Suzanne Volpe & the Purple Amoeba

DEMAND THESE 20 cent cap on the Purple Amoeba is UNACCEPTABLE Purple Amoeba should pay for roads around the stations People want to know where we stand on Metro. I think this picture is worth a thousand words. Can we rethink this Metro thing PLEASE? Future of Loudoun is riding on the Purple Amoeba  Now that the Future of Loudoun is tied to the Brilliant Purple Amoeba Thing (PA), keep a few things in mind. The proposal is to cap it at $0.20 per $100. Holy moley Batman! What if that PA does not produce enough $$$, or what if, when Loudoun gets around to hiring a new real estate assessor, they juggle some PA property valuations? Taxpayers would be right back there as the backstop for the Metro BAILOUT. That big $$$$ gap brings to mind the Janet Clarke question of where the money is coming from for roads around the stations. That was never answered. So we had better start screaming that the roads need to be paid for with the Metro Bucks from the Purple Amoeba. Remember, that pesky 20 cent cap is UNACCEPTABLE. In a Channel 8 interview on 7/5, Kenedict Arnold Reid (kudos KK) said he would like Opt Out people to support the PA. Well, since we at Opt Out like to negotiate terms before we sign, see the suggestions above. DEMAND THIS: Suzanne Volpe - don’t block a Referendum Suzanne Volpe, tell us why you blocked the Higgins/Clarke/Reid Initiative. Supervisor Suzanne Volpe, known as a major Loudoun County/ 10th Congressional District Republican power broker, made some interesting votes in the last few weeks. First, she voted with Supervisors Buona, Williams and Letourneau to adjourn the June 18th Dulles Rail Finance work-session before the “Opt-In Considerations” document by Higgins, Clarke, and Reid could be discussed. Then, during the Opt-In vote sequence July 3rd, she was the deciding vote against Sup. Delgaudio’s motionto put the record-high debt expenditure for the Rail Project before Loudoun County voters in a ballot referendum this November. We wonder why Suzanne voted against common sense in these procedural votes. Was she afraid to let the Higgins/Clarke/Reid considerations out of the bag, exposing the project as a huge blank check written to corrupt organizations, and possibly killing the project? Is she really a closet rail supporter, hiding behind Sup. Reid’s flip, which allowed her to vote against rail and protect her conservative street cred? Why would she vote against the referendum? We had a referendum last November for $169 million to build/renovate five schools. Why shouldn’t we have one for this $1.6 billion developer bailout? The answer provided by the pro-rail votes that Volpe sided with (York, Buona, Williams, Letourneau) was that a referendum would open things up to county-wide tax increases instead of using the tax district to pay for the cost of Rail. County staff said this was not the case; the tax district revenue could be used whether the referendum passed or not. With or without a referendum, the county’s general revenue is where the funding will have to come from when/if the tax district fails to raise sufficient revenue. Supervisor Volpe has given the appearance of trying to play both sides of this issue. Unfortunately, her maneuvering has left Loudoun taxpayers on the hook without an opportunity to vote against the Metro in a referendum. Suzanne can make this right by requesting the Board reconsider the referendum at the next business meeting on July 17th. We will see if she votes with the taxpayers or the rent-seeking developers this time … stay tuned!  David LaRock Loudoun Opt Out Group