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Metro
Shinyline to
Loudoun Academy Awards
The stars were out Monday night at the Board of
Supervisors' Metro Public Input Session in Leesburg and they were having fun as
they talked about the pros and cons of the shiny train. Lots of local activists
were there but more than a few sat this event out for some reason we just don’t
know.
The We Love Rail and We Want it NOW group, were out in force, coming
from Fairfax, Arlington, and even a few from Loudoun, many with hopes and concerns about a spending bonanza and the hype of riding the Metro Shinyline train to Loudoun.
Awards categories
Best of the Best Speakers Were
"The studies have shown that it will not improve
transportation," said Joanne LaRock,
who opposes the proposed Silver Line. "It will drive higher tolls. It will
drive cars off the Toll Road." (judge bias declared)
"The gas tax is presently paying for county services.
Would these services be taken away or would real property tax be increased to
make up for the gas tax paying for the Metro funding?" Loudoun County
resident Patricia Sweeney brought up
at the hearing.
"It's a neat thing to have. Everybody loves the ‘choo
choo.' Everybody wants a train. Everybody wants a shiny train to get them to
Tysons Corner. That would be a really cool thing. Unfortunately, we can't
afford it," testified Greg Stone,
a resident of Loudoun County.
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| Bob-On Pillage Watch |
Metro supporters had their chants and green shirts. Opponents brought a pig, and if you wanted to know how they felt about the plan, all you had to do was read its butt, which said, "It's not going to benefit me in any which way shape or form."
Bob Costantino, for calling it like it is, "...plunder of the people."
Award for Best Presentation: Why Loudoun Should Bail Out Businesses with Taxpayer
Funded Corporate Welfare
why they felt it was a good thing for the County to spend big. Howard said “The long-term benefits of the Dulles rail project offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to Loudoun County,” Howard has supported the project like so many others who understand that the costs are an unknown but advise us to get past the fog of the controversy.
In his acceptance speech, Howard did not
elaborate on how well the countywide business industrial Metro penalty/tax, or the
Special 1 mile or 2 Mile Metro penalty/tax districts were polling outside the tight
group of Chamber members who hope to profit directly from rail construction.
Most Dedicated Activist Award - 3 Winners
1. The Robin Bartok and Dorri O’Brien Team who snuck out during the busy rally to where the Tax Pig was parked to
tear his recycled Scott York-Rail Costs Too Much sign off the trailer and return it to Chairman York for
ransom. These girls are showing some promise as do-what-it-takes scrappers. We
have a fresh copy of “Rules for Radicals” and a set of beginner’s bolt-cutters for
each of you.
2. The man who stood with his NO METRO TAX sign behind the
speakers all night so it was in plain sight on the TV monitors.
3. Robin Bartok, wins again, winning for standing in front of the man with a
NO METRO TAX after Scott York texted her and told her to block the NO METRO TAX
sign. That’s dedication! Go girl!
The Unimaginably Ridiculous Timing Award
This goes to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors who will meet Wednesday, June 6, to hammer out a plan to pay for its share of the Shinyline - about $270 million and another $16 million a year (extreme
low-ball figures) to operate the system. Notice this is taking place at just
about the time when the vote was to be cast (before supervisor Janet Clarke
asked for 30 more days).
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| What could go wrong? |
Most
Ambitious Cross-over Activist Award - 2 Winners
Tom Seeman and Dave D’Onofrio. Many of us know Tom for his lead role
against government over-reach in the epic
Chesapeake Bay Overlay saga last year. This time
Tom is working the pro-big government side for a change. He has been hard at it
working with Green Pro-Rail Team but took time off to slap on a suit and give
his $.02 on why he is on the Kaine Pelosi Obama SEIU Team this time. Tom and Dave get credit for most of the monotonous two minute speeches read by the astro-turf crowd.
Most
Bizarre Reason to Like Metro Award - 2 Winners
New young Republican Nick Clemente, ( does that name sound familiar? ) who said Loudoun should embrace the shiny
train because it would create jobs and then Obama couldn’t say we don’t like creating
jobs or something. This is strategic thinking
young man...big future for Nick.
Scott York closed the evening displaying two binders he said were full of emails representing how people are voting by email. Chairman York more than any one individual bears the responsibility for neglecting to enlighten the public on the project and failing to begin the long and tedious process of forming tax districts that could shift some of the cost burden off the backs of taxpayers. He has failed individual taxpayers and businessmen.
The binder-poll results may be chuck full of input that was organized by unions, people from outside Loudoun who crave transportation without taxation, station area developers, rail contractors, and from people who in general have no stake in the project, other than profit. It appears this is OK with some Board members.
Scott York closed the evening displaying two binders he said were full of emails representing how people are voting by email. Chairman York more than any one individual bears the responsibility for neglecting to enlighten the public on the project and failing to begin the long and tedious process of forming tax districts that could shift some of the cost burden off the backs of taxpayers. He has failed individual taxpayers and businessmen.
The binder-poll results may be chuck full of input that was organized by unions, people from outside Loudoun who crave transportation without taxation, station area developers, rail contractors, and from people who in general have no stake in the project, other than profit. It appears this is OK with some Board members.
Most
Promising Young Activist Award
11-year-old John LaRock (who composed his own message) told supervisors he’ll be 41 years old
when the county is done paying for Metrorail. (youthful optimism)
“That’s not including the
operation and maintenance subsidies,” the young LaRock added.
Best
Bootleg Informational Flier Award
Tax Pig wins with the "Goodbye Buses with Cushy Seats and Hello Metro Train Cattle-car" flier.
Second runnerup was MWAA for the handout they used to try to mislead property owners that they could expect real property increases to come with the Shinyline. This was part of the Loudoun County OFFICIAL information session materials. Their flier stated,
"Proximity to stations significantly boosts property values: Residential by 6.8%, multi-family by 9.4%, commercial within half a mile of a station by 8.9%."
Buy those rail station properties while you can.
"Proximity to stations significantly boosts property values: Residential by 6.8%, multi-family by 9.4%, commercial within half a mile of a station by 8.9%."
Buy those rail station properties while you can.
Best
Documentary on What the Shinyline Rail Cars Will Look Like
Here's the video explaining how nice and shiny
the new Shinyline cattle cars are for Metro:
Check these babies out and remember the
practical reality is that people won't be willing to stand for 1 hr 30 minutes
if they're commuting all the way downtown. Dooh!
Best
Outside Loudoun Group of Speakers
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| "Transit is a Right"- File Photo |
Never in the history of any county have there
been some many non-residents impetrating to a local government they are not
connected to, kinda like they want to "Occupy" Loudoun.
Party
Pooper Award in Financial Documentary Category
Congressmen Paul
Ryan was a write-in winner read his comments here.
“Americans deserve better than the European-style austerity offered by the President’s broken promises and bankrupt policies. Repeating Europe’s mistakes, the President’s policies call for job-crushing tax increases and harsh disruptions for beneficiaries of government programs as the debt spirals out of control.
What's the connection? States and local Governments should be getting as lean and as debt free as possible. Loudoun County Virginia, believing they operate in a vacuum is preparing to do the exact opposite. In other words, they are preparing to do what the Obama administration has been doing for the last three and a half years, spending , borrowing, and taxing. Greg S.
“Americans deserve better than the European-style austerity offered by the President’s broken promises and bankrupt policies. Repeating Europe’s mistakes, the President’s policies call for job-crushing tax increases and harsh disruptions for beneficiaries of government programs as the debt spirals out of control.
What's the connection? States and local Governments should be getting as lean and as debt free as possible. Loudoun County Virginia, believing they operate in a vacuum is preparing to do the exact opposite. In other words, they are preparing to do what the Obama administration has been doing for the last three and a half years, spending , borrowing, and taxing. Greg S.
The What's Ahead Award
‘Buyers' remorse for California's 'bullet train to nowhere'
California
voters are experiencing buyers' remorse over a $68.4 billion (£44.4 billion)
high speed rail project which critics say risks becoming a "bullet train
to nowhere."
Very Best Off- Message Speaker
Jeffrey J. Fairfield, P.C., who appeared to be an expert in tax districts, reminded the
Supervisors that Special Tax Districts (STD's) can go wrong even after you put tremendous
effort into them. This might make some Supervisors and taxpayers a little uneasy if there is an
opt in vote based on the ASSumption that STDs are going to happen.
Best Comments of the Week Newspaper Category-2 Winners
ArlingtonGuy
Jun 04, 2012 - 11:34:44
PM
Why on earth would
Loudoun County taxpayers want to commit huge tax dollars for this
white-elephant boondoggle project? It's outrageously expensive to build; it
will LOSE money in operation; and it will do virtually nothing to relieve
traffic congestion. Even worse: The agency building the Silver Line (MWAA) has
a non-responsive Board, and is trying to drive the cost UP, through high-cost union
labor. The agency operating the Silver Line (WMATA) is proven to be incompetent
- with unreliable service, endless safety problems, no clue on customer
relations, out-of-control labor & pension costs, and arrogantly forces
higher subsidy costs onto local taxpayers. What Loudoun County SHOULD do is to
help commuters find an alternative to the dysfunctional Metrorail system. That
means developing an effectivec, cost-efficient express bus system, which will
allow riders to bypass Metro completely.
This evening of input and some of the pro Shinyline
train lobbying was bought and
paid for in part with your tax dollars
funneled through groups like the Loudoun Economic Disaster Commission, and the Visit Loudoun Group who claim to be independent but are financially attached to the County’s proverbial hind you-know-what.
Tax Pig
Public Avocate
paid for in part with your tax dollars
funneled through groups like the Loudoun Economic Disaster Commission, and the Visit Loudoun Group who claim to be independent but are financially attached to the County’s proverbial hind you-know-what.
Tax Pig
Public Avocate
Speaking of Rep. Paul Ryan. Find below some comments sparked by his House Committee press release yesterday on the CBO report.We here in Loudoun should be forcefully making the connection between what Metro 2 will would do to Loudouns fiscal stability against the backdrop of our Nations debt. This stuff is connected.
ReplyDeleteStates and local Governments should be getting as lean and as debt free as possible. Loudoun County Virginia, believing they operate in a vacuum is preparing to do the exact opposite. In other words, they are preparing to do what the Obama administration has been doing for the last three and a half years, spending , borrowing, and taxing. They are doing the exact opposite of what needs to be done in order to prepare for the austerity at our doorstep. The frustrating aspect of this is the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is comprised of NINE Republicans, and ZERO Democrats.No one to blame here, Republicans own this lock, stock and barrel. To make matters even worse, the very project for which they are eager to dump Billions, was rejected by the Obama administration as a transportation project. In other words Loudoun County Elected Republicans are governing to the LEFT of the Obama administration ! This is fiscal irresponsibility at a whole new level in the face of what Rep. Paul Ryan and the CBO label as Danger Ahead. Downright reckless !
Contact every member of this board and tell them in no uncertain terms, they were elected as fiscal conservatives, and need to be getting Loudoun Counties fiscal house in order. If they can't make the connections, help them. If they don't see it, educate them. If they lack political will, hold their hands, or if need be, put your boot on their backside. Tell them that signing onto billions of dollars in the form of future obligations to Metro is counter to sound economic policy in these turbulent and uncertain times.
Bitter, much?
ReplyDelete