happy thanksgiving to you

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I wish the best to you and your family. I have a lot to be thankful for. We all do.

CLOSE CALL LAST NIGHT

The board met last night until late. The meeting on Monday was all day too. The great news that I can report is that the board was headed in the terrible direction of requiring all political events to be regulated in Loudoun. Supervisor Mark Herring moved to require permits for candidate events, including home events! I rose to speak forcefully against this move. I said it would restrict the free speech of candidates, impose a financial burden on poor candidates and generally increase costs on otherwise low budget events.

Surprisingly the vote was called and Nine Supervisors raised their hand "no", including the one who moved to regulate candidates in the first place. I heaved a sigh of relief. This is one time when I got a 9 to 0 vote, so I am thankful for that.

Candidates will not have to apply for permits to assemble supporters and are STILL free to run for public office without "permits".

BOARD MEETS AGAIN

The board meets on Monday Dec. 2 and also for a Public Hearing on Tuesday Dec. 3. There will be another (in a series) worksession on December 5 and several other worksessions on the "zoning ordinances" ending with a final draft of the ordinances on December 19.

(My Planning Commissioner, Jenelle Offerman, reports that the dreaded lighting ordinances are being worked on over at the Planning Commissioner. I will be vigilant.)

Then there will be a vote on the final draft of the zoning ordinaces on Monday, December 23. This has been a worldwind process that previously would take much longer.