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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2003
Our View
Mandate
By re-electing all five incumbent supervisors, the
people of Rappahannock County have once
again affirmed something we already know: that most people who live here believe that what we have is worth saving, and support those running for public office who feel that way, too.
Contrast this with what happened election day in Loudoun County, where the issues are admittedly more complicated. But with the election of fi ve prodevelopment supervisors <out of eight), the efforts to promote “Smart Growth” adopted by the previous board are dead. One pro-development supervisor even referred to the builders as his “shadow board.”
Loudoun’s election was mostly about power and money. The combination of a low voter turnout there i31.5 percent, compared with Rappahannock’s 54 percent) and the limitless development PAC money has turned the tide.
The Smart Growth minority on the Loudoun board now consists of Chairman Scott York; a moderate Democrat; and Independent Jim Burton, who visited the Rappahannock supervisors earlier this year warning them about what was happening to his county. They have a rough road ahead of them.
It is said that people get the kind of government they deserve. But when powerful special interest groups get involved, only a grassroots voter turnout like Rappahannock’s can prevent the kind of overt misrepresentation that has overtaken Loudoun,
64.4%