What Do Metro and the Redskins Have in Common?

Just Another Day at the Office Focusing
 on Core Government Functions

Judge for yourself but it seems like the money and favors are flowing pretty freely between a tight group of players in both the Metro deal and with this Redskin deal. 

When did Redskin game tickets, tours of facilities, and visits by Skins personnel become a part of Loudoun County government? Scott York is one to ask about that.

I don't buy the idea that if Bob McDonnell or Scott York say something is good for business then our tax dollars should go out the window knowing it has absolutely nothing to do with what  we pay taxes for. 

The day after the big Metro vote, Chairman York wore his #13 Loudoun Hounds jersey to work.

What's Not to Love About Metro?

According to WaPo:

Rebellion on the Green Line: Passengers flee stalled Metro train

 By Miranda S. Spivack, Published: July 4

It was getting to be stifling hot in the Metrorail cars stuck between Prince George’s Plaza and College Park on Tuesday night. With no power on the Green Line train, there was no air conditioning.

And even more upsetting, there seemed to be no plan to get passengers off the train.

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

Is The Purple Amoeba Real?

The Purple Amoeba

According to Ron Utt of the Heritage Foundation, Dulles Rail, when measured in results achieved, is “...one of the most expensive new transit projects ever conceived.

The cost to Loudoun being discussed are sketchy and written in pencil, and we know that rail project projections have a long and distinguished history of under-estimated costs and over-estimated revenues. The figures are not believable and the tax districts are worthless unless they are guaranteed to cover all the Loudoun County costs arising from Phase 2.

The centerpiece of the payment talk is a little wonder concocted by Supervisor Williams. It began as the 2-mile Tax District and included sizable residential communities and commercial and industrial properties.

The Tax District Fairy is on Staff at Loudoun County

In just a short time the 2-mile District shrunk in size, shedding the residential areas, while it’s supposed revenue potential grew. There are serious questions about whether it can be formed without notice to and approval by landowners, and in general it proposes imposing huge burdens which may well scatter current and potential new businesses and discourage others from choosing Loudoun as a home.

We have named this district “The Purple Amoeba.” This creature and its power presently seems to be the best our Supervisors can come up with to pay for the project which will most certainly make traffic worse, decrease mobility, and re-direct vast resources away from families, businesses, and worthwhile improvements. Only in the public sector do ideas this bad stay alive.

If Loudoun Opts In, we the taxpayers are the back stop because there is noassurance that taxpayers would not be landed with meeting the residual charges in the event that the special tax districts fail to deliver "enough revenue to cover the costs".

To summarize, the “The Purple Amoeba” is an idea that at best could pay some of the cost of rail; if it does not happen your property and business taxes will pay for Metro, forever. It is just that simple. The Purple Amoeba is a shifty, shaky, iffy, suspicious, maybe even phony proposition being used as an excuse to advance this bailout.

It is just a metter of time.

The Purple Amoeba will be voted on this Friday. It is a mirage. Another threat to the stability of this project is a toll-dependent financing method which may be revoked by court action and leave Loudoun with vast debt. This risk is barely acknowledged by most Supervisors. Instead, they are fixated on and fascinated by the Purple Amoeba.

There is a rainbow in all this, a $600 million winning Lottery ticket owned by LoCo payable for opting out, we pay $0, zero risk. It is clear as day if you just run a column of numbers from RCLCO. Buses can satisfy the current and future transit needs of Loudoun, but first we must toss out the idea that it is OK to trust our future to the dreaded Purple Amoeba.


David LaRock


Hanilton Virginia

The Blank Check Boys - Identity Crisis Alert!

 "I honestly don’t know who we think we are.” 
Ralph Buona Mon. 6-18 Metro work session

Best Quote from Ralph Buona: speaking about the Higgins initiative that actually asks for some reasonable concessions before handing over direct withdrawl access to MWAA and Metro. Bouna says, 

“I was stunned. Most of these things are not within the control or purview of the board,” Buona said. “Some of these require action from Congress, the General Assembly, MWAA, WMATA, private property owners, the governor. I honestly don’t know who we think we are.”

Well Ralph please don't be timid because if you  CANNOT control it then you CANNOT accept the shaky proposal. 

Ashburn 2 Mile Tax Update Thursday, 6-21

Ashburn Update Tuesday 6-19: The Tax Pig, Opt Out and David LaRock were chastised and called liars on Tuesday evening by the Three Blank Check Boys; Buona, Williams, and Letourneau, for informing their constituents that Ashburn and Broadlands are the ground zero of the tax zone. They swore no 2-mile tax zone; it is gone they said. 

Ashburn Update Wednesday, 6-20: Tax Pig was on location at Cascades Senior Center for Tim Hemstreet and Suzanne Volpe's Metro presentation. In the 22-page summary/handout, 


THE dreaded 2-MILE ZONE IS BACK. It was one of only two funding scenarios in the presentation.  You can't have it both ways now Blank Check Boys; Buona, Williams, and Letourneau. Ashburn BEWARE.


Ashburn Update Thursday, 6-21: from Ralph Buona mass email:

"There is not going to be a 2-mile tax district and the Board of Supervisors never gave it any serious consideration. Some hard-core rail opponents having been putting flyers on doors all over Ashburn trying to scare people to believe there will be a 2-mile tax district. Supervisor Williams and I have constructed a tax district that focuses on the areas very close to the actual proposed rail stations and based upon the way we've drawn the lines, it excludes virtually ALL residential properties"

Bouna Fact Check: Tax Pig and the Opt Out group saw that Ralph, Matt, and Shawn were considering placing the tax burden right on the backs of those whose taxes they promised to lower. We alerted Ashburn and Broadlands  before they got away with it. The 2-mile ground zero district is a very real scenario, and it can be chosen at ANY time. It was shown to the people of Cascades less than 24 hours after The Blank Check Boys denied it exists. Do they think the Tax Pig prints the presentations and puts maps up on the County website? Go see it and decide whether you can trust people who deny their own information. 

Ashburn Update Thursday, 6-21: from Ralph Bouna mass email: 

"I firmly believe the Board can finance this project without an increase in the tax burden on residents. We are considering a mix of a commercial and industrial tax (C&I) and one or more special tax districts surrounding the planned stops."

Fact Check: Over half the land in Loudoun falls into a category that may be taxed by a Commercial Industrial Tax, including many rural residents.


David LaRock


Loudoun Opt Out Group