Best Metro to Loudoun Quotes from the Week
"By 2025, with or without rail, not a single car comes off the road." Del. Jim LeMunyon
“We are actively evaluating whether we can take the project over. These guys (MWAA) are a disaster” VA Sec. of Transportation Sean Canaughton
"This project comes at a pivotal point as the Obama Administration begins to make vast improvements to our nation's top transit systems" US Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood
The Alamo
 What happened a few weeks ago in the quiet town of Lovettsville at the Fire Station? It was a meeting and a conversation about the massive cost of bringing Metro to Loudoun.
It was like the Alamo, and it will be remembered as the word gets out, because it was there that a small group of dedicated and brave truth-seekers dug in to hold their ground in the war of ideas that is being waged in Northern Virginia over the Metro issue.
In Lovettsville, that fearless band of men and women armed only with facts and reason pressed hard, pushing back against wasteful spending, against their own local leaders. They were demanding smaller, less intrusive government and freedom from oppressive taxation. They pleaded for relief...but no relief came, and when word of their effort leaked out, the wealthy pro-spending lobbyists pulled in thousands of reserves to snuff out the opposition.
 The Alamo II
Last Friday in Purcellville there was another flare-up of reasoned discussion on the Metro issue, piercing the endless drone of monotone pro-rail drivel. The discussion excited listeners and gave them hope. But soon after leaving the event, those open-minded citizens were back to hearing that anything opposed to the shiny train is bad, bad, bad.
The valiant truth seekers use simple common sense logic and reason, firing from inside the battle lines, each shot carrying enough truth to stop a truck-load of lies. But if the shot takes out hundred, where they fall, a thousand new zombie-like Metro promoters take their places. Just read the Times Mirror and the Washington Compost, you’ll see. For a true expert analysis of the project, go here.
The Supervisors Get a Taste of the Alamo
Thursday night, a few supervisors ignored the script of the ‘I Luv Metro’ drama. They also dug deep and asked tough questions. Staff was quick and confident responding with ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’ll check on that’, giving the Loudoun Board of Supervisors a fresh set of TBD’s to put with the other TBD’s on their Metro evaluation cards. Don’t ask why these decades-old questions are so hard to answer. If you do the answer will be ‘I’ll check on that.’
Stealing the spotlight, as in the WMATA meeting, was Scott York, not for asking the best question. That distinction probably would have gone to the relentless Ken Reid who displayed a dazzling command of the issue. This week Chairman Scott York chose to figuratively beat down his own fellow Board members, giving them a taste of how it feels when you are inside the Alamo when your enemy charges. Maybe we should declare the BoS room a ‘Bully Free Zone’ from now on.
They Are Trying to Baffle Us with Something
How can one possibly argue against unsubstantiated nonsense like ‘Trains are nice’ and ‘Trains will bring thousands of jobs’ or ‘Trains will make you lose weight, feel younger and whiten y our teeth’? This is their best narrative. It makes me want to vote twice for Metro and hand over a blank check, how about you? ...and celebrities love Metro!
Think of it, buses are so affordable, comfortable and efficient, why not replace them? Union workers need to retire early with big fat bottoms and big fat pensions, who wouldn’t want to pay for that? Maybe I should make sure my children share my enthusiasm because the massive debt will be theirs more than mine. It’s about vision man, can’t you see it?
A sampling of what has happened this week
- Supervisors Ken Reid and Eugene Delgaudio, and Del. Jim LeMunyon are working hard for responsible spending of transportation dollars on road improvements, the other mass transit.
 Ralph Buona, please stop getting your info from Malcolm Baldwin and Tim Kaine, and check your facts. Ralph Buona directly contradicted the RCLCO Study, the Wilbur Smith Traffic Study, and the 2004 MWAA Environmental Impact Traffic analysis in his May 4 newsletter, claiming:
“Rail to Loudoun will provide much needed relief to some of our transportation congestion issues, and will spur commercial economic development which in-turn creates jobs. It will also expand the commercial tax base for Loudoun which is sorely needed to provide relief to our citizens in helping reduce real property taxes on our homes.”
RCLCO Study:
“...In RCLCO’s view there are not research studies that clearly support the view that rail investments catalyzes economic activity that would not otherwise have happened in a region...”
Wilbur Smith:
18,000 trips per day will be pushed of the Dulles Toll Road and back onto already congested roads
2004 EIS
“...In 2025, the full LPA [Locally Preffered Alternative=Rail to Rt.772] would result in similar traffic volumes on regional routes to the No Build Alternative [Rail to Wiehle Ave only]." This means that according to the MWAA study, $6 billion in rail money won’t improve traffic a lick.
- Frank Wolf thinks rail to Loudoun will relieve traffic. Perhaps the measure of success is federal dollars spent not cars taken out of traffic. (see notes above) Hopefully Congressman Wolf will provide supporting information for his statements. “Wolf calls the Metrorail extension, often referred to as Rail to Dulles, the “most important transportation project” in Virginia”
- Do we dare snatch this from President Obama’s, LUINA’s and SEIU’s win columns?
Even though Obama won’t fund the Metro to Dulles he’s all for the spendfest and is ready to take credit if it goes through, Obama’s Secretary of Transportation and ‘King of Pork’ Ray LaHood said in a statement,
"This project comes at a pivotal point as the Obama Administration begins to make vast improvements to our nation's top transit systems,"
- If you have any doubt that Metro to Dulles is on a smooth glide path, ready to sweep Loudoun to that ‘Economic node in the sky’ (Stephen Fullerese), don’t read this. In a telephone interview a few days ago, VA Secretary of Transportation Sean Canaughton said the state was so unhappy with MWAA that it would rather finish building the Silver Line itself.
“We are actively evaluating whether we can take the project over. These guys (MWAA) are a disaster,” Connaughton said. “We’re at the point, quite honestly, where we think we could potentially do it better, cheaper, faster.” Sean Canaughton
- David Speck, a former state delegate from Alexandria who served on the Airports Authority board until 2010, said:
"I've never served on a board that was as dysfunctional and fractionalized as this board was, and I've been on a lot of boards"
This email is dedicated to Barack Obama who knows that simplifying an issue is not always the best way to advance ones agenda.
“The issues are never simple. One thing I’m proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues.”
BARACK OBAMA, MSNBC interview, Sep 25, 2006
The Metro-to-Loudoun project has been in the news a lot lately- here are some links- please leave comments!
Please add the following dates to your calendar:
Metro-to-Loudoun 'Town Hall' Meetings
Leesburg: Rust Library
May 17th, 7pm
Loudoun Board of Supervisors: Dulles Rail Public Input Sessions
May 24 (Thursday) 7-9pm
Mill Run Elementary School Gymnasium
42940 Ridgeway Drive, Ashburn
May 30 (Wednesday) 7-9pm
Freedom High School Cafeteria
25450 Riding Center Drive, South Riding
May 31 (Thursday) 7-9pm
Cascades Senior Center
21060 Whitfield Place, Sterling
June 2 (Saturday) 10am-12noon
Loudoun Valley High School Cafeteria
340 N. Maple Avenue, Purcellville
June 4 (Monday) 6:30pm
Board Room, 1 Harrison St, Leesburg
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