FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Contact: Donny Ferguson, 703-200-3669 or donny.f@westerntradition.org
WTP phones 35,000+ Loudoun voters ahead of Board worksession
Residents warned of tax hikes, loss of property rights under Chesapeake Bay Act
ALEXANDRIA, VA - The nation’s largest grassroots advocate of property rights and opponent of radical environmentalism phoned over 35,000 Loudoun County voters Saturday afternoon, warning them of a plan by the Board of Supervisors the media report will lead to higher taxes, more regulation and a loss of property rights.
“The Chesapeake Bay Act was never meant to be adopted here, but the local radical green activist community that controls the Board has found it to be a convenient weapon in their War on Loudoun. It means big tax hikes and the loss of jobs and tax revenue to surrounding counties not controlled by radical greens. Worst of all, it means the total loss of your right to enjoy your home or business,” said Donny Ferguson, Western Tradition Partnership’s National Director of Media and Public Relations.
“The misapplication of the deeply flawed Chesapeake Bay Act, with as little citizen review or input as possible, is a deliberate attack on the property rights of Loudoun homeowners. It is, in fact, a harsh Home Improvement Tax intended to make Loudoun inhospitable,” said Ferguson. “Decades ago, radical environmentalists declared war on suburbia, promising ‘if you build it we will burn it.’ Realizing that using Molotov cocktails means prison time, they now prefer to use draconian legislation and massive tax hikes to carry out their agenda.”
“If you look at the list of wealthy radical groups pushing this Home Improvement Tax, it’s a who’s-who of the ‘get out of Loudoun’ crowd,” said Ferguson. “This is all about driving out human development and providing a safe habitat for hordes of new bureaucrats and tax-gobbling government employees.”
WTP issued an automated phone call to over 20,000 Loudoun homes Saturday evening warning residents of the June 15 Board meeting on the plan. The call briefly quotes a May 31 Leesburg Today editorial critical of the Board’s planning process that warned the Board’s actions could lead to higher taxes and lost jobs. Over 20,000 homes means roughly over 35,000 voters were contacted.
Residents in the Blue Ridge, Catoctin, Leesburg, Potomac and Sugarland Run districts were urged to call their supervisor at home. Residents in the Broad Run and Sterling districts, whose supervisors have already registered their opposition, were urged to instead contact County Chairman Scott York at home.
Roughly 5,300 Dulles District residents represented by the frequently-moving Supervisor Stevens Miller, whose business phones have been cut off and does not list a reliable home phone number, were urged to contact him on his cell phone.
“We weren’t sure which one of Miller’s homes he’s declaring residency in this week. It was just easier to ask 5,300 people to call his cell,” said Ferguson.
“The people have a simple message for their supervisor and chairman. You’re wrong to raise my taxes and you’re wrong to take away my property rights. There are more of us than there are of you, and you’d better change your position,” said Ferguson. “Unlike the activists who get paid by rich donors to push these radical green crackdowns on private property, the people targeted for these Home Improvement Taxes have to work on weekdays. We hope they can show up and voice their opposition.”
Ferguson served as a Board staff aide to Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio from 2002 to 2007. Delgaudio had no involvement in or input into WTP’s lobbying effort. “This is what I did for nine years before working for the Board, it’s what I’ve done for three years since working for the Board, it’s what WTP has successfully done at the county and state level for two years now and it just so happens this Board is adopting the very kind of radical legislation we oppose,” said Ferguson.
WTP is a fast-growing, grassroots-supported non-profit organization advocating rational, responsible natural resource development and land use policy. WTP is an IRS-approved 501(c)(4) public information and citizen lobbying organization founded in 2008. Unlike radical environmental groups funded by a small cabal of rich activists, WTP is supported by a broad, diverse national membership making generally small donations.
For more information on WTP, go to http://www.westerntradition.org. For more information on this issue, or to schedule an interview, contact Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or at donny.f@westerntradition.org.
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