Accomplishments

Over the years I have sponsored numerous legislative initiatives that have been adopted and implemented by the Board of Supervisors. As important as most of these initiatives have been, the following represent some of the most important initiatives, those of which I am most proud.

1. Wrote and Sponsored Board Code of Ethics.
2. Wrote and Sponsored Loudoun County Transparency in Government Initiative.
3. Co-authored County Debt Cap Policy.
4. Found money for and persuaded fellow Board members to build Briar Woods High School and Freedom High School simultaneously.
5. Found money for and shepherded Woodgrove High School through a variety of obstacles to its opening in 2010.
6. With another Supervisor, brought Purcellville Volunteer Fire Company & the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Company together in one safety center.
7. As Chairman of the Finance/Government Services and Operations Committee, have lead the way in financial management of the County for the last four years.

• Authored and sponsored a comprehensive Code of Ethics, which the last two Boards have adopted and agreed to abide by.
  
  
• Authored and sponsored the Transparency in Government Initiative which requires Board members to disclose publicly all meetings with applicants who are seeking decisions by the Board. In other words—no secret meetings! Development applications are now required to contain signed affidavits identifying by name individuals who have an interest in the project. Landowners, developers, law firms, engineering companies, financing institutions, etc. must all identify the names of the top 100 investors in the project so that the public knows with whom the Board is dealing.


• Co-authored the policy to establish an upper limit of new debt (Debt Cap) that the County could take on in any year. That policy, adopted in 2005, led directly to the County receiving a AAA bond rating for the first time from all three rating agencies: Standard and Poors, Fitch, and Moodys. Loudoun is one of only 23 jurisdictions in the entire nation to have that distinction. Adhering to that policy has led to the reaffirming of the AAA rating every year since, thereby saving Loudon taxpayers millions of dollars.


• In 2002, as Chairman of the Finance/Government Services and Operations Committee and while representing South Riding and the area which is now Brambleton and Broadlands, I was able to find the money and convince the Board majority to build both Briar Woods High School and Freedom High School at the same time, even though both schools would open at one-third capacity. Because the cost of construction material was escalating at double-digit rates each year, this move saved taxpayers millions of dollars and satisfied the needs of two rapidly growing communities.

   

• It was a long hard slog filled with roadblocks, but a few years later I found the money and steered the Board through a several-years long legal wilderness to get Woodgrove High School opened in 2010, relieving severe overcrowding at Loudoun Valley High School.

 

• With another supervisor, I brought the Purcellville Volunteer Fire Company and the Purcellville Volunteer Rescue Company together to share one new, large public safety center, built by the County, on one site rather than build two separate stations on two sites. Once again, this decision saved the County taxpayers millions of dollars.
  
  

• Over the past four years as Chairman of the Finance/Government Services and Operations Committee, I have led the way in establishing the fiscal guidance given to the County Administrator for preparing the proposed budget each year. As a result, the County has tightened its belt significantly and come through the recession in sound financial condition, unlike many jurisdictions around the nation. This was done in spite of the fact that during this Board’s term approximately 25,000 people have moved into the County and over 12,000 new students have entered the school system. We have continued to build the schools, hire the teachers, firefighters, Sheriff’s deputies, etc. necessary to serve a rapidly growing population.