Coalition to Protect Prince William County to hold a press conference, Tuesday, at 6:30 p.m. outside the McCoart Building
Haymarket, Virginia (December 12, 2022) – The PW Digital Gateway approval and 2040 Comprehensive Plan amendment scheduled for Tuesday are products of corrupt and broken processes depriving citizens. How do you fulfill the promise of Democracy without representation?
Gainesville district supervisor Peter Candland-R resigned effective December 16 following more than a year of media-documented participation in self-enriching zoning decisions, an ongoing formal recall effort with signatures to be submitted to the circuit court judge in January, and multiple formal corrective opinions by the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Candland’s resignation isn’t unexpected, it’s more than a year overdue. His financial conflicts of interest in the approval of the Digital Gateway have not only deprived his district’s residents of effective representation – they have tainted the entire county review and approval process, including the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.”
Candland’s resignation announcement admits the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s opinion, and I quote, "does not allow me to represent each of you in the way that I feel would be effective.
This is not just a concession - Candland is making a confession. By agreeing with the Commonwealth’s Attorney that he can’t effectively represent citizens in general data center votes, he agrees that he cannot - and did not - effectively represent citizens in data center approvals and other zoning decisions for his own direct financial benefits.
Candland claims (again, using his words) that he requested the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s opinion to ensure the integrity of his future votes.
The answer he received and his subsequent resignation make one thing clear: Candland knows his past votes and participation lack integrity. He knows his participation irredeemably tainted numerous rezonings, special use permits, and tax assessments. He knows the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s opinion from May, stating that he should neither discuss nor vote on anything related to the PW Digital Gateway, is right, even as he ignored it and persisted in his illegitimate participation.
What’s at stake here? That’s simple. Two of the most important, far-reaching actions of the Board of Supervisors in the last two decades: the PW Digital Gateway approval and 2040 Comprehensive Plan amendment scheduled for Tuesday are products of corrupt, broken and corrupt processes.
If Chairwoman Wheeler has any, and I do mean any, decency or ethics, she must reopen the former. and postpone the latter - not least because the 700-page amendment was released only two business days before voting! Our County and citizens deserve and demand better.”
“Candland’s resignation and implicit confession give me no joy,” Schlossberg concluded, “only a mixed sense of disappointment and vindication. But there is no fond farewell for farcical representation - and no pausing in a legal and political battle that is far from over.”
The Prince William County Coalition to Protect Prince William County will hold a media conference, Dec. 13, 6:30 p.m. outside the County McCoart Building One County Complex, Woodbridge
Speakers:
Bob Weir – Gainesville district resident
Rhonda Reese – Gainesville district resident
Andy Khouri – Gainesville Middle School student
Dr. Steve Pleickhardt – Brentsville district resident
Vida Carroll – Brentsville district resident
Delton Nichols – Mid-County Occoquan district resident
Lisa Schroeder – Gainesville district resident
Frank Washington – Gainesville district resident
*NOTE: The Board of County Supervisors have already approved the PW Digital. However, it could be rescinded.
Virginia has a data center problem - Virginia Mercury
Developers Crying to ‘End Exclusionary Zoning’ Is a Hoax - LA Progressive
All Is Not Well (And It Could Get Worse) At The Center Of The U.S. Data Center Universe (bisnow.com)
This is an Opinion Piece and represents the opinion its author, not necessarily Bristow Beat.
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