I will analyze two recent Town elections in Loudoun County to determine if there are trends that we can draw from the results. These elections are the special election for Leesburg Town Council and the election for Lovettsville Mayor.

A special election was held to fill a vacancy on the Leesburg Town Council after then-Councilman Ken Reid defeated then-Supervisor Kelly Burk of the Leesburg District in 2011. Kelly Burk ran for the vacant Town Council seat and defeated Dwight Dopilka who had the backing of the Loudoun County Republican Committee (LCRC). Reid and Burk essentially switched seats.

During the Town and City elections that occurred across the Commonwealth of Virginia on May 1st, there was an election held to elect a new Mayor of Lovettsville. Mayor Elaine Walker was retiring and Vice Mayor Robert Zoldos ran against Councilman Tim Sparbanie, who had the backing of the LCRC, for Mayor. Though Zoldos did not have the LCRC putting boots on the ground for his campaign, he was, by several accounts, a Republican who ran as a non-partisan independent*. This election generated a higher than usual turnout and ended with a victory for Zoldos and his entire slate of Town Council candidates who ran together as a ticket.

* Town and City elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia are non-partisan races, but political parties are allowed to endorse and support candidates just like any other interest group.

The reason why I chose these two particular races in Loudoun County to analyze is because they had two common denominators. First, they were two of the most prominent races with two official candidates on the ballot. The second denominator is that the LCRC was involved in both of these races.

The LCRC is 0-2 this year in targeted races. Other LCRC-backed candidates did not have opposition on the ballot like Mayor Betsy Davis of Middleburg. Is the influence of the LCRC diminishing in 2012 after Republicans swept all but two seats in the county in 2011?

No, it is not.

First, the LCRC has been more focused this year on influencing legislation. The Loudoun County Republican Committee is one of the most vocal anti-Metrorail groups in Loudoun County and dissent is not welcome within its ranks. Opposing voices are ridiculed and not given a fair hearing from the supposed “party of ideas.” I know for a fact that there are very conservative Republicans within the LCRC who strongly support Phase 2 of the Dulles Rail Project, but they are too intimidated by the rabid opponents of rail to speak up and are reluctant to expend their goodwill and political capital to provide a conservative voice in support of rail. Several people in the LCRC have stated publicly that they will field primary challengers against every single Supervisor who votes for rail. As it stands, the Loudoun County Republican Committee is on the cusp of succeeding in the effort to kill Metrorail against the will of the people by putting an inordinate amount of pressure on the all-Republican Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to vote for their wishes and not that of the people.

Second, in the Leesburg Town Council race, Kelly Burk had the benefit of having strong name identification in a Democratic leaning town. She also received the assistance of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee to counter the support the LCRC gave to Dwight Dopilka. Burk was favored to win and she won.

Finally, the one race that could change my answer above from a “no” to a “hard to tell” is the Lovettsville Mayor race. Two Republicans ran against each other.

Bob Zoldos ran as a non-partisan independent with a slate of other candidates for Town Council on the Friends of Lovettsville ticket. The Friends of Lovettsville ticket was a creative, organic, and spirited campaign that expressed itself with a lot of homemade yard signs. Homemade yard signs are not a new idea, but their existence and prevalence do indicate a high level of excitement and personal investment in the campaign by its supporters.

Tim Sparbanie campaigned early within the LCRC for their support since last fall. Many people in the LCRC contributed their time and efforts on Sparbanie’s race, thus greatly increasing turnout for this election. Some thought the outcome was a slam dunk for Sparbanie due to the numbers they had of expected voters. While this race garnered a lot of interest, brought a lot of outside help from the LCRC to Lovettsville, and drove more people to the polls, Sparbanie lost 52%-48%.

Local elections, especially at the Town and City level, can be wildly unpredictable. The smaller the jurisdiction, the crazier it gets. Mayors and Council Members are more immune to the shifting national winds, but are more prone to winning and losing based on silly things like long standing generational family feuds and semi-political beefs. Everybody knows the town drunk, harlot, workaholic, whiz kid, gifted athlete, creep, bum, church lady, cat lady, debutante, beauty queen, and proverbial crazy uncle in these small towns. Nobody can stand each other, yet everybody continues to live together for years going into generations.

Fatigue from the partisanship of the LCRC in a small town, non-partisan race that pitted two Republicans against each other might be a factor tipping the election in Zoldos’ favor. Additionally, unique local issues surrounding economic development, public safety, education, environmental quality, and parks & recreation are also more important that ideological purity in these elections.

I would caution everybody to not read too much into these results. Talks of a Democratic comeback or a Republican decline is premature. Local elections are not always the best predictor for greater regional or national performance.

In the only contested race for mayor on May 1st in Loudoun County, Vice-Mayor Robert Zoldos defeated Loudoun County Republican Committee-backed Councilman Tim Sparbanie to replace the retiring Elaine Walker as Mayor of Lovettsville.

Mayor Betsy Davis of Middleburg, Mayor Bob Lazaro of Purcellville*, and Mayor Scott Ramsey of Round Hill all ran for reelection unopposed and won.

* Mayor Lazaro defeated a write-in candidate.

Full, unofficial results at the time of this writing are available here.

Local political analysts in the Northern Virginia blogosphere are desperately searching for controversy where none exists with the Loudoun County Republican Committee and simultaneously undermining their credibility to speak out on matters that are real controversies. At issue is the masthead of an e-mail the Loudoun County Republican Committee (LCRC) sent out in February of 2012 to inform its members of the upcoming monthly meeting. Observers have claimed that the images in the masthead of the e-mail in question constitute “violent, war-like imagery”* and go on to question if the American Revolutionaries are accurately depicted**.

* The Loudoun County Republican Committee was shamefully embroiled in a national scandal when they e-mailed a call for volunteers for the Leesburg Halloween Parade in late October of 2011 that used a disgusting, horrid, zombie-fied image of President Obama that appeared to be a victim of a criminal activity. There is no need to see the image. It is sick and demented.

** A Republican candidate for the Senate of Virginia in Loudoun County in 2011 sent out a mail piece on veterans’ issues that used a picture of a Soviet officer when an American officer was intended.

Critics of the LCRC have gone off the deep end with this latest attack. The masthead involved is part of a Constant Contact template that is cliche among low budget politicians and political organizations. It is the “Stars and Stripes” template if you have a Constant Contact account. This is what it looks like inside a Constant Contact account.

That is the supposedly controversial image that LCRC critics are calling “violent” and “war-like” and questioning the particular details, accuracy, and meaning of the red coats on the drum line. If the details are indeed inaccurate, it is the fault of Constant Contact for the poor design. Let us not fault a cash strapped organization that cannot pay for a quality graphic designer and communications professional to create original e-mail templates.

Of all the things that are wrong with the LCRC, this is the absolute wrong thing to get angry about.

As a neutral observer, I believe the Loudoun County Republican Committee has serious internal flaws that will imperil them in this election year moving forward if such flaws are not addressed. As a whole, they are a scary, perpetually angry group of activists who have a penchant for over-the-top statements, self-isolation from dissenting views from the general public, intimidation of dissenting views within the LCRC, and a fealty to a rigid, hardline ideology that will grow increasingly obsolete as they are tone deaf to the transformative changes happening around them that are beyond their control or that of any politician.

Such uncontrollable rage and lack of good taste and proper decorum led to the Obama zombie e-mail days before an election last year that put the LCRC’s entire slate of candidates, who never saw nor approved of such vile nastiness, on damage control duty. Republican candidates in Loudoun County from the State Senate down to the School Board succeeded thanks to their own personal appeal and hard work on the campaign trail. I have stated here and many times in person that Republican candidates garnered sweeping victories in Loudoun County despite the LCRC’s inefficiencies, incompetence, and ineptitude, not because the LCRC provided solid institutional support. The LCRC was lucky to have a great slate of candidates during a favorable Republican year. Despite the mockery I faced from LCRC folks for stating this view, I stood by my assertions then and I continue to stand by my assertions today.

I for one, have been scared off by the LCRC after working on Loudoun County elections in 2011. The bullying, harassment, and threats to my livelihood that I have experienced from certain longtime LCRC members in 2011 because I was simply doing honest work, which they perceived as “encroachment on their territory”, was appalling and left a lasting negative impression on me. This has actually caused me to swear off party politics for good and I have no intention of appearing at an LCRC meeting again anytime soon out of fear of running into these same people who will not leave me alone. Big tent the LCRC is not.

I sympathize with many others in Loudoun County who have been turned off from party politics because of the LCRC’s perpetual anger, inhospitable environment, hostility to honest debate, power trips, ugly infighting, overall dysfunction, high school-like drama, and constant negativity. While public policies do affect our lives, not every difficulty in life we experience can be directly attributed to the actions of politicians. We are ultimately responsible for our own destinies. Even so, despite the circumstances, life is too short and precious to not be happy and have a positive disposition.

Loudoun County really is a great place rich with history, scenery, and activity. Some of my dearest friends are Loudoun County residents. It is so unfortunate that a small group of activists, unrepresentative of the general Loudoun County population and blinded by hate and anger, have managed to poison the dialogue, offend those who generally agree with them but don’t march lockstep in purity, and embarrass Loudoun County like they did with the despicable Obama zombie e-mail.

The LCRC needs a complete overhaul. Please focus the critiques where it matters, not on creating a hysterical controversy over a Constant Contact template.

This spring, the Fairfax and Loudoun County Boards will vote on Phase II of the Dulles Rail project. Construction for Phase I is in progress and there is strong support for Metrorail in Fairfax County. What has been the most controversial aspect of Dulles Rail today is Phase II which extends into Loudoun County from Dulles International Airport.

I strongly support Phase II of Dulles Rail.

Many Republicans in Loudoun County oppose Phase II of Dulles Rail. They cite the taxes, increased tolls, and the PLA issue as the primary reasons why. In reality, while they do care deeply about those issues which must be addressed, I surmise that at the heart of the matter is a rabid philosophical predisposition against public transportation.

Like Rush Limbaugh, they believe that cars represent the epitome of American freedom and individualism and that public transportation is for yuppies, tree-huggers, and socialists. They wouldn’t want public transportation even if it was completely free and useful to them.

I know they believe this because I have prodded them enough to have them reveal their true motivations and intentions.

If cars and roads are the epitome of American freedom and individualism, how free is a person in actuality when that person is stuck in traffic for 2-3 hours everyday? Even worse, when a person is behind the wheel, the person cannot work or rest simultaneously and this results in an untold amount of lost productivity and profits.

When I give Loudoun Republicans my business reasons for supporting public transportation, they scoff at me. I tell them that I have grown to dislike driving because I can’t work and drive at the same time. Driving from point A to point B for one hour causes me to lose one hour of work, profits, sleep, and leisure. Taking the train or the bus from point A to point B for one hour and 15 minutes causes me to gain one hour and 15 minutes because I am working furiously as I travel or I am sleeping on my way to my destination so I can fire on all cylinders and not be fatigued by the stress associated with driving through the congested streets of DC/MD/VA. It is good for my business.

Recently, I went to Old Town Alexandria to meet with a client. I took the Metro from Vienna/Fairfax to King Street and enjoyed a half-mile stroll through Old Town Alexandria’s historic streets to arrive at my destination. The trip took me about 45 minutes, but I had my computer with me and while I was riding the train, I completed a position paper for another project. There is absolutely no way I would have been able to type and drive at the same time. I saved 45 minutes by taking public transportation and improved my bottom line.

At another time, I went to Baltimore for a convention. I took the Metro from Vienna/Fairfax to Union Station and hopped on the MARC train to Camden Yards. The trip took 2 hours during the morning rush hour, but I was able to catch up on all client correspondence on my computer and even do some reading on top of it all by the time I arrived at Camden Yards. Had I chosen to drive the entire way, the trip might have taken 2 hours…on the Beltway alone. Most importantly, as I am pulling my hair out behind the wheel, I would have arrived at my destination tired, aggravated, and behind where I want to be with work.

These experiences are some of many business-related experiences that strongly reinforce my belief that public transportation is a pro-business policy.

A Loudoun Republican’s typical response to my pro-business argument for public transportation is to not directly address my business needs, because I believe that in their hearts, they think my argument makes perfect sense. Therefore, they counter by saying, “Why should I subsidize your ability to travel by train? I am never going to use it.” Right now, my response is, “I subsidize many of the roads you travel on that I will never use,” and the conversation goes nowhere which is unfortunate. They are always the ones who cut the conversation short after starting the, shall we say, robust conversation.

Telework is the major reason why expanded public transportation options will be necessary to catapult the economy well into the 21st century. In the 20th century, factories and offices dominated the landscape. The automobile (and its lobbyists) played a major role in urban and suburban development. American culture in the 20th century was a car-centered culture in which work was relegated to the workplace and compensated on an hourly rate.

Recall that minimum wage laws were passed in the 20th century to address industrial working conditions that had their origins in the 19th century and became dominant in the 20th century. Previously, all businesses were “home-based” as most people worked in agriculture and were paid by their work product, not so much by the hour. We can argue about the wisdom of such laws like minimum wage laws separately, but the point is that laws and public policies reflect the economic realities of the day.

Putting in time in the workplace became the equivalent of working hard, even though worker engagement does not occur at peak level for all eight hours of the day. People put in time and got a paycheck in exchange, though a good chunk of the day is wasted with coffee breaks and general nonsense. Even with the advent of computers, people drove to work to work on a computer.

Then something revolutionary happened. Wireless internet became mainstream. People are no longer tethered to the office environment. They could get the job done just as effectively and efficiently from home, at a coffee shop, at a restaurant, at a public library, at an airport, on a train, and everywhere in between.

Telework, the term describing “work from home”, started to increase. Employers saw the benefits in improved worker morale, efficiency, and retention. Employees saw the benefits in time flexibility, increased family time and leisure, and an improved quality of life.

In my opinion, the most important development associated with telework is the burst of creativity and entrepreneurship from the people. Aspiring business owners see less of a need to rent office space. Why drive 30 miles to work on a computer with an internet connection when you already have that at home? Why rent office space to meet with clients when you can meet at a restaurant?

With less overhead required to start a business, we are living amidst a freelance revolution that will not subside. I am one of those business owners and this is my story.

I do not bill by the hour. I started my business with a 20th century mindset of getting paid by the hour and getting overtime for more time put in beyond the 40 hour per week restriction. I learned quickly enough that such an arrangement was to the detriment of both the client and the vendor.

Clients do not like the unexpected and payment by the hour can balloon to an exorbitant cost if the project is more complicated than expected. Most of all, as a business owner, I do not like payment by the hour because there is no incentive to do quality work efficiently. Completing the project in 4 hours instead of 8 hours at the same quality penalizes the business owner under an hourly billing scheme.

A long, long time ago, I worked an hourly job in a restaurant like many people. Being Phil Tran, I balled so hard at the onset and impressed the managers. Then I realized, that regardless of the intensity of my grind, I was getting paid the same hourly rate as the lazy dude right next to me. Why waste all that energy?

Some jobs still operate on an hourly scheme and there are instances when that is desirable. As for me, I work from home and bill by the project. It gives me every incentive in the world go hard because my time is valuable. Now, I can complete my client’s project in 4 hours and save the extra 4 hours to pick up another project and get even more money. I got money on my mind.

As a result, I have come to despise driving. I can’t work when I drive. I suspect that I am not the only one as more and more businesspeople arrive in the game with the same mindset and resources; a house, a computer, and internet access.

Because putting in more hours does not equate to more money, my time has actually increased in value. This is because the more time I save, the more money I will make. Alternatively, I will have more leisure time as well if that is something that is attractive to you. As for me, I get money.

This is where public transportation becomes more important in the midst of a major structural economic change. Business people like me can work simultaneously as we travel. We already own the tools to do business. Previously, they were all tied to the office, but wi-fi and telework have set us free.

People will demand living situations that are more tailored to their time-oriented needs, not so much car-oriented needs. This means we will see significant urban and inner suburban redevelopment. The future of living lies in redeveloped urban and inner suburbia. Business people and families will want the amenities of life to be closer to them so that they can save time and money on transportation costs. Spread out exurbs have reached their limit. In order for outer suburbs and exurbs to stay on the scene, a connection to a major hub of business and recreation will be vital.

Loudoun County needs Phase II of Dulles Rail because Loudoun County will need it for the future. With an awareness of changing economic times and the political will, this project will be completed. There are many challenges however.

Metro is currently inefficient and bureaucratic. I am very well aware of that fact. However, the solution is to make it better and do everything humanly possible to keep costs down, not cut yourself off from it. With the proper vision, foresight, and anticipation of structural economic changes in the next few decades, Loudoun County will need Metrorail in order to stay competitive economically and to stay connected as an integral part of the DC/MD/VA region.

I’m working on my own accord in my limited free time to help organize and be part of the positive, bipartisan voice at the grassroots level to support Metrorail and overall efforts to improve and expand public transportation. If you agree that public transportation is a pro-business policy like me, I am willing to work with you. I do not care if you are a Democrat, Republican, independent, or apathetic. My goal is to play a role in being a part of the coalition of business and community leaders who stand with public transportation as a business friendly policy. Please contact me at phil@philtranpr.com to start the conversation on how we can protect Loudoun’s future by supporting a vital pro-business public transportation project.

Disclaimer: I write in my capacity as a concerned citizen. I reiterate that my views do not reflect the views of my clients, employers, or the other writers on this outlet in any way, shape, or form. People who know me very well, know that I even disagree with many of my closest friends and clients on their political stances. I can work for politicians I have little in common with politically who vote against my views quite a bit because I value character and integrity above all else. Character and integrity are universal values. As a result, I’m a rare independent political and public relations consultant who has worked directly for both Democrats and Republicans. People hire me for my quality, not my ideology.

Further Reading:

Draves, William A. and Julie Coates (2007). Nine Shift: Work, life, and education in the 21st Century. Learning Resources Network. River Falls, WI. http://www.nineshift.com/

Horowitz, Sara (September 1, 2011). The Freelance Surge is the Industrial Revolution of Our Time. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/the-freelance-surge-is-the-industrial-revolution-of-our-time/244229/

Pearlstein, Steven (January 14, 2012). For Development all Signs Point Inward. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/steven-pearlstein-for-development-all-signs-point-inward/2012/01/12/gIQAIM3czP_print.html

Is the placement of the Loudoun Opt Out sign legal as pictured above? Please advise. If it is not, I will gladly volunteer to pick it up.

I also found several Loudoun Opt Out signs placed at the off ramps on Route 7. I think this is not permissible in Loudoun County. If it is not, I will pick those up as well.

Thanks in advance for your assistance in helping to keep Loudoun’s roadways clean.

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