Letters to the Editor

Dear Loudoun County Residents,

Political campaigns should be based on contrasts. As the challenger, it is my job to create contrast between me and my opponent. I have and will continue to hold Delegate Poisson accountable for his votes, his actions, and his inactions.

It seems that his approach is slightly different. Delegate Poisson has lied about my business record, saying I owned a business (Cable and Wireless) that went bankrupt, when I did not own it at all. Next, he said he would cut our taxes, after voting for the largest tax increase in Virginia history. And now he stands idly by as his Democratic leadership sends mailer, after disgusting mailer, into our homes.

My opposition has dug up a 15-year old false charge that never happened, was investigated, found to be without merit, and dismissed by a Federal Court. It seems that they are so desperate and so willing to do anything to win, they will send mailers exposing our children to most vile language ever included in a political attack. Families from across the political spectrum are appalled.

“Standing Up for Loudoun, Standing Up for You” is Delegate Poisson’s slogan. If this is true, then I call upon Delegate Poisson to stand up to his leadership, denounce their slimy tactics, and be a leader. If he doesn’t, then we have to ask ourselves, isn’t he as guilty as they are, and not fit to lead anything or anybody.

Sincerely,

Tag

Thomas A. “Tag” Greason

Candidate for Delegate

32nd House District

 

Tax Penalty Claim is a ‘Fabrication”

To the Editor:

In a recent mailer sent to Loudoun County voters, my opponent, “Tag” Greason accuses me of being “late paying [my] own property taxes four times in just eight years.” His flier goes on to say that I was “late four times paying [my] property taxes [in] 1993, 1994, 1995 with penalty, 2001 with penalty,” and cites the “Loudoun County Property Tax Records” to support his contention. This is a total fabrication.

The fact is that the county’s land records on file at the County Court clearly indicate I have never been late paying my property taxes. Furthermore, it would have been legally impossible for me to be late paying taxes in 1993 and 1994 because the home in which I currently live – and have lived ever since moving to Loudoun County – was not even finished being built until October 1995, as the residential land records from the Loudoun County Real Estate Tax, Assessment and Parcel Database will attest (a copy of which I’ve provided this newspaper).

While the use of misrepresentations and half-truths may to some all be part of the “game” of trying to win elections, such flagrant deceitfulness has no place in our politics – and I trust Loudoun County voters will place no stock in this or anything else Mr. Greason may have to say further about me in this campaign.

David E. Poisson

Delegate, 32nd House District

Virginia General Assembly

Shafted Again

To the Editor:

Having lived is Sterling for over 30 years, I am well aware of the history of the Dulles Toll Road. Before the Toll Road was built, many Fairfax and Loudoun commuters would take the Dulles Access Road to the airport, turn around and drive on into Washington via the Access Road. Technically illegal, but with an underutilized highway in their backyards and traffic jams galore on Route 7, who could blame them?

Then the politicians got a bright idea - they would build s commuter road parallel to the Access Road, but unfortunately, it would have to be a toll road in order to pay for its construction. At the time, the politicians promised that once the tolls collected were enough to pay for the construction of the road, the tolls would be eliminated - that was part of the "deal" put to the voters in Fairfax and Loudoun.

Well, the Toll Road was such a success that it paid for itself ahead of schedule. Did the tolls come off? No. They decided to widen the Toll Road, which was not really a bad idea, and the tolls remained. At the time the toll at the Route 28 entrance (the only one in Loudoun) was 35 cents, the toll at all the Fairfax County entrances was 25 cents, and the toll at the Main toll gate was 50 cents. And this money was sufficient to cover widening of the Toll Road. Again, did the tolls go away? Again, No!

Recently, the Toll Road was turned over to the Airports Authority, which immediately raised all the tolls - all entrances now 50 cents, and the Main toll gate 75 cents. The money now is to go to build Metro out to Dulles. The people got shafted again.

And now along comes Fairfax Supervisor Cathy Hudgins objecting to the use of some of this money to improve Route 606 in Loudoun. "What's collected in Fairfax should stay in Fairfax," she says. What Hudgins is intentionally ignoring is the fact that a significant percentage of the tolls collected in Fairfax (especially at the Main Gate) are collected from residents of counties other than Fairfax, principally folks from Loudoun, but also some from as far away as West Virginia.

As to all the politicos who promised to remove the tolls once the Toll Road paid for itself, I only can wonder if they ever heard of the word "conscience." They have proven themselves to be a bunch of liars.

Lou Alfano

Sterling

Geurin Supports Tom Rust for Delegate

To The Editor:

I recently received some misleading propaganda from the Democratic Party of Virginia criticizing Delegate Tom Rust, who has worked hard for eight years to improve Virginia’s education funding.

The Loudoun County School Board commended Mr. Rust in 2004 for “his vision, leadership and perseverance” in voting to provide additional state funding to Loudoun County.” Loudoun County schools received $6.8 Million in additional funding, which helped us compliment local funding of the school budget. Tom Rust has directly lessened the burden that falls to Loudoun property tax payers by supporting the most far-reaching education financing reform of a generation in 2004.

The most egregious statement is where Tom Rust’s opponent claims he will get “our share” of school funding”. He fails to mention that he voted to cut schools by $34.2 million in local transfer just seven months ago. So, one should ask — who really supports our Loudoun schools?

Since 2005, Delegate Rust’s actions have brought a 97.8 percent increase in state funding to Loudoun County schools, while our enrollment grew by 38 percent The positive changes to our school system balance sheet total $98.2 million over a five-year period.

The idea that we are not receiving our “fair” share or that Tom Rust has cut funding to local schools while in Richmond is factually incorrect. The truth matters. It matters more than partisan politics.

Tom Rust is a strong advocate for Loudoun County parents, their schools and our efforts to improve student achievement. His support for improved state funding of education is a hallmark of his service as our delegate. Tom knows our Sterling Park schools, he knows our community. He is not a stranger to us. Tom will continue work to help us meet the challenges to improve student learning and prepare them for a bright future.

The Loudoun Education Association, the Fairfax Education Association and the Virginia Education Association have each endorsed Tom for re-election. These three teacher associations recognize Tom’s value to education.

I have worked closely with Tom Rust since he was first elected as our delegate. He deserves the support of all voters who are truly interested in schools.

J. Warren Geurin

Sterling District

Loudoun County School Board

No Place for ‘Attack Pieces’

To the Editor:

 I see the election season is upon us, especially with the arrival of this week's "attack pieces" from Tag Greason.

 Reeling from charges that his business record isn't quite as stellar as he'd like people to think it is, Greason huffs and puffs in his latest mailer that Delegate David Poisson was late paying taxes in Loudoun County four times over eight years.

 Doesn’t he know that if he’s going to make up stuff like this, he ought to at least be able to put the poor guy at the scene of the offense when it was committed? The fact is, Delegate Poisson didn't even live in Loudoun County in 1993 or 1994 - and property taxes are taken out of mortgage payments, so even if they had been late, which they weren't, it would have been the mortgage company's fault, not Delegate Poisson's.

 It's obvious that Greason wants to win badly. So badly, in fact, he’s willing to make stuff up out of whole cloth. Thankfully, we're wise to your kind.

 Even though he hasn't lived here as long as Greason would like people to think he has, Poisson has lived here more than twice as long as he has. We have known him for ten years, and no cheap, half-baked slur is going to change how highly we think of him.

 Roger and Rita Poston

Sterling

Poisson has Achieved Nothing in Richmond

To the Editor:

Lately, I’ve been pounded with negative campaign fliers from Delegate David Poisson. Not recalling that Mr. Poisson was prone to go negative, I thought a glance at what he did last session might help me understand why he isn’t talking about his legislative or voting record.

Well, it didn’t take long for me to find out why Poisson has gone negative. It appears he holds the distinction of being the only legislator in the House who did not pass ONE bill to benefit his constituents over the past two years! Rather than a record of success, I’d categorize this as an abysmal failure by a caboose politician who seems still to be searching for his office in Richmond.

Things got worse when I reviewed Poisson’s voting record. He voted multiple times for the Abuser Driving Fees, a centerpiece of a bill ruled unconstitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court. These were fines of up to $900 for offenses such as running stop signs – but only on Virginia residents, not out-of-towners. In addition, Mr. Poisson pushed legislation to mandate that government-issued mileage readers be attached to our cars so he could tax us by the mile.

Further research demonstrated that Mr. Poisson has supported any and all increases to your taxes, levies, penalties, surcharges, fees, fines, etc. In short, Poisson’s dirty secret – one he is now attempting to hide behind a barrage of negative campaigning – is that he wants nothing more than to get his hands on your hard-earned money!

I guess this revelation shouldn’t have come as a surprise, since Poisson has campaigned passionately for the public option and government run healthcare, “cap and tax” legislation and other far-left policies designed to extract your property for the collectivist ideal. Thanks … but no thanks!

I ask Poisson, to take me off your negative campaign mailing list; I get enough junk mail as it is. I’d rather spend my time working to elect a leader who will actually represent us and influence positive change to create jobs and ease traffic instead of growing government. Which is why I’ll be supporting Tag Greason for Delegate this November.

Jack Ryan

Ashburn

 

Home-based Businesses Add Value to a Community

 To the Editor, 

The Countryside Proprietary has existed for 25 years as a "home business friendly" community, in sharp contrast to other local HOAs.

In that time, very little, if any, enforcement action has been needed, and in general, the County home business laws have been the governing rules here, in spite of an ambiguous clause in the Countryside guidelines.

 Recently, the Proprietary Board of Directors (BOD) has embarked on a campaign to strictly limit the definition of an allowable home-based business. Please note that this development is not due to a single homeowner complaint. This is apparently an attempt to further define the existing rules. In other words, just more regulation that virtually nobody, outside of the current BOD, has asked for.

 This capricious action will put many, if not most, of the well-established and responsible Countryside home-based business owners into a non-compliant condition. Many of these businesses are located in Countryside, due to the tolerance of the Proprietary in the past.

 Let's take a look at what a responsible, county-compliant home business brings to the community. The advantages outlined below are usually and conveniently ignored by those who want to impose further arbitrary limits on home business owners.

Other homeowners in the Countryside community (and elsewhere) who are not home based business owners should look at ALL of the facts, before jumping on the bandwagon of the anti-business crowd.

 INCREASED SECURITY: Home businesses are the "eyes and ears" of the community during business hours. Home business owners keep watch on the activities of solicitors, contractors, and other community traffic. Their movement during the day lets other people know that there is someone around. I have stopped teenagers from breaking into my neighbors house, simply be being here and aware of the noise. A "commuter" community is empty during business hours, and much more vulnerable. 

TRAFFIC REDUCTION: Home businesses keep cars off the road. For each full-time home business owner in Countryside, that's one less car on Algonkian Parkway/Route 7/Route 28 during rush hours.

 GOING GREEN: Less traffic means less pollution, less energy used, less time wasted, less environmental impact, less demand for road construction, less demand for office space. The Countryside BOD is wholly out-of-step with society at large. 

HOME VALUES INCREASE: By being home business friendly, we increase the pool of prospective home buyers, some of whom specifically need to have a tolerant HOA environment. They may even be willing to pay a premium to get it. According to news reports, we've already lost one sale to a frustrated home business owner. How many more? Add the reduction in crime aspect as it affects home values, and overall, we are all better off with "county compliant" home businesses in our neighborhood.

 LEGAL COSTS: With regulations also comes the time and money spent enforcing them by the BOD and the Proprietary staff. Home business owners who rely on their businesses to survive will push back legally. As such, they will be requiring the Proprietary to allocate REAL resources to an issue that has not been a problem in the past, and has not generated complaints, cost or work. It will now.

 Maybe some of the "legal freedom" foundations, many head-quartered locally, would relish the opportunity to pursue this as a restraint of trade issue. There is also the issue of arbitrary and selective enforcement. Is the Proprietary willing to underwrite the attorney costs in these kinds of legal battles and then pass them on to YOU? Further, what might be the cost of losing such a suit? It's an open-ended risk that we do not currently have (or need) as a community.

 RESPONSIBILITY: Most home business owners take pride in their homes. They have to. That's where they work. That's where they meet clients. They are part of the responsible fabric of the community.

 UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: If we start forcing out the home based businesses that are already here, then who will be your new neighbor? Maybe an offsite landlord that wants to "apartmentalize" the house next door, then rent it to half a dozen or more un-related adults, against all county codes and regulations? That's already been happening here.

 ENFORCEMENT: What kind of community do you want to foster? One that is so intolerant that it would drive away well-established home based business owners who have never once generated a single complaint in many years of doing business here? Again, to what end with all of this?

 Lastly, we have not heard one word from the Countryside BOD with respect to enforcement process or penalties. One curious question is this: Exactly who is willing to begin the harassment and shut down process against home based business owners who are an established part of this community? The person who is willing to do that is certainly not a person that I want representing me on the Countryside BOD.

 Therefore, with Countryside BOD elections on the horizon, many of us would like to know just exactly where the candidates stand on this issue, and if the candidate is willing to take on that exact role, as these new regulations would require. What kind of community do we want to foster?

 As a 19-year resident of Countryside, we have found this to be a well-run, pleasant community that is quite tolerant and even supportive of home-based businesses. We understand that serving on the BOD is a huge commitment of time, on behalf of the rest of us. I sincerely thank all those who have served.

 Yet, substantial assumptions have been made about what is needed here, with no input from the home business community, or the community at large. Instead, we've suddenly been presented with "proposed" regulations that are, to put it mildly, onerous. As Countryside residents, we really do not have to mirror what's been done in Cascades and Landsdowne. Countryside can take the tolerant lead here.

 No damage has been done yet. We can easily continue the status quo that has worked well for 25 years, by simply stating that our own home based regulations will mirror those of the county. Nothing more, nothing less. That's what we've had until now as de facto enforcement, very successfully. Anything more threatens many established businesses, many of whom are afraid to come forward and speak out during this review period, lest they expose themselves to enforcement action later.

 This is not the Countryside that I've lived in for 19 years. Why now, and to what end do these proposed rules accomplish? Nobody is complaining. And just exactly who wants to enforce these new and onerous rules against their neighbors, putting the out of business or out of the community?

 Dirk Johnson

Countryside

Poisson Has Worked to Keep Taxes Low

To the editor:

I was astonished to see the misleading mailer distributed by Tag Greason’s campaign this week, falsely claiming that Delegate David Poisson has been responsible for tax increases. Nothing can be further from the truth; Del. Poisson has worked hard to keep Loudoun’s taxes low.

The truth is that no state taxes have been raised in Virginia in the last four years. In fact, Del. Poisson has often broken party lines to oppose taxes. He was one of only a handful of Democrats who voted to repeal the Virginia estate tax.

He has proposed tax breaks for commuters who use the Greenway; he has worked to lower property taxes so seniors can stay in their homes, and he has reduced taxes for small businesses.

Del. Poisson has been endorsed by every leading business group in Northern Virginia and has one of the highest pro-business ratings in the General Assembly. If you’re a voter who wants to keep Loudoun’s business climate strong and keep taxes low, I urge you to join me in voting for Del. David Poisson this November 3.

Glenn Lintelman

Sterling

 

‘Putting Loudoun First’

 

To the Editor:

I have consistently been impressed with Delegate David Poisson’s record in Richmond. His campaign carries the slogan “putting Loudoun first,” and I could not agree with it more. Delegate Poisson has realized that every issue, transportation, education, the economy, health care among others, are all tied together and have a huge impact on the quality of life in Loudoun.

He has shown us countless times that he is willing to rise above the partisan bickering that has plagued Richmond, and has reached across party lines to fight for the issues we care about. Thanks to him, we have a Delegate in Richmond whom we can truly be proud. The same cannot be said for so many other jurisdictions in the Commonwealth. I know on Election Day I will be voting to send Delegate David Poisson back to Richmond, and I hope you will too.

Ed Burrell

Lansdowne

 

 

 Protect Yourself against Swine Flu

 To the Editor:

As we all know, there is a virus outbreak going around called H1N1 (“swine flu.") Hospitals have doubled their staff because of this flu outbreak. It is happening all over the country since appearing on April 28, 2009.

Swine flu caused hundreds of deaths among all ages. In some cases, it’s not that serious, but in other cases there have been severe outcomes that caused people to have difficulty breathing, pneumonia, or severe dehydration. The swine flu seems to affect children and teens more often than adults.

According to the local clinics, the vaccine for the swine flu won't be obtainable for everyone for a number of weeks. Statistics shows that half of Americans will get the H1N1 vaccine, opposed to the seasonal flu vaccine. When this vaccine does come, it might be an inadequate amount, since so many people will want to be protected. The government is advising that children, college students, and pregnant women get the vaccine before any other people.

Since the H1N1 vaccine is not available yet, we can protect ourselves in many ways; one of which we can do bys by washing our hands; the other avoiding contact with infected people.

In addition:

1) Not all swine flu cases are serious, causing difficulty breathing, pneumonia, or severe dehydration. 2) Scientists don't know why virus hits children and teens more than adults. 3) H1N1 expert Richard Wenzel has predicted that this flu will last four to eight weeks before it dies down.

The swine flu reminds me of the bird flu outbreak, because people had said it was really serious and that people died from it. S wine flu is global, spreading to all parts of the world. More people should learn about swine flu so that they can protect themselves.

Tasnim Alam

Loudoun County

 

LCSO Practices ‘Not Justified’

 

To the Editor:

I must express my deep concern over the aggressive policing of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

We are subjected to checkpoints and document checks as we go about our day-to -day business, similar to what was experienced in the eastern bloc before the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.

The doublespeak term, “safety check” is a euphemism for the driver license checkpoints which the police here set up. I cannot but help to believe that these are politically motivated, driven by the anti-immigrant feeling fed by some of our politicians. This erosion of our liberty is accepted in the name of enforcing the law and our safety, but I consider it nothing less than a threat to our basic freedom as Americans.

This practice is complemented by other Sheriff’s Office practices, such as the frequent use of “pretext” stops for the flimsiest reasons, followed by intimidating “requests” to search vehicles and persons.

Our elected officials, including Board of Supervisors members and Sheriff Steve Simpson, must be made to know that these practices are not justified, and barely constitutional. The citizens of Loudoun County do not have to accept what are not just inconveniences, but affronts to our freedoms.

I suggest that the Sheriff’s Office release the results of these actions, supporting the arguments that they are necessary and truly fair and random. Perhaps there was something to the proposal that the Sheriff’s office be de-politicized, and converted into a force led by a professional chief instead of an elected official.

Remember the fate of those societies whose citizens ceded liberty out of fear. Don’t do the same.

Mark Kane

Sterling

 

LeMunyon Gets the Message

To the Editor:

Having had the opportunity to meet and speak to Jim LeMunyon, I believe that he is a candidate who gets it. As a mother and a business owner, the key issues which concern me the most are the economy, education and transportation. Jim is a proven leader in both business and government, supports the creation of another magnet school in Western Fairfax and has a detailed plan to ensure that more Northern Virginia transportation dollars stay in Northern Virginia.

Jim LeMunyon's ideas are innovative, inclusive and in touch with the needs of constituents in the 67th District. This is why he has my wholehearted support in his candidacy for the House of Delegates.

Marianne Horinko

President of the Horinko Group