Opinion: Supervisors have had community in constant uproar; All controversial votes are against the poeple

By Alicia Gloss
Coles District
Prince William County

Chairwoman Ann Wheeler and the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors have made a lot of news over the past three years and not the good kind.

Vote after vote, whether it’s controversial land use cases, increasing our taxes every year, meals tax, public corruption investigations, lack of disclosing data center stock, having illegal board meetings, the list goes on and on.

This chair has sighed, smirked, laughed, eye-rolled, and even interrupted citizens during their comment time many times over the years and even disrespected fellow colleagues by interrupting them and accusing them of inciting citizens simply for daring to keep their constituents informed. The truth is the public is speaking out in record numbers due to failed leadership by this chair and board.

This chair has shown disdain for public comment time since she realized she had to listen to us and we would hold her accountable. This leadership has chosen developer first, citizen last policies, padding wallets and stock portfolios over citizen’s best interests.

Supervisor Angry in the past has said, “I want to create this feeling, or this movement of trust and community relationships. I had that growing up, and I want to do more to create that and to get us back to that.”

How is limiting public comment time going to do that? I will call this what it is, an attempt to stop speech, to crush dissent over highly unpopular voting decisions.

The attempts to limit public speech by this chair and board are unprecedented, and at no point in the previous board did they ever limit public comment time as this board has.

This Chair has already limited our voice by changing how long our supervisors can speak on our behalf by limiting them to two five-minute statements during discussions, removing many of the 7:30 p.m. evening meetings in lieu of 2 p.m. meetings when the public is at work.

And whatever happened to the Saturday meetings this board said they would hold so people who work can participate and be heard? We’ve never seen one.

When we are allowed to speak, the chair has changed the rules requiring us to speak at the end of the meeting. This puts our voices last after all the voting and indicates what she has continually done during her tenure as chair. Since this hasn’t worked to silence us, she is now trying to restrict our voice further.

This chair and board receive constant backlash from the community because it is not in sync with what the community wants. Voters thought you were beholden to them, but they now realize you are beholden to power and monetary gain.

You have had our community in a constant uproar with all the controversial votes against the will of the people, but now you have gone too far. You have agitated the State Legislature with the approval of the Digital Gateway without waiting for the results of the environmental studies we’ve paid for, and even though so many citizens, senators, delegates, and conservation groups urged you not to.

The State Legislature is seeking to pass emergency legislation to stop the Digital Gateway and other data centers in Prince William County and to help protect our National Parks and land since you won’t. You have carved up Prince William County acre after acre and betrayed the voters with a bait and switch.

People of Prince William County: Let’s not forget what Ann Wheeler and this board have done to our community and hold them accountable in November. In November, the citizens will have the ultimate public comment time by cutting you out altogether.

The voice of the people should never be limited.

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