The Sheer Audacity of Ken Reid

This is What Happens
When You Trust Ken Reid

Dear Ken,
As fellow Republicans and supporters of your prior elections for Leesburg Town Council and Loudoun Board of Supervisors, we are surprised and concerned with rumors that you may be abandoning your convictions to vote for something you and we know is wrong.
Over the years, you have positioned yourself to be a leader on transportation, the biggest challenge facing Loudoun County. You advocated for Loudoun County’s very cost-effective and popular Commuter Buses. You fought for the Sycolin Rd. improvements and other important transportation infrastructure. You led the call for Bus Rapid Transit. And you fought against and exposed the dangers of Dulles Rail, saying “This is not a transportation project, it is basically a land development scheme. It is masquerading as a transportation project.”
You know the facts of this project. You know it brings very few jobs to Loudoun, and most of those will come with or without rail. You know that Rail doesn’t bring more economic development; if anything, it steals economic growth from the rest of Loudoun County and concentrates it in tiny areas surrounding the stations. You know the amount of vacant and undeveloped commercial properties in Loudoun, and that promised rail-centered commercial development will not pan out as projected.
You know opting in will obligate future Boards of Supervisors and Loudoun County residents to subsidies to fund the entire Metro system FOREVER. You know the corruption and incompetence of the WMATA board, who will decide how much we are to pay, and spend it however they want, without us having any say in the matter.
And worst of all, you know the terrible cost of this project, and the ongoing subsidies, will force tax increases on all of Loudoun County, whether through increased property taxes, or a C&I tax that will increase the costs of goods and services. You know the pressure this will put on the budget for other important services, including schools, buses, and transportation infrastructure.  An official statement from your campaign for supervisor stated, “We also must invest more in upgrading Route 7, Sycolin Road, Evergreen Mill Road, Route 50 and add bus service to Reston, Chantilly and other job centers.”
You know all this, yet we hear that you may be considering a vote to Opt In!?!? Ken, we are conservatives, and believe that you are too. We cannot afford to sell Loudoun County out to a government scheme that will benefit only a few developers and saddle the county with increased debt and taxes while decreasing mobility. Ken, we have supported you in the past, but cannot continue to if we can’t trust you with the biggest decision of your political career. If you get this vote wrong, when you know so well what is right, we will be forced to conclude you are not capable of governing according to your convictions, your former supporters will be forced to “provide new Guards for their future security,” as the Declaration of Independence says.
Ken, we urge you to do the right things and vote your conscience, vote to Opt Out. If you do, we will happily continue to support you, with enthusiasm, and look forward to your leadership on transportation and other issues we face here in Loudoun County. Michael Farris was recently quoted saying the Silver Line is the “best way to turn Loudoun into a permanent Democratic stronghold.” We hope  and pray that you will not facilitate this process.
Sincerely,
Email LoudounOptOut@gmail.com to add your name to this letter
(affiliations or titles are for identification purposes only and do not represent any official position of the affiliated group)
Bill Allen
James R. (Randy) Baer
Barbara Bayles-Roberts, Leesburg
Ben Belrose
Kecia Dyer Brown
Owen Brown
Walter Bunyea
Roberto Constantino
Sandy Constantino
Tripp Curtis
Barbara Curtis
Madeleine Curtis
Jonathan Curtis
Daniel Davies (LCRC Blue Ridge Chair)
Kara Lee Davies
Michael Delacruz
David Dickinson
Liz Dickinson (LCRC Catoctin Chair)
Andrey Dmitriev, Leesburg
John Emmitte, Leesburg
Richard Falknor
Kathy Frye
Ron Frye
Benjamin Garber
David Garber
Jonathan Garber Jr.
Jonathan Garber Sr.
Joseph Garber
Leah Garber
Olga Garber
EveMarie Barner Gleason (Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee)
John Grigsby
Rob Jesionowski
Kristen Kalina
Todd Kibling
Kayo Kibling
Kimberly Kidwell, Leesburg
Katherine J Harris
Jim Huber (GOP National Convention Alternate)
Abby LaRock
David LaRock
Joanne LaRock
John LaRock
Paul LaRock
Jan Maday
Sally Mann
Thomas Marr
Jeanine Martin
Rob Martin (Former economist with the Urban Mass Transit Admin. [now Federal Transit Administration])
Bob Miller
Linda Miller
Todd Morrison
Brian Murphy
Sheri Murphy
Ryan Nichols (Loudoun County Young Republican Chair)
Darren Nicholson
Susan Nicholson
Carol Peter, Leesburg
Natalia Petunina, Leesburg
Anthony J. Pla, Leesburg
Rebecca Porter
Silvia Ross (Loudoun County Republican Women’s Club Chaplain)
André Robillard
Dan Robillard
Wendy Seewell
Stephanie Stockman (LCRC Ashburn Chair)
Greg Stone
Denise Tyler , SW Leesburg
Donald B. Valentine, Leesburg
Michael Weibel, Leesburg

(affiliations or titles are for identification purposes only and do not represent any official position of the affiliated group)