avenue would direct traffic from 21^st 
Street through to Hatcher Avenue, which is already at capacity.

Vineyard Square would dramatically change the landscape of our downtown area and would negatively impact traffic and the Historic Downtown area.  

I would support Mayor Fraser’s previous efforts to oppose the extension of O Street, and with a majority on town council would immediately vote to take this proposed road off our town’s Transportation Plan.

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

RR:Having lived in this town for 24 years, I’ve seen a tremendous amount of change and growth. While I believe that growth is vital for any town to thrive, it needs to be done in a responsible manner that represents the interests of the residents, not the developers.

I’m confident that I’ll be effective as a Town Council Member. I have 17 years of business, technical and leadership experience that I will leverage, along with a passion and commitment to serving the residents of Purcellville.

Once elected, I will collaborate with other council members to focus on creating new streams of revenue for the town, and paying down our debt.

When voting for myself, Boo Bennett, and Carol Luke for Town Council, and Stan Milan for Mayor, you will be getting a unified team with a shared vision for Purcellville.

Carol Luke

Carol Luke moved to Purcellville with her family over 30 years ago. They were drawn to the character of the small town, the schools and youth sports, and the neighborhoods and farms. Luke later moved her kitchen design business to Purcellville from Tysons Corner. A successful small business owner, mother, and community volunteer, Luke currently serves on the Purcellville Planning Commission. You can often see her walking her two dogs, Priska and Gaius, around town.

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

Carol Luke: My top priorities are providing responsive representation for Purcellville’s residents, slow sustainable growth, fiscal responsibility, and debt reduction.

Mayor Fraser strongly advocates for our town to pursue funds available through the 1.3 trillion dollar Infrastructure Bill available to localities across our nation. I will continue pursuing federal, state, and private-sector grant opportunities to fund capital improvements that would otherwise burden our taxpayers.

Our Zoning Ordinance, which the Planning Commission is currently updating,
is of the utmost importance to me. We must continue our work to ensure that updated zoning reflects the vision of our citizens. Zoning determines land use, which includes building height, lot sizes, and what uses go where. We owe it to our citizens to protect our small-town atmosphere and not allow inappropriate uses or uses that our citizens have clearly said they do not want.

To this point, our zoning consultant, along with senior town management, have proposed an area called the Trail Oriented District in Historic Downtown Purcellville, along the W&OD Trail.

Their proposal allows commercial uses and introduces multi-family density up to the W&OD trail. 

This is not in our Comprehensive Plan. It is not what citizens want. Residents have said, written, and reported repeatedly that they want to sustain and restore this area. A rezoning proposal such as this only benefits the developers – that’s it.

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

CL: We must get control of operation and maintenance costs, which contribute more to increasing our water and sewer rates than our debt does.

I will pursue stream restoration credits to increase revenue for the utility fund.

Mayor Fraser has been recommending this for over a year now, but he has faced resistance from the majority on council.

I would implement policy to direct a percentage of our meals tax revenue to be applied to the utility fund.

Our town relies too much on costly consultants who fail to deliver answers acceptable to our citizens. I will work with a majority on the Town Council to suggest solutions and innovations to move our town forward.    

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

CL:No. I do not support extending O Street through to Hatcher Avenue. O Street currently dead-ends behind Magnolias. The only reason to extend this street is to accommodate the traffic that would be generated by the Vineyard Square project. This out-of-place plan is currently approved for a six-story building, along with commercial space on the ground floor and 40 condo units on 21st Street.

 Extending O Street through to Hatcher Avenue would direct traffic from 21^st Street through to Hatcher Avenue, which is already at capacity. This would not alleviate the traffic this ill-gotten development would produce.

I do not support saddling our town taxpayers with a bill of over $4 million to accommodate a development project that should never have been approved in the first place.

Plus, this would not fully address the traffic that 40 condominiums would generate.

Mayor Fraser was successful in removing the proposed extension of O Street as a town priority.

However, due to lack of a majority on town council at the time, this proposed road remains on the town’s outdated Transportation Plan. This plan must be updated, after updating the town’s

Zoning Ordinance. The removal of the O Street extension will be a top priority for me.

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

CL:I will be effective as a council member because I will use my 30 plus years as a Purcellville resident and business owner to advocate for both longterm residents and newcomers.

As a business owner in town, I will work on policy to streamline the process across the board, for businesses to set up shop in Purcellville.

I see the trend of some council members, when elected, cast aside their campaign promises to keep Purcellville the small town everyone loves. We do not want to become Ashburn. There is a smart way to maintain the town we have all come to love.

Once elected, I will work diligently to collaborate with other council members to continue innovative and sound policies. I will reject, unlike my opponents, the culture of growing our way out of debt, which simply increases the demand for taxpayer funded services.

When voting for Stan Milan for Mayor, Ron Rise, Boo Bennett and me, Carol Luke, for Town Council you will be getting a team that will drive the best results for Purcellville citizens’ and a team that will not cater to special interests. There is always pressure from lobbyists, and you need a team with unwavering resolve that remembers that the citizens come first. We are that team.

Boo Bennett

 Boo Bennett has lived in Purcellville for 21 years. She moved to Purcellville because she wanted to give her two sons the same all-American experience she had growing up in a small midwestern town. Bennett has served on the Planning Commission for five years and is currently working on the Town’s Zoning Ordinance rewrite. You will often see her walking her two white poodles, or riding her bike on the W&OD Trail. She has acquired quite a green thumb working at Abernethy and Spencer, one of the many jobs she holds.

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

Boo Bennett: My top priorities are to continue the work of our slow and deliberative growth volunteers and policymakers. These are policies championed by Mayor Fraser and the fiscal stalwarts currently on the Town Council, as well as by my colleagues on the Planning Commission. 

I will keep growth to financially sound limits. I refuse to burden citizens with subsidizing development projects that don’t fit in the town. I will focus on the fiscally responsible policy of paying down the town debt, to the tune of 1 million per year.  

 I will continue my work to support preserving our small town through an updated Zoning Ordinance that reflects the will of the citizens, and not special interests or developers.

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

BB: I will pursue those policies that allow us to pay down our debt. For example, I would advocate for implementing a policy to apply 1-2 percent of the meals tax revenue to the town’s utility fund.

We must pursue efficiencies in our utility facilities operations and maintenance. For example, more than three months has passed since our utility consultant said they would get back to us with data from similarly-sized towns, to compare their operations and maintenance costs with ours. This is information we could use immediately. Why are the people we’re paying to provide it not delivering? This is inefficient and expensive for taxpayers.

We need to examine our practice of costly charge-backs. Charge-backs are triggered when staff that are paid out of the General Fund do work for our Utility Department. They charge their time to the utility department. The cost of this practice currently runs over $900,000. This is a significant contributor to our utility cost profile and a huge driver for rate increases.

Currently the town’s consultant bases their projected utility rates on “availabilities.” This is an outdated model for Purcellville. Our town is already built out. Citizens want to maintain a small-town feel.

Availabilities are a one-time cost to hook up a new property to our utility system. The cost to do so pays for a presumed increase in demand for services. Historically, availability fees failed to cover all the costs incurred for taxpayers living with growth. Infrastructure maintenance and alterations, and increased public services are all highly expensive add-on costs. 

In eight years, Mayor Fraser restructured the town’s utility debt that he inherited from a previous mayor. The loans were interest-only loans with huge balloon payments. Soon the town will be in a position to pay principle. Let’s not miss this opportunity.

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

 BB: No, I do not.

Every day in Purcellville the side of Hatcher that has a sidewalk is used by post office-bound residents, trail goers, and a host of residents walking their dogs, and their children.

Families make their way down Hatcher into downtown for meals, ice cream, parades, shopping, and of course the library.

O Street extended would cut the sidewalk into two. And that is just the effect for the walking traffic!  Vehicle traffic would be even more stifling. Who could turn out of O left or right onto Hatcher without frustration at best and danger at worst.

Everyone knows that O Street would only benefit the Vineyard Square development. This is unjust for our residents. It would not alleviate but would generate complex traffic challenges, and an increased tax burden.

A vote for me is a vote for N “O” Street.

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

BB: Sensibility.

I live in reality, like most citizens. I think things through sensibly and deliberately. I love hearing from our residents and understanding their concerns, suggestions, and ideas. They choose to live here, they pay taxes, and they deserve to be heard. In my book, citizen wishes come first. I would never ignore or distract them, but will seek ways to bring them into the debates.

Outside and developer interests get involved because it is their work and business to do so. Citizens trust their town council and Mayor to protect their interests. I am the sensible and trustworthy choice to put citizens first, to faithfully represent them, and to require the special interests to make their case to citizens, and to adhere to our Comprehensive Plan.

I ask for your vote on November 8, along with the team I am running with which is Stan Milan for Mayor, Ron Rise, Carol Luke, and me, Boo Bennett, for Town Council.