Its rough translation is that having too much pride or confidence will cause one to make mistakes that lead to failure. Excessive pride or confidence is commonly known as arrogance.
That saying should be engraved on the political tombstone of Ann Wheeler.
Her comments rationalizing her election loss, and her actions since, show she has learned absolutely nothing from the clock cleaning she got at the hands of the voters. She said that those who attribute her loss to data centers alone do “not fully understand the intricacies of the changes that have occurred in Prince William County” in recent years. It’s more likely that Ann Wheeler does not fully understand the intricacies of an obvious rejection of her developer-centric agenda and undemocratic tactics.
Prince William County citizens have suffered the arrogance of Ann Wheeler for three and a half years. Must we now endure her bruised ego for the next half year?
Citizens will need to be vigilant in the months ahead for evidence of Chair Wheeler’s continued intent to subvert the public will. She will certainly be under pressure from numerous campaign contributors who watched their generous donations go up the chimney. When you make a deal with the devil, the devil wants to be paid back.
There are several contentious land use cases waiting in the wings to be shoved down our throats, like the Prince William Digital Gateway, Devlin Technology Park and John Marshall Commons Technology Park.
Who can Chair Wheeler convince to follow her off a cliff?
Bill Wright
Gainesville
Editors note: Potomac Local News aims to share opinions on issues of local importance from a diverse range of residents across all our communities. If you’ve recently spoken at a Board of County Supervisors meeting, send us a typed copy of your remarks for publication to [email protected].
In late May/Early June we heard about the possibility of commercial air service coming to Manassas Airport. Finally, in late June the Airport Commission Board Chair confirmed the dream could become reality in mere months if the city council and the mayor find it acceptable.
Thousands of small airports across the country would be expressing gratitude for any air service planning to come to their facility. Air transportation is a major employer, providing vital economic benefits and boasting high occupancy rates. Air transportation is a major contributor to the economy, bringing in outside businesses and consumers.
The economic impact and social benefits of bringing commercial air flights are too innumerable to list, but what can be summarized is that bringing tourism and trade to any new area will foster the growth of that area significantly.
Avports, the experienced operator behind this application, is very optimistic, and they have indicated they will entrench themselves in this area much the same way as Omniride has, caring about our residents and being a pivotal part of the community.
That said, like all businesses, Avports measures its success by profitability, of which load factor plays a major part. Load factor is how full the airplanes are arriving to and departing from Manassas Airport. Avports has stated that Florida and other popular East Coast destinations will be the primary targets for testing.
Air service is a “use it or lose it” form of transportation to our community. Airlines serving the greater Washington market need to make money, or they will move their assets to other markets.  We are not just in competition with surrounding airports for our air service; we are in competition with every other community in the nation that wants air service. If an airline thinks its aircraft can make more money in another market, they will likely move that aircraft asset.
It is imperative that we support Avports and the air service that they are providing our community. At times, there may be seats available at less cost in other close-by markets; but every passenger leaving the Manassas market to fly from another airport further restricts our ability to grow our services and to get additional air service.
The Prince William Chamber of Commerce and our 1,300 members stand proudly in support of this project.  As its CEO, I would challenge the greater Washington region to commit to flying from the Manassas Airport.
Avports view our market favorably, but the future of expanded commercial air service in Manassas depends on the community’s commitment to fill the service they are going to provide.
Thank you, and Let’s fly.
Robert Sweeney
CEO, Prince William Chamber of Commerce
My name is Verndell Robinson. I am an award-winning realtor of seven years who is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Maritime Law. I am running for Potomac District Supervisor because we deserve transparency and accountability from our elected officials.
For instance, most other major counties in our region maintain a lame-duck session policy. A lame duck session is the period between Election Day in November and December 31. Instituting a lame-duck session policy to prevent political games and contentious votes is routine during election years. In particular, focusing on avoiding contentious land use matters during the lame duck session. Instituting this policy gives the public confidence and ensures that Board members and elected officials do not engage in any political games or “pay to play” backroom deals.
But here in Prince William County, it’s clear that some of our current supervisors do not care to uphold that level of transparency and trust with voters. At the center of this issue is their continued push for rampant data center developments.
A lame-duck policy has been proposed in Prince William County to specifically prevent any major land use matters, including data center development applications. Supervisor Bailey remains silent on whether she’ll support the resolution to protect Potomac District residents from political games in the July 11th vote.
I question the motives of her silence. Is she indebted to the data center industry? Did she not hear the cries of the 254 registered constituents saying they do not want more data centers during a two-day Board of County Supervisors meeting?
Why hasn’t she shared the intended Potomac Tech Park on Rt 234 near Forest Park, even though there are already 11.7 million square feet of dedicated data center space elsewhere? Prince William County has a crescent that was not supposed to be touched, but now it seems that our pro-data-center supervisors want to turn it into a concrete jungle.
Maybe her political donations give us a better understanding of her motives. According to her reported donations to the Board of County Elections, most of her donations come directly from landowners who are selling to developers, unions that support data center developments, those who stand to profit from data centers, and the data center developers themselves.
Andrea Bailey has never voted against any data center project, and now she wants them right here in our district. As you know, data centers in residential areas bring with them a host of problems: noise, lower residential tax value, and electrical overload. With the approval of the master plan in December of 2022 for the rezoning of the Potomac Tech Park, data centers are now a Potomac District problem.
To compound the issue, initial applications only bring more applications in return. Now, there are proposals for the land directly across from the intended Potomac Tech Park. This is an area where developers have already shown interest in expanding their current proposal to neighboring residential subdivisions, namely Minnieville Manor, Mallard Overlook, and Ashland.
Potomac District residents: We must fight back now! We deserve a voice that will listen, and that will act in the best interest of the public and not themselves or the data centers. We must stop the political games of lame-duck sessions and prevent applications like Potomac Tech Park from being forced through.
I urge you to support candidates like me, Verndell Robinson, that will listen to the voices of the people. ACT NOW to help pass the lame-duck resolution. Demand Supervisor Bailey makes her position clearly known and demands that our Board fully supports this resolution by emailing [email protected].
Verndell Robinson
Candidate, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Potomac District
Editors note: Potomac Local News aims to share opinions on issues of local importance from a diverse range of residents across all our communities. If you’ve recently spoken at a Board of County Supervisors meeting, send us a typed copy of your remarks for publication to [email protected].
Such an action would break historical precedence and be a policy change for the Board and Supervisor Lawson herself. It appears she is only proposing this policy chance because she is opposed to certain projects that would come before the Board during this time.
The historical record is clear – Supervisor Lawson has voted many times to approve “lame-duck” land use votes in both 2015 and 2019. Since joining the board, Supervisor Lawson, between November and December, has voted in favor of over 18 land use cases during lame-duck sessions.
In fact, during this time in 2019, Supervisor Lawson voted to approve a Special Use Permit for a data center property outside the data center overlay district and adjoining the Manassas Battlefield. Known as Gainesville Crossing, this land use application had vocal opposition.
The opposition’s testimony did not sway Supervisor Lawson away from supporting the project as she voted along with four “lame duck” Republicans to approve the project. All this with the knowledge that it was being approved by Supervisors who had either lost elections or were retiring from public office.
To be clear, I believe the board should continue to take votes, no matter when it happens during their term. They were elected to serve four years and make county policy, not three and a half years. Their vote means just as much on day one as it does on the last day of their term.
I’m a small business owner and perform marketing work in Prince William County. Supervisor Lawson’s moratorium will directly impact my livelihood. It jeopardizes how I feed my family and my employees’ jobs, not to mention the millions of dollars spent by land-use applicants who have a right to expect that the Board will hear their projects in due time.
The board should do the right thing and vote down Supervisor Lawson’s election-year moratorium.
Travis Turner
Prince William County property owner
Editors note: Potomac Local News aims to share opinions on issues of local importance from a diverse range of residents across all our communities. If you’ve recently spoken at a Board of County Supervisors meeting, send us a typed copy of your remarks for publication to [email protected].
Yet despite this, Superintendent LaTonya McDade, School Board Chair Babur Lateef, and the other Democrats on the school board refuse to reverse their path towards the total destruction of our education system and the trust of parents.
Prince William County is not alone. As a matter of fact, we are still in the infancy of this total transformation of our children’s education. Although parents around the country have been in this fight for years, these school boards believe they know what is best and continue to push race-based equity and transgender policies in our schools, ultimately indoctrinating our innocent children.
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Karl Greten, of Gainesville, speech at the June 27 Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting: “I am Karl Greten, and I live in the Gainesville District. We are against the Digital Gateway CPA on Pageland Lane and its associated rezoning.”
“Chair Wheeler’s statement about the next Chair making statements about MAGA is completely accurate. Wheeler has not listened to the statements from PWC citizens that the underlying issue is to make PWC great, make VA great, and Make America Great. Wheeler, what do you want? Make Russia or China, or Iran great? This is what Wheeler has not understood. Perhaps you were trying to make another locale, state, or country great. PWC citizens are working to make PWC great and to not bulldoze it.”
“For the rest of the Democrat BOCS members, we are watching your comments, voting stance, and your financial gains.
“Prince William County has made amazing progress over the last three and a half years, and all Democrats and independents must all come together to ensure that continues,” Wheeler has said. This statement is true because Republicans, Democrats, and Independents came together to vote Wheeler out.”
“We will follow the developer and data center bulldozer money as Wheeler passes funds on to other Democrat destroyers.”
“Supervisor Angry: you narrowly won your primary election contest. Congratulations on winning with just over 100 votes. Your opponent is a newcomer to the PWC election process so this shows you may not be on the firmest ground.”
“Kenny Boddye: you have said, ‘This is an opportunity to say, Hey, we hear that there needs to be more care and caution when it comes to data centers and where we put them.’ Where have you been for the last two years? This is what the citizens have been pounding on you.”
“’You’re going to have a whole host of Democratic activists, advocates, and volunteers who may have sat out of the primary who are definitely going to be energized in the fall,” Boddye said.”
“Kenny, you got this wrong. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents came together to vote in the primary to oust Wheeler. Now county-wide issues such as the economy, violence, transgenderism, schools and grades that have declined during Democrat rule, abortion term limits, affordable housing, and the socialist agenda will be the issues between the Republican and Democratic position of the BOCS Chair in the election voting in September. Republican and Independents will now vote on multiple issues other than just data centers.”
“The citizens have spoken, and the county has heard us. Even though there was apprehension during the primary, the citizens of PWC knew what the outcome would be. There is no surprise.”
“The largest surprise is how far-reaching the results have resounded. Associated Press reports are coming in from Canada, Illinois, Oregon, Florida, Alaska, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas, and these are just a few.”
“Vote against the Digital Gateway CPA on Pageland Lane and its associated rezoning.”
Editors note: Potomac Local News aims to share opinions on issues of local importance from a diverse range of residents across all our communities. If you’ve recently spoken at a Board of County Supervisors meeting, send us a typed copy of your remarks for publication to [email protected].
Democracy only works if you exercise it. Talk is cheap, but votes are powerful.
In the past 20 months, county residents have been encouraged to push back against a government that rode roughshod over its express wishes. That encouragement paid off on June 20 with the upset defeat of Board of County Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler in the Democratic primary.
The ousting of Chair Wheeler is a thunderclap that will reverberate far beyond Prince William County and whose effects will become clearer in the weeks ahead. At a minimum, it sends a powerful message that communities will fight back against reckless development that threatens their quality of life and that public servants who do not serve will be held accountable.
The cliches are irresistible. Truth is powerful. Justice prevailed. Right made might.
What does this stunning rebuke mean for the future of Prince William County Government? For starters, it ought to shine a bright light on the public’s disdain for the “pay for play” politics that has been ruling this county for too long. Ditto for divisive leadership, obstructing transparency, neglect of due diligence, and suppression of public input.
Congratulations to Deshundra Jefferson, who had the courage to stand up to a Democratic organization that had doubled down on a flawed status quo. It’s time to start making over that organization in the image of the principles it is supposed to stand for. It is the people, not the money, that sustains it.
Democracy in. Wheeler out.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
The chair of the board, Ann Wheeler, is running for re-election against another Democratic candidate Deshundra Jefferson. Here are some facts to consider when you go to vote.
Wheeler’s campaign is funded by special interest groups, including the data center industry, developers, and landowners that stand to make millions from the sale of their rural land for use by the data center industry. Wheeler has ownership in data center companies, yet she failed to ask if these personal financial interests represented a conflict of interest when she voted to approve favorable tax rates and approve the development of more land for these companies to build here.
She wanted to [reduce] public comment time at County Board meetings because we, the citizens of the county who were showing up to speak up, were taking up too much of the Supervisors’ time. Wheeler was recently charged by the Virginia Supreme Court of violating the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) by participating in a meeting with the other Democrat County Supervisors at the exclusion of any Republican Supervisors. When the ruling from the Supreme Court was released, Wheeler said the County (you and me) would need to pay their legal fees of up to $150,000.
Wheeler approved higher taxes for us with the meals, cigarettes, and real estate taxes. Yet, she refused to increase the tax on data center companies to the market rate charged by other localities. She claims to have championed our environment, yet she and her Democratic Supervisors voted for the single, largest land use change in decades by eliminating the Rural Crescent.
They approved this despite pleas from our water company, over 30 environmental groups, and our own county Environmental and Sustainability Commission. As you go to the polls on Tuesday, June 20, ask yourself, “Do you want our County to continue to be governed by a person whose interests and influence are from data center companies and real estate developers?” Did you vote for your Supervisors to make Prince William County home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers?
Let’s take the county back and elect Supervisors who represent us, the county’s citizens, and not allow our county to continue to be bought by the highest bidder.
Nancy Armour
Woodbridge
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
Three years ago, my husband and I moved to our retirement home. A year later, this turmoil began. When a billion-dollar company and another multi-million dollar company come charging into your community with unlimited wealth and proceed to turn your world upside down, it truly is tragic for anyone, but especially so for my senior community of Heritage Hunt, with 3,500 people and an average age of 75, located only an hour west of Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital.
With the advent of data centers to make our world connected at intergalactic speeds, people do not realize what the adverse effects of a proposed data center alley can do to the community in which they encroach: the destruction of our environment and wildlife, the pressure on our overtaxed electrical grid; the polluted air with particulate matter from diesel-fired, backup generators; the depletion of our watershed; potential 24/7 noise from rooftop A/C systems on hyper-scale buildings standing 90 feet tall and beyond; and, most importantly, the disrespect to the thousands of Civil War soldiers buried on the hallowed grounds of the Manassas National Battlefield Park adjacent to this proposed large data center alley, the same data center alley adjacent to my retirement community. Even our Conway Robinson State Forest abuts this project.
Many of us seniors here have banded together in opposition. Letters have been written, phone calls have been made, and offices have been frequented by every local, state, and federal elected official to little avail. The political maneuvering is profound and unprecedented, especially non-replies to Virginia Freedom of Information Act requests. One after the other, rezoning and special use permits were approved for even more nearby monstrosities during the darkest days of COVID under Non-Disclosure Agreements by the majority of our elected County Board of Supervisors.
Where are the integrity, morals, insight, and foresight of what they are proposing for our county? Why have numerous studies not been ordered in advance of this new venture when there has been nothing but citizen outcry, along with the disapproval of over 30 environmental groups, county commissions, our own county offices, and even disapproval by Ken Burns, filmmaker of the famous Civil War miniseries.
We, seniors, have been around the block a few times, as they say, and we know it is a travesty that the almighty dollar has taken precedence over our cultural heritage and the protection of mother earth for our progeny and their progeny.
There are many forms of elder abuse, and I believe that corporate America has just established a new version of the textbooks by setting their sites on land adjacent to 3,500 of us seniors, causing undue stress on our health and welfare for the past 18 months with much more elder abuse to come if this project goes forward.
I just want to cry because no one is listening to me, because no one is showing any foresight because there is no undoing the devastation once done. I cry for all those who will never know the historic and beautiful Prince William County in the Commonwealth of Virginia that I have known for the past 47 years.
I will always stand by the Virginia State Seal, Sic Semper Tyrannis: Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning “thus always to tyrants.” In contemporary parlance, it means tyrannical leaders will inevitably be overthrown.
The phrase also suggests that bad but justified outcomes should, or eventually will, befall tyrants.
Elizabeth Martorana
Gainesville
PLN accepts letters to the editor on issues of local importance. Submit your letters to [email protected].
