Opinion: Horner is not the answer to Prince William County planning woes

While I applaud your latest opinion piece about data centers, there was one aspect of it that I take issue with:

“We hear former Deputy County Executive Rebecca Horner has been sent back to the county planning department after several recent departures we told you about last week. She’s familiar with the planning office — she ran the place until she was promoted to deputy county executive in 2020. She may right the ship and create a plan because she’s one of the few people still around with institutional knowledge.”

I believe it is quite likely that the supervision of Rebecca Horner was at least partly responsible for the staff exodus.  She is only back in her compromised “acting” role because so much has been driven out.

The Prince William County Planning Office is obviously in turmoil. Here are some questions that require answers:

• Why did former Planning Director Parag Agrawal resign abruptly after less than a year on the job?
• Why did Deputy County Executive for Community Development Rebecca Horner remain dual-hatted in a compromised role as acting Planning Director for nearly fifteen months when the workload warranted hiring a permanent successor?
• Why was Ms. Horner so averse to transparency in the planning process? Her office declined to reply to a July 5, 2022, letter from an attorney for the Gainesville Citizens for Smart Growth expressing concern over her office’s obstruction of legitimate citizen inquiries and withholding critical information from the public in advance of the September 14 Planning Commission hearing on the Prince William Digital Gateway.
• The American Institute of Certified Planners has a detailed Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, which calls on members to serve the public interest and resist improper influences faithfully. Are we confident the Planning Office has been strictly adhering to those provisions?

And what about her role in pigeon-holing the infamous 31-page letter from QTS and Compass attorneys before the Planning Commission public hearing on the Prince William Digital Gateway website?

That letter was held by her office and first made accessible to the public at 1:22 p.m. on September 15 – eight hours after the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the Prince William Digital Gateway.

This document should have been made available before the public hearing.

Rebecca Horner is not the answer to the Planning Office’s woes. It is far more likely she was a cause of them.

Bill Wright
Gainesville

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