Ann Wheeler’s anxiousness to schedule a vote on the controversial Prince William Digital Gateway rezoning before the Planning Office has even completed its review is hardly surprising. She has been in the tank for this project from the outset, and her blatant subservience to corporate masters was largely responsible for her electoral defeat.

Now shift the focus to her accomplices, who have thus far evaded the same level of accountability.

The transformation of Prince William County into northern New Jersey cannot be completed without the willing assistance of Wheeler’s four obedient sidekicks: Kenny Boddye, Margaret Franklin, Andrea Bailey and Victor Angry. Is there an independent thought among them? What will they do without their den mother?

And what about our new County Executive Chistopher Shorter? Was he hired to serve the people or enable our lame duck chair’s undemocratic tactics? He’s got just a few months to show us before he answers to a new Board that may have a very different view of his expected role.

As for our volatile Planning Office, you’d need a scorecard to tell who’s running what on any given day. That’s less their fault than the leadership they’ve been saddled with, but it is long overdue for a planner with backbone to emerge and assert some degree of professional integrity. They are clearly being rolled over.

Will we trade the tenuous promise of tax reductions for a county no longer worth living in? Those with means will flee, but those tied here by jobs, families and limited resources will be stuck living in the Wheelerites’ new industrial wasteland.

Bill Wright
Gainesville

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].

“It is important that elected representatives be accountable, consistent, transparent, and fair in decision-making. We must call them out when they are not. This requires monitoring the actions and statements of our representatives and ensuring they prioritize the best interests of all the people they seek to serve – not just one group.”

These words encapsulate exactly why the board chamber was FULL of residents for the July 11 vote on Resolution 23-365. Over 1,000 residents – from across the county – wrote to the board in support of that resolution – 908 petitioned via click-to-send email, and more than 100 others sent personal email messages. More than 100 also spoke at the meeting in favor of the resolution.

Mary Ann Ghadban, instigator of the Digital Gateway data center corridor application and Pageland Lane homeowner, wrote and published those statements in multiple local newspapers on the day of the board’s vote. Her group is exactly one that should NOT be given preferential treatment by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors with their votes.

These words explain why Ann Wheeler already knows after the primary election results that she won’t be on the dais come January.

These words encapsulate the choices voters made this past February and June, when Bob Weir was made Supervisor of the Gainesville district, and Deshundra Jefferson and Jeanine Lawson won their respective primaries for the Board Chair seat.

These words foretell how county voters will choose their board of supervisor representatives in the November election.

These words also explain exactly why Resolution 23-365, for a vote moratorium on controversial land-use cases during the lame-duck period after the November election until new board members take their seats, is the right thing for all county residents.

By defeating this resolution, already-lame-duck Chair Wheeler, and current Supervisors Boddye, Bailey, Franklin, and Angry showed us that they want to push more damaging and controversial land use decisions before they are stopped by the will of the people county-wide. They intend to continue to choose for the benefit of one group wanting to industrialize and urbanize the entire county.

With their vote on July 11, they have proven they support one select group.

Across the county, we will make our own choices to seal the fate of this board; and to protect our fates and the futures of our children.

Karen Sheehan
Gainesville District

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].

The July 17, 2023, letter to the editor seems to assert that because I do not agree with policies that some constituents put forward, I am being uncivil. Civility has to do with the way we communicate and treat each other as people, not our policies. 

For those who have watched the Board of County Supervisors meetings, it will be recognized that I have almost always acted civilly to staff and public speakers.  I say almost because there was one instance when a public speaker put up a picture of me that included my daughter, and that crossed a line for me, which I hope is relatable to every parent out there.

I do not believe the families of elected officials should be brought into the conversation at any level, and that picture drew a reaction from me.  Otherwise, I have always tried to keep decorum in the Chambers no matter my stance on a policy. 

People often ask why I am not bothered but some of the personal attacks that people say at public comment time or in print. It’s because I believe they are not really taking issue with me; they object to either my policies or my politics, or sometimes both. 

Please know that when opposition to a policy fails to gain ground, a group will try to find fault with the process, and when they fail in an effort to discredit the process, they resort to attacking the person.  It’s inevitable, as shown by the personal attacks which have happened often over the last three and a half years.

I try to keep our board meetings as civil as possible while the personal and political attacks continue. I recognize this is where our nation is now, not just our community. I believe it needs to change, as I mentioned in my forward to The Wheeler Report (my weekly newsletter with a 60% open rate and distribution to over 3,000 residents), which stated:

“Promoting respectful and constructive political discourse is the responsibility of everyone within the community, myself included. There are ways in which we can all contribute to creating a culture in which changes to policy don’t lead to abusive language and incivility aimed at elected officials and our neighbors in the community.  To do this we must engage in political discussions with respect and refrain from personal attacks. Focus on the issues and treat others’ opinions with courtesy, even if you disagree. Seek common ground and emphasize shared values to help build understanding and bridge divisions. Attentively listen to others’ viewpoints without interruption is key to fostering constructive dialogue. Fact-checking information before sharing it ensures accuracy and helps prevent the spread of misinformation.”

Civility is how we treat each other, not our disagreements over policy.

PS: I am honored to be included in any letter to the editor that finds me in league with former President Obama because it lets me know I am on the right side of history.

Ann Wheeler
Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair At-Large

Editors note: Ann Wheeler presides over the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, which manages the second-largest jurisdiction in Virginia. She was elected in 2019 and will complete her term on December 31, 2023, following a June 20, 2023 Primary Election loss.

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].

We all recently received a lecture from Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large, Ann Wheeler, on ‘civility’ in politics in her recent newsletter.

“The term ‘civility’ refers to using polite language in formal conversations and is closely related to courtesy and consideration. Unfortunately, it seems that civility has been lacking lately, not just in Prince William County, but throughout our nation,” Wheeler wrote.

Since Barack Obama decided to ‘fundamentally change’ the U.S., we have fallen into the abyss regarding civility on any topic. We are no longer able to discuss politics, race, schools, library books, bathrooms, the definition of the sexes, or God forbid, use correct pronouns as demanded by proper English. 

As parents, we are no longer allowed to attend school board meetings or a board of county supervisor’s meeting, locally or around the nation, and engage in, as Ann Wheeler suggests, ‘constructive dialog.’ If we dare to breach any of the above subjects, we are ignored, visited by local police, shut down or subjected to the burning of our cities and businesses, total annihilation of our history, labeled as domestic terrorists, or suffer the nonstop removal or destruction of our constitution and the images and sculptures of our founding fathers.

Veterans have been told to “F—Off,” by Chairwoman of the Prince William County Democratic National Committee, Tonya James, simply for singing the National Anthem during a school board meeting.

We have been lectured by the Chair of the School Board, Babur Lateef, that our opinions as parents are not valued over that of teachers.

And the Prince William County Director of Equity and Inclusion, Maria Burgos, told us all that “once you understand a Marxist framework, you will understand how it is used in education,” while denying Critical Race Theory and Marxism are taught in our schools.

Ann Wheeler has attempted to shut down public discourse on more than one occasion because citizens disagreed with her agenda and have disrespected her constituents by completely ignoring our wants and needs regarding the takeover of Data Centers, now destroying our landscapes and neighborhoods. And, the 64-thousand-dollar question? Is Ann Wheeler financially benefiting from the approval of all these data centers? We may never know the truth. And who can forget on May 18, 2023, the Virginia Supreme Court found that Prince William County Board Chair Ann Wheeler and four fellow Democrat supervisors, Andrea O. Bailey, Kenny Boddye, Victor S. Angry, and Margaret Angela Franklin, “knowingly and willfully violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) by attending a meeting…without complying with statutory requirements.”  That event will cost Prince William residents well over $150,000. 

Despite all we have endured over the past three and a half years, we are now being told by Ann Wheeler we must improve our civility in political discourse. Have any of these so-called leaders looked in the mirror or maybe viewed the video playbacks of the meetings they run? It’s hard to separate politics from personal when you are told repeatedly to mind your P’s and Q’s, while at the same time, you are being scolded for having an opinion that goes against the political agenda being shoved down our throats.

The lack of civility is the result of almost four unbearable years of being ignored, mocked, and berated for not wanting our kids exposed to mask mandates, school closures, sexual indoctrination and pornography in our kid’s libraries, boys invading girl’s bathrooms and sports, the infiltration of our communities with data centers and a total lack of respect for the very people who these leaders are supposed to represent.

So, Ann, wake up and smell the roses. The citizens of Prince William County voted you out because you have never represented us, nor have you taken the lead in showing the slightest bit of civility to the populace. 

In November, we will vote out the rest of those who refuse to represent the masses.

Eventually, a beaten dog will bite.

L.H. Bravo
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].

There is a saying of biblical origin: “Pride goeth before a fall.”

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].

Prince William Times: “Deshundra Jefferson, whose upset win in the Democratic primary unseated incumbent Prince William County Board Chair Ann Wheeler, was propelled to victory by big leads in the western parts of the county most impacted by data center development. Wheeler, meanwhile, won by slimmer margins in eastern Prince William precincts.”

“The Gainesville and Brentsville districts both showed a higher turnout in the June 20 primary and voted for Jefferson, 47, by wider margins, according to updated county election results that track the more than 14,000 absentee ballots cast in the Democratic and Republican primaries back to the voters’ precincts.”

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].

Press release: “On Tuesday, [June 27, 2023] Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson introduced a resolution at the Board meeting. This will commit the Board to abstain from scheduling certain land use public hearings during the period from Election Day, November 7, 2023, through the conclusion of the current Board’s term on December 31, 2023.”

“In the recent primary, voters expressed their strong opposition to reckless data center development pushed by Chair Wheeler and her Democrat colleagues, Supervisor Angry, Bailey, Boddye, and Franklin. The message conveyed by voters was clear that expediting development approvals without transparency and disregarding citizen input will bear consequences at the voting booth. In response, Supervisor Lawson’s resolution seeks to address public anxiety about the conduct of a lame duck Board.”

“‘I strongly believe this resolution acknowledges that citizens are demanding transparent and accountable decision-making,’ said Supervisor Lawson. ‘By refraining from scheduling high-profile land use public hearings during this short designated period, I believe this reprieve could help rebuild trust with citizens to ensure a fair and inclusive decision-making process. If candidates feel so strongly about these cases, then they should run on them.”

“The resolution is scheduled for an afternoon vote at the July 11, 2023, Board of County Supervisors meeting. Residents are encouraged to attend and share their thoughts on the resolution.”

Rules already on the books in neighboring Stafford County prevent its Board of Supervisors from hearing land-use cases during lame-duck sessions.

Lawson won the Republican nomination to run for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large seat. She’ll face Democrat Deshundra Jefferson, who won her party’s Primary Election on June 20, beating incumbent At-large Chair Ann Wheeler.

Republican Tom Gordy and Democrat Jim Gehlsen is running to replace Lawson in the Brentsville seat.

Voters will decide the next At-large Chair on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.

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].