Editorial left the wrong impression
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The public is justifiably skeptical of what motivates elected officials. In Loudoun, developer campaign contributions to pro-developer candidates are hefty and there is a healthy public skepticism about what actually influences officials' votes on rezoning applications. The public is at a
terrible disadvantage when it comes to influencing their elected officials. Whereas, developers can write off, as a business expense, the cost of
having a developer attorney sit through a board meeting, members of the public get no such financial advantage. No one pays a regular citizen for
sitting through a board meeting. And no regular citizen gets to write off as a tax deduction his or her time monitoring a board vote. The least we should expect of our elected officials is that they try their hardest to vote the way the public wants them to vote. When pro-development elected officials do vote with the public and against a development that would dump
more than 50,000 additional vehicle trips on the roads, it can seem almost miraculous. If, as you imply, the vote to deny Crosstrail was based on the
upcoming election, well, thank heaven for upcoming elections. Without them, the public would have no voice at all.
Kristen C. Umstattd
Leesburg
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