HomeMy Public PortalAbout2015_tcmin0310 COUNCIL MEETING March 10, 2015
Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding.
Council Members Present: Kelly Burk, David Butler, Thomas Dunn, Suzanne Fox, Katie
Sheldon Hammler, Marty Martinez and Mayor Umstattd.
Council Members Absent: All present.
Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Town
Attorney Barbara Notar, Director of Parks and Recreation Rich Williams, Assistant Town
Manager Scott Parker, Director of Finance and Administrative Services Clark Case,
Interim Human Resources Manager Annie Carlson, Library Manager Alexandra Gressitt,
Airport Manager Scott Coffman, Economic Development Director Marantha Edwards,
Director of Public Works Tom Mason, Chief of Police Joseph Price, Director of Utilities
Amy Wyks, Director of Plan Review Bill Ackman, Director of Planning and Zoning Susan
Berry Hill, Director of Capital Projects Renee Lafollette, Research and Communications
Manager Betsy Fields, Management Analyst Jason Cournoyer, Management Analyst Lisa
Haley, Interim Information Technology Manager John Callahan, Captain Vanessa Grigsby
and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green
AGENDA ITEMS
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. INVOCATION: Mayor Umstattd
3. SALUTE TO THE FLAG: Council Member Fox
4. ROLL CALL: Showing all members present. Council Member Dunn participated
electronically from Florida due to work travel.
5. MINUTES
a. Work Session Minutes of February 24, 2015
The minutes of the February 23, 2015 work session were deferred.
b. Regular Session Minutes of February 24, 2015
The minutes of the February 24, 2015 regular session meeting were deferred.
6. ADOPTING THE MEETING AGENDA
On the motion of Vice Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Butler, the meeting agenda
was approved after deferring items 11 b, c, and d until the next meeting, by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Burk, Dunn, Fox, Hammier, Martinez, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7-0
7. PRESENTATIONS
a. Certificates of Recognition—Virginia Extreme U10 Flag Football
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On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler,
Certificates of Recognition were approved for the following players of Virginia Extreme UIO
Purple for winning the NFL Regional Tournament allowing them to compete in the National
Championships in Phoenix, Arizona:
David Cobbs Aiden Easton
Aidan Hodnett Isaiah Lemmond
Madison Mannino Benjamin Morrison
Matthew Ortega Jacob Thomas
Coach Richard Thomas Coach Steve Arnold
b. Certificates of Recognition—Virginia Extreme U10 Flag Football
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler,
Certificates of Recognition were approved for the following players of Virginia Extreme U12
Purple for winning the NFL National Championships in Phoenix, Arizona:
Matt Anderson Caleb Coombs
Mika'il Kamara Donovahn Keyes
Will Paige Jeremy Roach
Jack Selman Ryan Upp
Jake Wilson Coach Hassan Kamara
Coach Willy Paige
9. PETITIONERS
The Petitioner's Section was opened at 7:46 p.m.
Natalia Derrit, 609 Marshall Drive. "I am so grateful to be part of this community—
this beautiful community in Leesburg. This meeting this afternoon is about diversity. What
we can say about diversity? We can say so many things. Every single one is beautiful. I
encourage every single one of you the next time you see a rainbow in order to be a
rainbow. I encourage every single one to see . You the flowers, the snails. All
of them, they have to be protected in order to be around. The world, the complete world,
we talk about creator, creation, different language, different culture, different . We have
to recognize each other in order to be . Without embracing each other to take
advantage of different cultures, to take advantage of different potentials, to embrace us, to
make a better community, to make us richer. If we can do that, we can . It is fine.
It is fine to embrace each other to become a better community, to become richer, to become
communities. This is what I want to say about diversity. We need each other and we need
to embrace every single one of us".
Andrew Borgquist, 1108 Huntmaster Terrace, NE. "Many of you already know who
I am. I am just here in the continued petition that I have been bringing before the Council
regarding an issue—I am not going to say a whole lot tonight because obviously there is
probably more discussion that needs to happen to continue to bring my petition forward.
But, I just—I was thinking of a saying once—an old saying the squeaky wheel gets the oil
and so, you know, I think sometimes perhaps in reality, hopefully this isn't the case, but the
squeaky wheel gets replaced or thrown away, but I was hoping—I just wanted to continue
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to bring it forward and urge the Council to consider some of the issues I've brought forward
and maybe bring some resolution."
Paula Callaghan, 19928 Evergreen Mill Road. "I am from South America, from
Bolivia. Right now, I am at home all the time with my kids. I have my small business I
started last year with Mary Kay. Besides that, I volunteer at my kid's school twice a week
since last year, so this is my second year. I do a number of readings with kids that are
coming from homes that speak Spanish like I do in my house with my kids and my husband
speaks English. He is from New York. I want to take the opportunity to come here and say
how can I help you? How can I help the community? Because that is my big motivation.
My kids and every single kid that I see at school is the future of this country and I think that
we are here and have to take advantage and we have to do the best for them. I am gonna
leave my name and if I can do anything, that is my motivation—my family and take the
opportunity that my husband gave me to be at home because he is the one who is working,
but I want to give back and return that gift to somebody that really needs my help. That's
all. Thank you."
The Petitioner's Section was closed at 7:54 p.m.
10. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Butler, the following
items were moved for approval as the Consent Agenda:
a. Supplemental Appropriation of Donations to Leesburg Airshow
RESOLUTION 2015-035
Approving a Supplemental Appropriation of$9,662 of General Fund Unassigned
Fund Balance Resulting from the Net Proceeds of the 2014 Airshow
The Consent Agenda was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Dunn, Hammier, Martinez, Wright and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: None
Vote: 7-0
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS
a. Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Budget
The public hearing was opened at 7:56 p.m.
Clark Case, along with Jason Cournoyer and Lisa Haley, presented the
proposed Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Budget.
Key Points:
• Budget covers the General Fund, FY 2016-2021 Capital Improvements
Program, and the Utilities Fund.
• There are five focus areas for the budget:
o Improving organizational efficiency
o Improving technology and automation
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o Providing exceptional customer service
o Providing employee development
o Long Term financial sustainability
• Two year budget process
• Debt service reserve to cover peak debt service in FY 2017-2019
• Capital Asset Replacement Fund to ensure timely replacement of
equipment and facilities.
• General Fund fiscal reserve increase to 20 percent over the next five
years.
• Self-insurance fund to be a cost-effective health insurance benefit for
employees.
• Maintenance of the AAA Bond rating to maintain/minimize debt
service costs.
• Proposed budget maintains a property tax rate of 18.3 cents per $100
of assessed valuation—which equals an average increase of less than
$22 on an average home value of$465,000.
• Residential equalized rate is 18.0 cents.
• Compares favorably with surrounding jurisdictions.
• $97.6 million budget, which is an increase of roughly$13 million (15.4
percent) over 2015.
• Most significant increase occurs in the Capital Projects Fund, which is
primarily attributable to the significant increase in transportation projects in
FY 2016.
• General Fund increases 5.4 percent, mostly attributable to increased debt
service and consolidation of Public Works and Capital Projects departments.
• Real operating impact is a 2.2 percent increase.
• Approximately 75 percent of the total budget is personnel, debt service, and
capital projects.
• Largest source of revenue is intergovernmental sources, which includes
VDOT and NVTA funds, FAA and DOAV funds, and public safety funds.
• No new positions proposed for the General Fund. Three positions proposed
for the utility fund are required as part of the agreement with Panda Energy to
provide reclaimed water and will be offset in future years by revenue from the
sale of reclaimed water.
• Two departments were consolidated—Finance, Human Resources and
Information Technology into the Department of Finance and Administrative
Services and Public Works with Capital Projects.
• Proposed average 3% pay increase.
• Health care benefit costs are increasing 8% for medical, dental and vision
coverage.
• Total proposed enhancements include approximately$300,000 for police
overtime, transportation projects and studies, and technology investments.
• Major initiatives included in the Capital Improvements Program are:
o Hope Parkway
o South King Street Widening
o Battlefield Parkway from Greenway to Rt. 15
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o Skate Park renovations
o Downtown Improvements
o Chesapeake Bay TMDL project
o Lowenbach Improvements
• $2 million for renovations, replacements and repairs in the Utility Fund.
• The town is a financially sound, AAA bond rated community.
• Proposed budget addresses short and long term needs of the town and meets
all the requirements of the adopted fiscal policy.
Victoria Yergin, Secretary/Treasurer of the Virginia Knolls Community
Association. "This is regarding the Tuscarora Creek Flood Mitigation Project. Last
evening's Council meeting discussed the possibility of reducing the budget for this
project. The net result may cause the current proposed plan to be significantly
altered. Two years ago, the Town of Leesburg Capital Improvements indicated a
strong sense of urgency for a flood mitigation project to protect the townhomes along
the Tuscarora Creek. It was cited that this strong sense of urgency began in 1984 as a
result of the flooding in the basements of homeowners. When questioned as to the
reason a project was considered urgent for 31 years, a lack of funding was cited.
General opinion amongst our residents indicated that 31 years is sufficient to fund
such a project. It was also felt that the project became urgent during the same time
frame as the approval of the Crescent Design District. Most residents believe the
rapid expansion of the Town of Leesburg as well as surrounding areas in Loudoun
County creates extraordinary challenges with respect to water run-off, water
containment and flooding. Many of these challenges have landed right on our
doorstep. The Virginia Knolls Community Association members have expressed
intense concern regarding the impact of more run-off into the creek considering the
planned development directly upstream of us on the approximate 60 acres adjacent
to Izaak Walton Park. We already take on an incredible amount of water from
Route 15, the huge storm drains off South King Street and from the land above
Route 15. We can confirm this by the number of golf balls remaining on our
property after a flood event. These balls are washed down to us from the Westpark
Golf Club directly upstream of us across Route 15. The common grounds of the
Virginia Knolls Community Association have been and will continue to be an ad hoc
temporary flood storage area for the increasing water issues for every impervious
surface in the area. The Director of Capital Projects and the Director of Plan Review
assigned to us have been quintessentially sensitive to the fact this mitigation project
involves a long standing residential community since 1965, to our knowledge, the
oldest townhome community in Loudoun County. We are also the only residences
on this section of the creek. Our membership believes the developer of the land
directly upstream of us will be asked for zoning variances in many areas and that the
town may be extraordinarily receptive to those petitions based on the obvious
understanding that more development means more revenue and increased tax base
for the town. We wish to impress upon Council that this project is imperative for
flood protection as well as the maintenance of property value. We are aware of the
"no net loss" tree program, whereby criteria are set up to replace a tree when one is
removed. In some cases the required replanting would consist of more than one tree
to compensate for the loss. Given that program, would it not be understandable that
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a townhome community not only requires flood protection but it,just as with the
tree policy, wishes to achieve flood protection in a manner that provides for "no net
loss" of property value? Therefore, changes or modifications to the existing budget
for the Tuscarora Creek Flood Mitigation project can be likened to the tree policy by
saying, we lost a tree and we will replace it with a leaf in order to save money. Our
community is, arguably the single largest residential area taking on temporary flood
storage in the vicinity. Our residents are continually threatened with every new
townhome community and mixed use development rezoned and approved for
construction. The abject deforestation of more than 60 acres upstream of us
significantly changes the topography and the speed and volume of water rushing
through an over-taxed and wholly inadequate creek. This is not about the property
value of the Creekside residences of the Virginia Knolls Community Association as a
singular issue either; decreased property value in our community will drive the
comparable values down for all the town home communities from Shenandoah to
beyond Gateway Drive. The Harrison Street bridge is the gateway to all of these
communities and the presence or absence of a very efficient, functional and
esthetically pleasing solution to water mitigation is imperative. The budgetary
funding solely borne by the Town of Leesburg was already in place for this project
three years ago when the urgency of the work was brought to us again. State grant
money made available to Leesburg caused the first incremental reduction in the
original funding, a process we fully understand. Now the objective appears to be a
further reduction in funding for the project beyond swapping the town funds with
grant money, with the net result poised to cause severe modification or change to the
project itself. This recent development at last night's meeting raises several questions
as to what has changed in terms of funding and why would a project with a high buy
in by the residents be changed or modified after the town was relieved of a significant
amount of out of pocket through grant funding? Is the objective to seek outside
funding for the entirety of the project now? Grant money disappears beyond a
certain date. Gone unused it is almost always difficult to re-apply for grant funding
and be taken seriously. If the project is putt off beyond the expiration of the grant,
the Town would have to fund the entire project which would be counterintuitive.
We respectfully ask Council to be very contemplative as their focus turns to
discussion of this project. Much trust has been re-established between the residents
and the town. Community outreach has been outstanding, well appreciated and
relied upon. The mantle of suspicion regarding the town's follow-through has been
significantly lifted. There is a high buy in for the project as it conceptually stands
and we ask that progress not be impeded as a direct result of diverting elsewhere the
necessary funds needed to see this project completed to expectations of the residents.
On behalf of the Virginia Knolls Community association, I would like to conclude by
respectfully requesting this statement as well as an email sent to Renee Lafollette and
Bill Ackman be made part of this meeting's permanent record".
Suzanne Larkins, 3 Royal Street, SE. "I began talking to Mr. Wells, the
former town manager in 2011 about the fact that there is no watershed running from
Loudoun to Royal along the south side of Royal Street. So, at that time, we began
discussions and he suggested that I come in February of 2012 to the meeting because
it was prior to the budget kick off to discuss the fact that I had petitioned my
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neighbors because we had extreme flooding. There is no watershed whatsoever.
There was a feasibility study done in 2009, which he acknowledged was flawed
because I guess it was only taken during a day of normal rain and never during our
storms. I think everyone is aware of the Loudoun Street topography—the
topography between Loudoun Street and Royal Street is extreme and the property
owners have no drainage. There is nothing to prevent the water from coming onto
the south side of the street. So, when I came to the town meeting in 2012, we were
supposed to be put on the five year plan for consideration of digging out, repaving
and creating side walks, new gutters—we don't have any gutters at all, I am sure you
are probably aware of that fact. So, anyway once I came and I was supposed be put
on the five year plan. I was meeting with Tom Mason and other people, had a site
inspection, went over everything so it was Mr. Wells who asked that an additional
study be done and that they looked into temporary improvements that could be made
that didn't go into the Capital Improvements Project because we would have to wait
about five years. So, every year, several times a year I check in with Mr. Mason and
they had decided to repave the north side of the street so that the crest was a little
different—I'm sorry, I'm going to go over my time—to temporarily help some of the
water from running over and flooding our homes. Anyway, to my surprise this
summer when I talked to Mr. Mason, the study had been put off indefinitely and we
were not on the 2015 —the five year plan. So, I don't know how we got taken off the
plan. Mr. Wells was under the impression we were on the plan. I don't know what
happened there, but I think you can see from all the documentation that I have that
we have put in French drains —tens of thousands of dollars I have expended and
some of my neighbors to try to divert water. But, it is really a town issue that you are
well aware of that there are streets downtown historically that have no curbs
whatsoever, no way to force the run off to a different area or location and are
flooding our properties and causing property damage. So, I want to know—I want
to be back on the five year plan in the position I would have been had I not been
taken off.
The public hearing was closed at 8:16 p.m.
b. Amending Chapter 2 of the Town Code Adding a Leesburg Diversity
Advisory Commission
The public hearing was opened at 8:17 p.m.
Kaj Dentler gave a brief overview of the proposed Diversity Advisory
Commission:
Key Points:
• In January 2014, Council established a Citizen Task Force to evaluate work
force diversity within the Town of Leesburg government.
• Task force met four times and made the following recommendations:
o Develop a diversity pipeline to make Leesburg an attractive employer for
skilled, diverse applicants.
o Improving succession planning to retain employees so that minority
employees can assume leadership positions.
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o Improving outreach to the community, both internal and external.
o Establishment of a Leesburg Diversity Commission.
• Proposed duties of the Commission are:
o Help foster diversity and inclusion within the community at large.
o Make recommendations to the Council enhancing Leesburg government's
ability to communicate and deliver services to citizens, minority residents
and business owners within the town.
o Work with the Leesburg Economic Development Commission and town
staff on an outreach effort to the minority business community to increase
awareness of town services and understand the potential opportunities of
doing business with the town.
o Make recommendations to the Council that provide Leesburg an
opportunity to enhance/celebrate the diverse community available in
Leesburg.
o It will be clearly identified that the Advisory Commission's role is not to
be involved in personnel actions at any time.
• Membership is proposed to be residents of the town, property owners, or
business owners. At least four have to be town residents.
• Commission will meet monthly.
• Staff liaison will be provided.
• Compensation will be similar to other commissions -$8,500 for members.
• Funds are not included in the current budget. If approved this evening, it will
need to be added.
Randy Ihara, stated he is vice chairman of a new non-profit organization
named "Diversity and Equality Fairs of Virginia. "The chairman of our
organization is Larry Roeder, but he is unavoidably unable to attend tonight. We
were formed in recognition of the increased diversity of Loudoun County. In a
surprisingly short period of time, Loudoun County has grown from a sleepy, largely
rural, largely white area to a vibrant, multi-ethnic, multi-national ex-burb of
Washington, DC. The growth of diversity in Loudoun County and Leesburg has
had a healthful effect. We benefit from the blend of cultures that inspire and enrich
our own. It expands our horizons with myriad learning opportunities about different
cultures and nationalities. Our economy benefits from the new businesses initiated
by our immigrants and from their training, education, skills, expertise, energy and
initiative. This is a condition that we should embrace, celebrate and facilitate for it
contributes to the vitality and vibrancy of Loudoun County. Diversity also serves to
underscore a key value of American culture. With diversity comes a recognition that
in America, we are all, in our different capacities, able to contribute equally to the
ongoing project of building livable communities. Therefore, we should all have
equal access to the various avenues and resources for making that contribution. By
embracing diversity, we can come to a recognition of our mutual equality—that we
are all at a fundamental level equal to one another just as recognized by the founders
of the republic. That is why we enthusiastically support the council's innovative
program proposal for a formation of a diversity commission open and accountable to
the public, the goals of which are clearly defined in contrast to the alternative, which
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lacks clear substantive purpose, lacks public accountability, and depends on the
appointment of liaisons, the function of which are vague at best. On the other hand,
a commission would ensure that public attention and resources are focused on
facilitating and supporting diversity and equality in Leesburg. In recognition of our
diversity, we felt that a way our community could both express and celebrate the
value of diversity and equality would be a free, family-friendly fair— a one day event
to be held in Ida Lee Park on October 10, 2015. To realize and build upon this goal,
we formed a non-profit corporation called Diversity and Equality Fairs of Virginia.
The fair will include entertainment, food, and other items that express and make
available to all of the town a sample of the richness of the culture in Loudoun
County and Leesburg. We hope to see broad participation by the general public and
representatives of the many ethnic and national groups that make up an important
part of this community. We look forward to seeing all of you in October and we
look forward to working with the new Leesburg Diversity Council. Thank you for
letting me speak this evening".
Glady Burke stated she has lived in Leesburg for over 30 years. "Tonight I
have here with me other members of the original task force. I want to introduce
them—Tammy Carter, Mary Randolph, Anne Daye, Hassan Ibrahim, and I think
Greg Hudson and Linda McCray couldn't join us—okay, wonderful, you are here.
So, we stand here in support of the Leesburg Diversity Commission. Much has been
said about the diversity commission within the last several weeks, maybe a couple of
months—here in the chamber, in the newspapers, on social media, and much of it is
misinformation. I can address all that misinformation in the short time I have here,
but there is one thing that is consistent and that is that we need diversity in
Leesburg. So, I want to just take a couple of moments to speak on why we need a
Leesburg Diversity Commission versus some other entity. In order to be successful
at anything, there needs to be focus. You are the Leesburg Town Council. You are
supposed to focus on Leesburg issues. I might not know my government,but I don't
know any authority that you have to set up a Loudoun County group, so we are
asking you to focus on Leesburg. Then there needs to be structure. You already
have the structure because you have other commissions at the town, already
operating, already advising the town. There needs to be stability. Leesburg needs a
full commission, not a temporary task force or a committee or a community group
that any time can just decide to disband and then this commission needs legitimacy.
The commission needs to be a part of the Town of Leesburg, recognized as a vehicle
by the Town of Leesburg that can help develop and maintain diversity. It needs the
backing and the support of this council. I will end by saying that I really look
forward to unanimous, positive vote for this commission so that the commission can
go forward knowing that it has your full support. I especially look forward to the
positive vote from Council woman Katie Hammier because she is the Council
woman that appointed me to the original task force, so I look forward to your vote
tonight".
Adrienne M. Bray stated she moved to Leesburg in 1989. "I am here in
support of the creation of the town diversity commission. I think the Diversity
Commission would be a great tool for all residents, including minorities, disabled,
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youth, elderly— a great forum for discussion on issues that we are having, a way to
quickly bring to light issues that we are experiencing so that we can get them
resolved in a timely fashion. As a young person in town, I see a lot of youth are
having questions and they have conversations about diversity and I think it is time
for us to have a forum where they can come and see that Leesburg is taking action
and promoting diversity within our town".
Amira Bray "I am here today advocating for the creation of the town
Diversity Commission. I would like this forum to bring to discussion of teen issues.
Issues like diversity in schools and possible solutions to diversity issues. As a
teenager in high school, I would like to see more interaction between races and also
community wide. What I would like to see is more interaction because I see a slight
separation between races in school. I have been called racial names and I think this
diversity committee would allow me to discuss diversity issues I see. Please, Town
Council, vote for the creation of the town Diversity Commission. Thank you".
Tom Marshall "I am here because I love Leesburg and I love my Town
Council, but I would like to just say in 2008...by the way I live at 315 Ayrlee Avenue
in northwest Leesburg. In 2008, when President Barack Obama was elected as our
first black president, I was pleasantly surprised because I grew up in Virginia. Not
only did Virginia go democratic, but North Carolina did too. Obviously my
perception at that time was that America had changed and we are now able to judge
a person on his or her merits and not on his or her skin color or any other factors. I
even remember when President Kennedy was elected and at the time people thought
that we would never elect a Catholic for president. Joe Lieberman was a vice-
presidential candidate— a Jew. And if you believe in the popular vote, we would
have won that election too. And then, we had Mitt Romney who ran and came very
close to becoming president of the United States and he was a Mormon. So, I pretty
positive about everything; however, in 2008 election there was an exit poll by NBC
and they asked a question—how do you thought relations were in this country would
fair within the next three years. Forty-seven percent said better. They had the same
type of poll in the election 2014. That forty-seven percent dropped to 20 percent.
Thirty-four percent say about the same and in 2014, they also said 40 cents. But race
relationships in 2014, they said have gotten worse. I think that's the reality,
especially when you look around. If I can borrow from Jimmy Carter's ill-advised
term, my perception based on news reports of police shootings and gridlock in
congress when it comes to race relations, many Americans are experiencing a certain
malaise about race and change in demographics. Here in Leesburg, we need our
town leaders to start the conversation by establishing a diversity commission.
Leesburg needs to be proactive and a diversity commission is being proactive. Let's
get ahead of this and not run from it. I also have some statistics that I want to hand
out to you, but real briefly—I looked at the schools because you know I ran for
school board in 2007—in 2007, the Loudoun County public schools had 66.6%
white. Now we have 53%. The largest minority in our Loudoun County are Asians,
followed closely by Hispanics. I also looked at our three high schools, so you might
want to check these as well—I have those figures for you—I don't think you want
me to read them".
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Tamar Datan, 16007 Firefly Hill Lane. "I'm delighted to be here tonight. I
know several of you from my service as Chairman of the Economic Development
Commission of Loudoun County and also the Housing Advisory Board of Loudoun
County, but I stand before you tonight as president of the Unitarian Universalist
Church of Loudoun. We have 80+ members and another 100 friends, many of them
are here tonight. We have a mission of embracing diversity, nurturing spirituality
and promoting justice in the world. I think you have heard in a prior hearing our
resolution our board of governors— made a resolution in support of this diversity
commission and I am here tonight in support of that. It is not just time. I think it is
really past due. I believe that this is a chance for Leesburg to be a shining light and to
step out as a leader in Loudoun County for the interests of diversity and I have a
feeling that a lot of people here tonight are in support—just standing up for a
moment if you are here in support of the diversity commission. Just a wild risk I
took, but I think you are seeing a ground swell of support for your leadership in
stepping forward on this very important, complex and critical issue for the future of
not just this town, but our county and the nation. So, thank you for being brave in
that regard. I hope you find the courage to vote unanimously in favor of this—it is
long overdue".
Tammy Carter stated she is spokesperson for the Diversity Commission.
"The Diversity Commission in my eyes is very clear. We want to be able to provide
guidance and resources to people in regards to what they want, where and how to go
about to find what they are looking for. To be able to inquire about group services,
events planning a more diverse community without getting the run around. Create
new events such as culture fest—man already said something about having an event
on October 15. I'll be there. Christmas around the world. A multicultural town
museum. Add some variety to your website. List all church revivals, events,
programs, and come join us. Don't just list them. Come visit us—we'd like to see
you. I would like to see the Economic Development Commission bring new
business that would embrace diversity in many ways to Leesburg such as a real
performing arts school, a convention center with all the amenities and service culture
events, educational events, conferences, inspiring events. We have big pockets, lots
of buildings, plenty of land, but yet nowhere for these students to go other than to the
movies and the bowling alley. Now, we have sports clubs, ROCK program, scouts,
studios, etc. I could go on, but not everyone can do these things. Not everyone is
interested, but then again how would we know unless we ask? I know we have
many services, programs, events and opportunities that may not be made aware to
everyone. Yes, you do have a website, but it is very hard to navigate unless you
know exactly what you are looking for. Let's get the youth interested in the
programs or create some new ones. Add some variety to First Friday so that the
teenagers who want to involved and can get involved and show their diverse talent.
Reach out to them. All they want you to do is to ask. We need more culture and
spiritual events in the town of Leesburg. Now I want to speak on three things that
was said the last meeting I attended. One comment was made that they didn't want
it to be a feel good committee. Well, I would hope you would want us to feel good
about bringing this town together culturally, spiritually, and good working living
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conditions. Feel good about this town being my town to live in. That is the feel
good committee that I am talking about. We should not be feeling good about
having to form this committee. There is nothing to feel good about having to form it
—it should have already been done. Two, legal issues. There are none. We have
already established there are no legal issues. Would be we are a resource to help find
answers. Answer commissions can say something that may come back to haunt you.
Any commission can do that, not just us. Any of them could do that. What would
make them any different from us? Nothing. Third, Mrs. Fox, you made a lot of
comments, but one stood out to me and that was when you turned to your council
members and said something to the effect, and it is not a quote, you told the council
member that you felt whenever you had a concern and they didn't support it, you felt
like you were out there on a limb on your own, but you will continue to express your
concern because it was your job. Welcome to my world. Welcome to my world.
We will continue to come back and get in your faces until this is done because this is
our job. We are here to stand up for justice and to act. My focus, as you can see, I
brought with me— stand up—this is diversity. This is what should be sitting up
there. Tired of seeing the same old faces. Why don't you start a junior diversity
council where each one of you choose a different race, a different culture and guide
them in what to do and how to go about getting these things done. I think you
would be surprised at what you would find out that they could do because I would
like to see more diverse pictures in that hallway instead of the same pictures year
after year. Why are our minority teenagers having to get jobs in Ashburn and
Sterling when they live here in Leesburg? Why do they have so many students who
feel that there is nothing for them here? There is no one that listens who cares about
what they do and why they do it. Why are they treated differently when crimes are
the same? No one to reach out to without being judged by the gender, their gender,
the color of their skin or the clothes they wear, the disabilities they may have, or the
area they live in. Why are some of them out on the streets, doing drugs, stealing,
hurting others? We have not done our jobs to keep them involved in the community
and feel like they have a home with hope. So, I have brought to you this group of
students here tonight to tell you about how they feel about the town we live in and
what they think we could do to help them make Leesburg the place for all races,
cultures, genders and disabilities. I am willing to do my part, are you?"
Milan Ball stated she is the Student Council President at Tuscarora High
School. "I have a story to tell this evening. This story begins with my parents who
came from inner-city Baltimore, both African-Americans. Some might even call
where they came from "the Hood". After I was born, we moved a couple of times,
but I have never felt more at home than I do in Leesburg. Countless times my
parents have told me also how blessed I am to live in such an incredible
neighborhood. But even more so, they tell me that living here hinders my education
of my heritage as an African-American. February recently ended, a.k.a. Black
History Month and in all of my education I could tell you the same stories about
Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. What concerns me is that
I care more about my own heritage, but I care about others. I care that I know more
about my culture than my friends do about theirs, as pacific islanders, Asians, Native
Americans, Hispanics, or middle Eastern youth. I am here today to spread cultural
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diversity, to support the Diversity Commission, to make it known that I am
important along with all of my minority peers. I am here to represent us as a
community, within a community in Leesburg because I want them to feel just as at
home as I do".
Calista Groves "I am here on behalf of the Diversity Commission. As a
young teenager that is multi-racial, it is hard at times because my mom is black and
my dad is white. So, it can be confusing to explain that to people. I have had a lot
of racist comments to me. So, I would like, you know, more help with that to bring
more information to people and to make the community more diverse like that.
That's what I wanted to say".
Herman Llewellyn "This is my own personal story. I moved to Leesburg
approximately 10 years ago. I was in corporate America working for Freddie Mac in
IT. I want to say about four years after moving to Leesburg, I lost my job and
decided I wanted to do something different. And I decided that I wanted to start a
business. This is where this committee might come in as a factor. Deciding to start a
business and seeing what it took to establish that business was a tremendous effort
for someone that has never done that before. When I turned and looked for
resources, there were resources available, but in my view they were limited based on
what I knew. If there was an entity or some place that I could go that would give me
some guidance, I felt like my effort would have been a lot easier today. So, I came
out today just to encourage the council and the members on the Council to say yes.
Whatever we can put in place to promote business, to encourage people to do better
for themselves, can only be good. So, I am pleading to all the members to please
support this. Diversity doesn't mean, to me anyway—I am originally from Jamaica,
by the way. To me, it doesn't mean black and white. It just means we are different
and how can we come together, resolve our issues. So again, I am pleading to the
council, please support this".
Eric Groo, 739 Fieldstone Drive, NE #304. "I moved to Leesburg a year
ago. It is a beautiful, wonderful town. Previous to that, I had worked abroad and
spent time in Afghanistan. I have seen what happens when a community sort of
loses track of itself. So, without trying to appeal to any higher principles, I would ask
you to consider for the diversity committee, is it beneficial to all concerned? Is it
fair? Does it build good will and better friendships? I think it does. I think it is a
wonderful effort that you have taken here in Leesburg and so I urge you to
unanimously vote for the committee".
Nadia Bonavanskum stated she is a student at Tuscarora High School. "I
moved to Leesburg about six years ago with my family and before that I lived
elsewhere in Loudoun County and before that I lived in Bulgaria. So, I have seen
and I have experienced first hand the experience of being an immigrant coming into
America and basically starting with not knowing anything about this new place and
not speaking English and not being able to communicate with the community and
getting the help that immigrants need—that anyone needs starting in a new place.
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So, I think your Diversity Committee would really help with that—with people
coming in that are new to the community and just need some help starting out".
Yvette Castro-Green, "I would like to echo the sentiment of the young lady
sitting in the front here who made a perfect segway to my representation of the
immigrant community here in Leesburg and Loudoun County. I am a Leesburg
resident and have been for the last 15 years here—all of the time living in Leesburg.
From my perspective as a Leesburg resident, a community leader, I am also a mother
of two young children in Loudoun County Public Schools located in Leesburg. I
also came to you as a taxpayer living in the town. I am a strong proponent of
diversity in Leesburg and Loudoun County. I feel that a Leesburg Diversity
Commission is essential. I would like to just go back to Ms. Burke's comments that
she made and echo not only that the Leesburg Diversity Advisory Commission
would have a focus, structure, stability, legitimacy here in the town but also it would
provide manpower, although it would be limited. Some of the valuable town staff
interaction that would be given, the same as to other commissions, the equal...and
then the resources...access to readily available information from different town
departments. I want to go on and just tell you about some of the trends that are
happening and I think you have already seen it in the task force report and
recommendations. Almost 20 percent of the population is Hispanic now, 9.2 percent
black non-Hispanic, 7 percent Asian and 3.2 percent of two or more races, some who
are represented here. I just want to say, how many of you...we also have about 30
percent of the residents who speak a language other than English at home and 15.3
percent that speak English less than very well. How many of you know someone
who speaks a language other than English or less than well? Maybe you can raise
your hands or stand. Well, I am one of those and I would like to just, you know,
make my...urge you to establish a Leesburg Diversity Commission because I have
seen diversity from the year 2000 until now working as a leader in La Voz of
Loudoun, working for immigrant integration for over 10 years and seeing the
marginalized populations in our own town, so please...I urge you to continue to
work towards valuing the differences in our community".
Anthony Fasolo stated he and his wife have lived in Leesburg for 20 years.
"We moved here in 1994 after moving 24 times in our over 50 years of marriage.
Being in the military, you've seen a lot of different places and Leesburg is the place
we want to be and we want to stay. It is also a place—every place can be improved.
You can always do better, I don't care where we are. Everybody has said most of the
things I was going to say, so my main points are: Number one, we should think of
the United States and our country, not as a melting pot, but I would like to think of it
as a salad bowl and as an Italian, I love salad. Every bit of that salad, different
ingredients bring their own flavor to it, but mixed together, what a great thing. I
learned a lesson with Mr. Tolbert when I was on the Environmental Advisory
Commission, he was our leader. He told me he had all his teeth, he was like 90 years
old. He told me the history of Leesburg and all this so I learned a lot. I can see the
advantages of being with people other than Italian guys like me. I just want to
leave...I have been here three times before, two times before and I have always
spoken in favor of the commission and it seems to me it makes sense to do this. We
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had a study conducted that says we need to do this. There have been some concerns
raised why we shouldn't do it, but I think all those concerns have been answered.
There was one concern about liability issue and I think our lawyer, attorney, said
that we don't have to worry about that. The other thing that this will provide is
transparency and also provide...what am I trying to say? Stable organization that
will work together with the town and have some potential for...so the money...what
does it cost? I don't know, $8500, but what is going to be the return and I think the
return is much more. Thank you very much for the opportunity".
David Weintraub, 12883 Furnace Road, Lovettsville. "I have something to
say about the alternative that has been proposed by Mr. and Mrs. Fox. They have
been arguing a lot that the existing advocacy organizations that serve minority
communities can just get together and somehow better perform the functions of the
proposed commission. I serve on the boards of two of those advocacy organization
and we can do that already. We do that already. Several of those organizations
work together every year and create the Martin Luther King Day celebration here in
Leesburg. I am on that committee and one of the things that we did this past year is
we introduced a new element to that celebration. It was a forum for dialogue
between youth and elders and our thinking was we wanted to do something more
interactive and thought that people who have lived through Jim Crow here in this
community and young people who live here now as it is, might have very different
reflections about the legacy of Dr. King and that event...so we did that. It was very
successful. It was very well received. So much so that we are now in the process of
making that a regular occurrence throughout the year and not just once a year at the
MLK celebration. So, why am I telling you about this? What we have learned is
that there is a real hunger, especially among young people to tell their stories, have
their voices heard. There are people in this community who feel invisible and what
we need to be a healthy community is for everyone to have their voices heard and to
not feel invisible. So, that is what we are doing. That is our project. We can do that
—we can provide that safe space. I don't know if a 14 or 15-year-old, someone who
already feels invisible and unheard is going to show up here without a lot of
encouragement and talk to you. You know, and maybe tell a story about how they
have been treated poorly by a local business or maybe if they have an idea for
making the town more inclusive. I am not saying you wouldn't hear them if they did
that, I just don't think its that likely that they will. So, we can provide that space, but
my question is then what? We can do the investigation and we can hear all the
stories and listen, and then we can report to ourselves all day long, but what we need
is our local government to take seriously these realities and actively seek to include
all these voices. That's what we really need here. So, where we are now with this,
okay, we recognize that the need is there—to address it. The task force was
convened. They did their work. They made their proposal. The proposal was
modified to address concerns of staff. It was modified again to address concerns
about possible liability. The town attorney is satisfied. The task force members are
satisfied. It is time to move forward and I also hope to see a unanimous vote for this.
It is a positive step forward to make this community truly safe and inclusive and
welcoming for all of us. I thank you very much".
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Roland Waddell stated he is president of Prelude Communications, 202
Church Street, SE, located at the Mason Enterprise Center. "I made the choice to
establish my company in Leesburg. I am a resident of Sterling because of the
HUBZone designation in the City of Leesburg and because of my strategic
relationship with George Mason University. I am excited to give my show of
support for creation of the commission. It is a good thing. I have been blessed to
have a 30 year media, entertainment background with Walt Disney, Gannett, and all
of those organizations I worked on diversity committees. It is a good thing and it is a
good thing to have it originate and be managed through the Council. And for purely
commercial reasons, I am always on the hunt for young talent and our HUBZone
application will be going forward to the Federal Government shortly and we are
required to have 35% minimum of local residents in the HUBZone. So, I am on the
hunt for talent in the areas of marketing, creative services, video, and so forth. I
thank you for your time."
Will Estrada, 407 Silverbell Terrace, N.E. "My wife and I live in the
Sycamore Hill townhomes here in Leesburg. We have lived here for seven years.
Mayor and Members of the Town Council, I am a second generation Puerto Rican.
My wife is a first generation Korean. We love our community's love of diversity.
However, I speak in opposition to this proposed diversity commission. There are
three reasons for why I oppose it. The first one is the cost to our town, paid for by
myself, by all of us, by our neighbors, our tax dollars. Around$40,000 have already
been spent by the Town of Leesburg to bring the Chicago-area diversity consultant.
The town of Leesburg, and this was news to me, has 11 formal commissions. Each
one has a budget of around $9,000. This would be the 12th official commission,
again with another budget of around $9,000 that does not include staff time as
members of our Town of Leesburg staff have to liaison, attend these commissions. I
do not believe that this is a good use of our money. They are all good commissions —
diversity, art, and other important things, but is it a good use of our tax dollars when
we could be hiring more law enforcement officers, more people to clean our streets,
to shovel snow—things of that issue. The second concern that I have is the threat of
lawsuits. Now, I am a lawyer. People don't hate me as a result of that, but
lawyering 101 would be—imaging that this diversity commission, if it is adopted,
makes a recommendation, say that the Police force needs to change how it hires
people. And the police chief, imaging if the police chief were to say that this is not a
good idea. We need to make sure that we have the highest standard and then any
lawyer would say well, let's use this official diversity commission's recommendation
as the basis for a lawsuit. It would probably fail, but it would be valuable money
spent to pay our town attorney to represent the town. I believe it would be opening
the town up to more lawsuits, again that would be a burden carried on the backs of
the taxpayers. And then, honorable Mayor and Members of the Town Council, I am
concerned about this is not the proper scope of government. The purpose of
government is to keep us safe, to protect our livelihoods, to keep our roads in good
shape, as all of you have done an admirable job to do it. All of us should be fighting
for diversity in our houses of worship, in our homes, in our schools, but government,
that's not the purpose of government. Too often government finds a good idea and
instead of encouraging a private solution, steps in itself. I would encourage you to
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look at Council Member Fox' alternative idea, a diversity leadership council with
formal recognition by the town. One final concern, the proposed statutory change in
the town code says that at least four members of this commission, if adopted were to
be town residents. That seems ironic to me. Every member, if you were to decide to
do this town commission, should be a member of the Leesburg town, a resident who
has skin in the game. Thank you so much and I thank everyone for working on
diversity here".
Peter Rush, 8 Phillips Drive, NW. "I just celebrated my 30th year in Leesburg
last month. I moved here in 1985. I am also a member of the Loudoun County Soil
and Water Conservation District Board, in my eighth year there. I am strongly in
favor of this commission. I think it is an idea whose time has come. I would
maintain that the bedrock of our democracy is self-government, a critical part of
which is that citizens feel that they have a voice, that that voice matters, and that
their government, at all levels, is there to serve them. We know from the low voting
rates in most elections and some of the other items of evidence, that a great many
people across the county have lost that sense of connection to their community and
to government. We know from the handful of situations that bubble to the level of
public attention in the news, that such a severing frequently occurs to a
disproportionate degree among citizens and residents from minorities. The speeches
in Selma over the weekend, highlighted how far we still are from being the kind of
country that I think we need to be with regard to racial and ethnic issues. I,
therefore, strongly applaud the decision to consider salvaging a diversity commission
and hope that you do establish it. While it may have originally been driven by a
recognition that the composition of the town force did not reflect the diversity of our
community, I believe that the value of having such a commission extends far beyond
rectifying that diversity imbalance and every other speaker has had pretty much the
same point—it goes way beyond that. I would envision that the commission would
become a bridge to thousands of our residents who may finally feel that they have a
channel through which their voices and their concerns may be heard, listened to and
responded to. I have no reason to suspect that we have any issues remotely as
serious as those that have recently surfaced in other parts of the country. That is
good, but so much the better to take action now to promote the free flow of
information, complaints, suggestions, and actions to redress these problems. I would
like to pretty much insert pretty much everything that David Weintraub said about
the importance of having people who may not feel they have a voice—having a
voice. To digress slightly, Germany has a labor system, whose worker's councils are
at the table with management and the result is an industrial economy with
manufacturing wages are a third higher than ours. They have a huge trade surplus in
manufacturing goods compared to our deficit with much higher labor costs because
the collaboration and cooperation has such an incredible value in facilitating the
industrial economy. My point here is that cooperation, collaboration, free flow of
ideas, complaints, and a spirit of mutual respect and joint goals and dreams, it works.
They are the essence of what I feel America should be all about and I think that the
potential of this commission to do those kinds of positive things is limited only by
our imagination. I have heard many things tonight that I never thought of that I
believe this commission can do. So, I urge the Council to please vote for it and
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please make it unanimous. I also support the last speaker in one item only. I don't
know why anyone who is not a resident of Leesburg should be part of the
commission. I think it should be limited to residents. Thank you".
Graham Copp, 903 Catskill Court. "I am a voter and taxpayer here in
Leesburg. I am also a school bus driver. As you can tell by my British accent, I am
an immigrant to this country. My wife imported me along with all things English
that she loves. I have been very fortunate that my accent and white face has meant
no racial discrimination or prejudice has been directed my way. In fact, my accent
has been a great icebreaker and has opened doors for me. I sometimes wonder if my
face was black or my accent was Spanish whether I would have been received as well
in this country. I severely doubt it. I fully support the proposal for the formation of
a standing Leesburg Diversity Commission and urge your unanimous approval".
Natalie Pien, 20644 Gleedsville Road. "I am a public school teacher in
Leesburg and own property in the town. I am here to voice my support for the
establishment of a public and transparent diversity commission. When I first moved
here over 30 years ago, Loudoun was a very different place. It was hard to find
younger people and even harder to find people who were not white. Today, the
picture is very different. First of all, somehow, I am no longer young. Second, the
residents are made up of so many different nationalities. This really hit home when I
attended my older daughter, Renee's, graduation many years ago. Though I had
become accustomed to seeing people of different races and ethnicities, hearing the
rich variety of exotic names being called made a memorable impression that is really
easy for me to remember today. Census data bears out the significant changes in
demographics. Using the Censusviewer.com website to compare the 2000 and 2010
census, it shows that the greatest change in population by race occurs in the some
other race alone category and is an impressive 349 percent while the least change
occurs in the white alone category and is 29 percent, less than one tenth of the
change in some other ways category. The Loudoun County School system is also
experiencing growing diversity from a minority population of 19 percent in 1998, to
44 percent by 2012. In response, the Loudoun County Public School system created
a minority student achievement advisory committee dedicated to work in partnership
with the Loudoun County Public Schools, parents and community to further the
academic, social and cultural development of every student and to ensure that the
needs of all minority students are met. Just as the school system addressed Loudoun
County's growing diversity, so must the town of Leesburg with the creation of a
diversity commission. A diversity commission benefits not only the minority
community, but can also benefit the majority community. Lessons learned from the
business sector might also be applied to a community such as the Town of Leesburg.
Philip Legreen, a British economist and former advisor to the Director General of the
World Trade Organization argues that productivity flourishes in culture diversity.
The mind expands when encountering modes of thinking that differ from its own.
Diversity promotes innovation, which in turn propels economic growth. A report
from the Center for American Progress identifies more than ten economic facts
supporting concepts that diversity in the work place is integral to a strong economy.
The Town of Leesburg should not follow Loudoun County's motto, I byde my time.
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Instead, recognize the change and embrace it by creating a diversity commissioner.
Thank you".
Barbara Elvin, 211 Prince Street. "I did not realize I was signing up to speak,
but as a person who has been here for 30 years and as a person who could see, as you
can, the diversity here, this is what I want in my community and these are the people
that I want speaking. I taught for ten years at NOVA. I taught English as a Second
Language to adults who came here and were dying to be heard. Some of them
literally. Anything else my friends? I am delighted that you are considering this. I
hope it is unanimous. Thank you".
Phyllis Hubbell, Co-minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of
Loudoun, 1303 Baker Place, Frederick, MD. "Since I spoke before, I am going to
speak short, I think. When I was here just at the beginning and you were giving out
those awards to the extreme football players, people who work together as a team. I
looked at them and I thought this is the future. This is the future of Leesburg and
how could you see a better representation of the diversity that is going to be the
future of this city. Fifty years after Selma, this town has the opportunity to be a
model. Leesburg doesn't have to wait for Loudoun County to get where Leesburg
already is. Leesburg has a much stronger structure for the task force than the
volunteer task force they might conceivably one day create in Loudoun County. The
Leesburg proposal has already identified the issues that need addressing. They don't
need to start all over in Loudoun. Now, it would be wonderful if Loudoun decides
to do something, but I would suggest that we go with what is already in place and
not wait for another year or two or 30 years for this urgent issue to be addressed. If
Leesburg is the first to establish this task force, it can be known for the right reasons.
It can become known as a place where all are welcomed,but prejudice is not. It can
become known as a place where hospitality extends to the warm welcome of all
people where all people have opportunities and where businesses thrive. I urge this
Council to vote unanimously for this proposal and tell the world that Leesburg is
truly a place for lovers. Yes, lovers of all people, whoever they are, whatever their
gifts, whatever their challenges, dependent only on the content of their character. It
is time for Leesburg to take the next step. Thank you".
John Manwell. "With my wife and cominister, whom you just heard, we
serve as ministers of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Loudoun, which is
out on Gleedsville Road, not far from the center of town. You have heard from a
number of members of this congregation tonight. Many of them, many of almost
100 members live in the Town of Leesburg and a great many of them have strong
roots in this town. You have heard a great deal about what makes this a great place
to live and what would make it a greater place to live and a more attractive place. I
want to simply say a word about why I think most of us are here, why I am sure you
are considering this proposal. I think all of the religions of the world agree that
brotherhood, sisterhood is an important value. We all know the story of Jesus and
the story of the good Samaritan. Less known is the story told by an ancient rabbi of
the second century, who teaching his students, asked the question, a teaching
question, how do we know when night has gone and morning has come? One
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student said is it when you can tell an ox from a mule? No, that's not it. Is it when
you can tell a fig tree from an olive tree? No, that's not it either. Well, what is it?
Morning has come for you, when you can look into the eyes of your maker and see
the eyes of your brother or sister. If we as a country had internalized this wisdom of
all the great religions, generations ago, our history would have been much different,
but our history has come a long way. I think our challenge now is to internalize it
into our hearts not only that, yes, it is okay to be different, but we value, we affirm,
we appreciate, these differences. I urge you to create this commission, which would
allow...which would become an advocate, I would hope, for the many voices which
you need to hear from to make this an even more wonderful place than it is now."
Patti Maslinoff, 671 Burnside Terrace, SE. "I just want to say to all of you
who are left, I have never felt so happy to be a resident of Leesburg. You have all
spoken so eloquently and I am so proud. Thank you very much. And because
everyone has spoken so eloquently, I will skip all my reasons for why you should
support the commission and I will jump to my concern about the alternate proposal.
I don't understand why it was presented as an alternative to your proposal. Leesburg
can go ahead with its wonderful idea and if other people want to take on something
else, they are more than one avenue to get to diversity—they are welcome to do it.
But what concerned me greatly was the two top reasons on the comparison list as to
comparing diversity leadership council with the diversity commission of Leesburg.
Now, I am a lawyer, so please forgive me. I can't help myself. If every time the
town was subject to a concern about liability, you wouldn't do anything. We
wouldn't have a playground. That is...we have attorneys to help us with issues of
liability, to plan to minimize and then have the courage to go forward. I am also...I
am also very concerned about this FOIA implication. I am at a loss to understand
why it is a problem...if a part of government is open to FOIA. That is what we want
from our government. We want you to be open. We want to be able to find out
what you are doing. We don't want you to be concerned about what you are doing
and then therefore transfer it to the private sector so we don't know what you are
doing. FOIA is a good thing. It is also very well established law and I am sure that
the Town Attorney is quite equipped at being able to advise everyone as to what the
FOIA issues are and to make sure that everything is complied with. I really do not
understand. My understanding, Ms. Fox, was that you campaigned on open
government. Therefore, open government means town commissions that are subject
to FOIA so we as citizens know what is going on. A government official who
intends to comply with the law need have no concern about FOIA or liability. That
is what we are here to do. That is our courage. I urge you to not get distracted with
any other proposals, to have courage and go forward with the Leesburg Diversity
Commission. Thank you".
Greg Hudson, "It has been an interesting evening. I have got to tell you, I'm
so proud to be a Leesburg resident tonight. I had the opportunity to work on the
diversity task force and it was an honor and a pleasure to do so. I learned about
myself and I learned about the struggles of our minority community as well. A lot of
history there, which makes this evening kind of interesting for me, from a
perspective...I am going to kind of speak off the cuff. I had some prepared remarks
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for this. I have listened to some folks talk tonight. It is kind of molded my opinion a
little bit. You know, we are a very diverse group of citizens here in Leesburg. We all
bring value to this community and ideas, that I think will make us a much better
community. Development of the Diversity Commission, it brings to light a couple of
concerns that I have and that again, I think it has been addressed by Barbara Notar,
our town attorney, is that of liability. And when you speak of issues regarding hiring
practices and employment, although I know that those have been addressed, they
could be discussed. Will that have influence into the direct hiring of employees and
thus hold our town accountable. That is one of my areas of concern and that's why
this evening, and you know as a group, I had hoped that the Town Council could
have some open discussion regarding that and then make the most thoughtful and
right decision on that, but as I said here, you know, when I joined the task force, I
stated that we are part of a team and we must all find ways to live together and grow
together. The perception of a possible reality that there is a failure on the town's part
to not hire diverse individuals was concerning to me at the time. And clearly, there
is a failure somewhere along the line whether it be in the way the town
communicates job opportunities to the public, where the town is reaching out, or
there is a lack of team based interview, review and hire. But, ultimately, I am of the
belief that you hire the very best talent that is presented. That is the spirit of the work
force diversity task force was solely based off of hiring and the hiring practices of our
town and a lot was learned. I think there is still more to be learned. I support a
continuance of the work force diversity committee focusing on the employment
practices of the town. I think that as that, and Kaj even suggested it as well, when
we were meeting and I thought it was well received, there has been kind of an
expansion and I will finish up. There has been kind of an expansion on what the
Diversity Commission wants. I am in somewhat support of that but I am concerned
again when it speaks of issues of employment that there won't be some sort of
liability there on the town and the one final point that I do want to make is that on
March 21, I am a member of the Economic Development Committee, there is a Job
Fair. And if you weren't aware of it, you can certainly go to the town's website.
There is, I think, a number of folks as well as Kelly and many members of Council
that are promoting that as well. So, I encourage everyone to join that. There are a
lot of jobs out there to be had and over 80 employers, I believe, will be there. So,
embrace that and lets get the youth out to get jobs and anybody else that wants one
as well. Thank you".
Mark Sell, 1012 Smartt's Lane. "I urge you to oppose this commission.
Frankly, I don't care what the commission would be about. I think we need less
commissions, not more. We don't need any more bodies sitting around coming up
with more regulations and spending money and all that kind of stuff. We just need
less. I value diversity in community because I think that all of us bring our unique
talents and skills and experiences. All of us are created in the image of God but we
don't need a commission for this. The task force, as I understand it, was created to
look at work force diversity in the Town of Leesburg government. The Town of
Leesburg, as I understand it, has taken some steps to increase avenues for seeking
candidates for employment. I don't think we need to broaden this into something
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bigger. I do want to commend Council Member Fox for demonstrating the power
and the value in diverse ideas by thinking outside the box. Thank you".
Laura Vasquez-Bolanos, 105 Birch Street, NE. "I am a Leesburg town
resident and I go to Tuscarora High School. I am a senior. I understand from seeing
my parents and taxpayers worry about the increases in taxes, and what the
gentleman was just talking about. But what I see with this Diversity Commission is
a lot of potential. I see the task force has already looked at the employee side, but I
want to come from the younger generation side. I believe it has a lot of potential.
Had it been in place while I was in high school, I would have been definitely
involved. I did a minority empowerment program last year at Luckett's Elementary.
I met with local fourth and fifth grader girls— minority girls, who weren't struggling.
They had potential, they just didn't know what to do with it. So, I would meet with
them twice a week and just little things. Just helping them. Minorities and people
don't know what it's like for minorities, but they need help. I am a first generation
college bound student. I will be attending Cornell University this fall. Thanks to
diversity programs in the state of Virginia, this has been possible. I want the Town
of Leesburg to make this next step to push our community—to push every Latina,
African-American, any minority to reach their full potential. First generation, third
generation, who cares. We can all do this together and I just hope you guys take this
and urge you to push for the Diversity Commission. Thank you".
Phillip Thompson, 43709 Mahogany. "Good evening. It has been a long
evening and I didn't want to belabor points that have already been made. As
president of the NAACP, our organization fully supports this, but there was
something that... I am glad that Mr. Estrada came tonight, but there is something
that he said that I found astounding—that government only has limited areas and
one isn't dealing with discrimination, diversity—these types of things. Without
government, I'm still in the fields picking cotton. He is not a lawyer, I'm not a
lawyer. We don't even have the opportunity to vote. I mean that is basic
constitutional law. That's why we are here. That's why we are able to stand up and
go to vote and not, you know, go through all that. So, I commend him coming and
making his point, but I disagree. This is a form of something that government
should do. I don't even disagree with what Mr. Fox said as far as personally a
diversity leadership committee or whatever, council. I think that is something that
could be worked on outside of the scope, but we have talked this through. We have
all been here numerous times. You had a task force, you discussed the liability issue.
All I can say now, it's just time. Thank you."
Ann Robinson, 125-M Clubhouse Drive, SW. "It's wonderful to be here.
What a great day! I was standing over by the door thinking and I am going to choke
up when I say this, but wouldn't it be wonderful if Irene was here? Or Rocky? And I
am going to try to go on from there. But, I wrote a five minute speech. Look at this
and now it is redundant because everybody said it and said it better. But there is
something that hasn't been said. I am older than most of you. I know you don't
know that, but it is true. It is true. When I was a young woman in college before the
civil rights movement, before the Civil Rights Act, I opened up my business law
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book in class one day and the title of the chapter was Morons, the Mentally Ill and
Married Women are in Competent to Contract and that was the law. That was the
law. And I entered the work force in that—under that type of law. That type of
discrimination in the work force, not only against African Americans and other
minorities,but against women and would be told that you can't have that job, you
can't have that loan, you can't go by that name because you are a woman. Because
you are a woman—no other reason. No other reason had to be given. Now, look at
you. Look at you. You are leading the town. You are leading the town and I can
tell you, I can tell you, it is because, it is because the African-Americans in this
country risked themselves on that bridge. They let themselves be integrated and
beaten and blown up and talked to in unbelievable ways and why isn't one of them
up there? Why isn't one of them up there? So, we have to correct this and I
commend you for trying to correct it. So, let's move forward unanimously so if
anybody disagrees, knows that their government does not support. We can do a
better job in the 21st century. Thank you."
Ann Marie Morreale, 502 Blue Ridge Avenue, NE. "I am a Caucasian
grandmother, who picks up her Caucasian five-year-old grandson from preschool. It
is an extraordinary thing to watch when I go into that classroom. Several of his
classmates from different races run up to him and give him a big hug when he leaves.
They are all smiles and joy. Their affection and good will towards each other is
instinctual. However, a feeling of sadness washes over me each time I witness this
display of humanity. The sadness comes from the realization that my grandson and
his younger sisters and their toddler friends have lessons of prejudice in America
ahead of them. It is my sincere hope that they do not learn these lessons well. As we
are all fully aware, there is a stubbornly persistent divide in America based on race
and ethnicity and it is here in Leesburg as well. The prejudices are deep and they
swing both ways. A pervasive attitude of distrust prevails in our society. Basic
systems are often flawed because so many of us are flawed. Unjust practices
continue because of our questionable attitudes. Fear of change sometimes freezes us
in relationships. It is time to put bridges in place to span these gaps that have been
created between people here in Leesburg. It is time to trust our personal humanity.
It is time to check our systems and repair where necessary. It is time to throw fear
out the window and open the door to attitudes of inclusiveness. It is time to thaw
generations of icy relationships. As town leaders, you have the power to meet the
challenges of creating a peaceful and just town where families and individuals can
realize their potential, know liberty and pursue happiness. A town without fear,
without indifference, without hate. A town that welcomes cultural differences,
values cultural differences, embraces cultural differences. Not a live and let live
attitude, but a nothing less than live fully attitude. A place where freedom rings true
on every corner of this town. I am not a proponent of public hugging between
strangers. But, we are all neighbors in the same community and we have a legacy to
leave our grandchildren. It is my hope that the legacy will include fairness, trust and
equal opportunity for all in Leesburg. The creation of a transparent and effective
Leesburg Diversity Commission, which has clear, measureable goals to be met on a
reasonable timeline is a powerful step towards that legacy. Thank you."
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Sandra Shihadeh, 16007 Firefly Hill Lane. "I have lived in Loudoun County
for 25 years —about 20 years of that in Leesburg. I am a taxpayer. I have been a
teacher. I'm a non-profit director. I'm a churchgoer. I'm a community volunteer.
I'm a board member of a number of boards. I am also of Irish descent and
Palestinian descent. I have found that when I came to Loudoun, I could thrive and
do well and build a life and I would like to see others be able to do the same thing. I
am just a proponent of the Leesburg Diversity Commission."
James Green, Jr, 706 Bellview Court. "I have been a member of this
community for nearly four decades and I have seen a lot of change over those years.
I'm really surprised this has not come up and been pushed forward before now, but
I'm glad to see something is happening now. I believe diversity is something that
would benefit our community. It would benefit our town and the county as well.
We have many bright, young people as you saw here this evening with the young
sports teams as well as the young ladies that were presented up here. So, I would
encourage you all to seriously consider this initiative and push it ahead. Thank
you."
Hasan Ibrahim, 866 MacAllister St. "I will speak about me personally. I
have been a resident of Leesburg for about 25 years. After college, moved back to
Leesburg. I have two companies that I run out of Leesburg and I am an employer
here so I have a vested interest in this town. My family is here. I think...and I had
the honor of being on this task force. This is important to me. So, the Leesburg that
I knew...it was an eye opener...wasn't being represented in the hiring practices,
which was unknown to me. We talk about liability here a lot, or I have heard a lot
about liability. Think of the liability—now that we know that this exists and we
ignore it—years down the road if something happens, if there is some sort of a
lawsuit against the town because of something and then there was something that
was known or ignored—think of the liability then. I am in the line of work that we
are exposed to liability on a regular basis so my insurance agent meets with me on a
monthly basis and we upped the umbrella policies and do whatever you've got to do.
I look at this as an insurance policy for the town that in the event something
happens, there was a proactive action that was taken well beforehand before it
became...and you know what? Turn the news on tonight. Look at all these small
towns all around the United States where often times, unconscious...there are not
intentional, but just unconsciously there are things and actions...practices that
become, you know, normal and just a force of habit. Any of those towns that are
making headline news in the wrong way today...none of those people actually
probably thought that they were doing anything wrong because it wasn't addressed
and it wasn't identified. Here we have a situation that has been identified. I think
we should hit it at its core. I am obviously a supporter of this. Thank you so much."
Michelle Divali, "I work at a craft store and I also drive a bus for Loudoun
County and I have lived here for seven years. I was born in Virginia, pretty much
lived in Herndon, Reston, Manassas, everywhere. So, the last seven years, I have
lived here. And honestly, I have not felt welcome living here. We moved December
31 of 2007 and January 1, 2008, I was harassed by a detective. Me and my husband.
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And it was ongoing, ongoing, ongoing until he finally caught my husband driving
without a license and that was a whole issue that is still ongoing to this day. My kids
every day I have to hear comments, things that the teachers tell them. Like my older
son, he is 15 now. When he was in third grade, he was wearing his hat—it was hat
day, so he was wearing the DC hat. His teacher said to take that off because it was
gang related. So, my eight-year-old comes home and he is asking me what is gang
related. So, ask your teacher, you know. Obviously, she doesn't understand what
DC is. It is, you know, Washington, DC. I didn't know how to explain that to an
eight-year-old. So, it is a constant thing. My kids, every day. I have a 13-year-old,
8-year-old, a 5-year-old. They come with things from the teachers that are very
ignorant. Throughout my life I have been through lots and lots of discrimination
that I have pretty much learned how to live with it. Every day at my job, I have
someone talking to me in slow motion and stuff like that. It hasn't been too
welcoming here in Leesburg and I know a lot of the kids because I drive a bus and
stuff and a lot of them feel lost. I am here speaking for those who can't speak
because they are scared to come here today. I live on 75 Plaza Street so that's like a
hot minority spot. There is all kinds—it is super diverse. All kinds of colors,
nationalities and languages. A lot of people feel lost. They can't—they are in the
shadows. They can't walk outside without being harassed. I was throwing my trash
away and I had a police officer yell at me what was I doing. Well, I'm obviously
throwing the trash away. It's ongoing. I mean you can't walk to the stores. There is
harassment—there is constant harassment. A lot of people, they fear coming out
side. They are scared. And I was born here and I still get a lot of discrimination. It
is just mainly from all 30s, detectives, gang task force. I mean I have tattoos and I
can just walk down the street and automatically I am stereotyped and questioned on
the spot. Pictures taken. I mean you see flashes from windows from detectives that
are taking pictures of people. It's hostile. So we always try to want to move out but
we can't because where we live is affordable. So, that's...I'm speaking on behalf of
my community that can't speak here today because they are afraid. That's it."
Unidentified Female "I wasn't prepared to speak, but I believe this is the
beginning of something that has tremendous potential. It's an exciting time, you
know, for Leesburg. I was relocated here from the West Coast to work at the
Ashburn Campus of Corporate America and now I am a small business owner and I
didn't realize that so much potential was here in Leesburg until I was synched into a
particular group of people. So, I believe that we have a diversity team that could
help, you know, people that move into the area. We could build a successful life for
Leesburg as a whole and give us more strength together as we build. So, I am in
support. Thank you."
Dion Hale, "I have been a Northern Virginia resident for a number of years,
but moved to Leesburg in 2007. My reason for moving to Leesburg is because it was
a resident of Leesburg who said there is no other place in the country that you should
move after your retirement. So, we looked in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina,
Arkansas, Missouri, Florida and we ended up coming back to Leesburg and I have
been bragging about Leesburg ever since because there are things that are going on
and continue to go on in Leesburg that don't occur in any other small town. And we
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like that. I'm a young fellow and I enjoy people who enjoy life and that's what
we've got here. The other thing is that I've got grandkids. Got 11 of them. The
youngest is one-year-old and I already see in him the opportunity to do great things,
but I want him to be in a community where those great things can happen and he is
encouraged. I could not stand here. Some of us are over 50, if it were not for the
fact that many people looked out for me just a few years ago. So, if this sounds like
it is extravagant,jump out and do it. Because if good things can happen for an old
fellow like me and all of us have got grandkids and great grandkids and we want the
very best for them, that's all it is. If we didn't have to do a commission, I would say
no, let's not do it. But we also know that the reason we have to have it is because we
don't always agree and I have come to understand that's not a big deal either. I
agree with everything. I really do. And here's why—because we are uniquely
different and because we are uniquely different, if we allow ourselves to listen to the
views of others, we might find that there is something good in what you don't agree
with. I support this commission."
Mary Randolph, "Several months ago I was asked to be on a video for the
Town of Leesburg and I think at the time, Leesburg had been chosen as one of the
friendliest town—or a good town to live in and I couldn't be on that...well I was on
the video speaking about the Black History Committee, but I could not talk about
Leesburg. The reason I couldn't talk about Leesburg—they wanted to know what is
good about Leesburg. I couldn't for the life of me come up with what I felt was good
for me because I felt that Leesburg just tolerates me and my people. We are here to
do somethings, but we can't do everything. The main thing that I want to talk about
is our children. Now, I drove around town. Saw a bunch of African-American boys
playing basketball and I smiled because when I came up that's what they did. Kids
on the other end playing. Girls standing around checking out the boys. I remember
doing that too. I did that. Drove past there three or four times and one day I came
past and I said oh, it's a nice day. I know it's going to be full of people. Well, I got
there—no body was there. I'm thinking what in the world is going on? So, I look
around and as I go past, I see the pole is there, but the rims were taken down. My
people doing what they do. How am I going to say this is a great town? My kids out
playing and for some reason, we don't know the reason, but if we had a commission
that would go into the neighborhoods, speak with homeowners, speak with HMOs
to know what was the problem? Why is it that these kids could not play basketball.
Another area I went to, the kids were playing football. When have you seen a make
up game of kids playing football? I was so excited about that. And I saw other kids
playing and saw a kid climbing the tree. I said oh lord. I felt like jumping out and
climbing with them. Now this is something. Several weeks later, maybe a couple of
months, I came past this place. I saw some kids playing soccer. Hispanic kids
playing. This is really good, hearing the kid's laughter. Do you hear kid's laughter
in your neighborhood? Are they out there? When we were coming up, you could
hear them on every street laughing and playing. I came back a month or two later-
no trespass signs there. Two or three weeks later, they planted trees. My god. Trees
and no kids. How could I stand on this committee or whatever and tell them what a
great town Leesburg was? My people can't even play. I saw a friend. I met a lady.
She came out. She just moved into town and she said she heard about first night.
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So, she said well, I'll come down. She came down and she said the first thing she
was a big black bear with his pants hanging down around his waist and his hat
turned around backwards. This is first night. People coming into Leesburg. Now if
a commission could speak to people about what would hurt people. Another thing if
I went into a restaurant in Leesburg, in town. I am more than likely going to be
carried all the way across the room to in the corner. Or either I'm going to be set
next to the bathroom or next to where the kitchen is. If I go into the stores, I'm
going to get that look. So, you all know what that look is. What you doing in here?
I know you're not going to buy anything. You can't afford what's in here. Or either
you are going to steal. This is Leesburg. I go in other stores. Maybe it's other
African-Americans in here and I hear them call a code. If you don't know what that
means, they are checking out the African-Americans. So, this is my reason that a
commission would know these things about what goes on. But, you can't fix what
you don't know and probably none of you know anything about what I'm talking
about except for myself. So, this is why I hope that you get this commission. Thank
you."
Sanches Marquez "I'm from El Salvador, originally. I am a former property
owner of the county. I normally don't live in the county or in the state, but I came to
support my family, who lives in the county. I spend a lot of time with them in the
town. So, that's all that I have and I want to thank you for taking the consideration
and moving forward with diversity. That's great. I am always involved in the
community and I am always involved with youth—helping them out to see and
encourage them to do the right thing."
Unidentified Male, "Actually I didn't come to speak. I came to listen. I will
say I'm really proud of Leesburg. I love Leesburg. And coming from a—I was
blessed to come from a racially mixed family and so this issue is very important to
me. I am really excited that we have two options on the table. I think that both of
them have—just the debate has already empowered many people to come out and
talk on this and I think that's a really good step here in Leesburg. So, I just really
came up to brag about Leesburg. I guess, listening to the discussion, I think I do lean
a little towards Ms. Fox' proposal. I think you guys are doing a great job and keep
up the good work. Thank you."
Jerry Hill, "I've been a resident of Leesburg for 37 years. Retired Loudoun
County School Board employee after 30 years. I have been trained—did some
training with diversity and equity, especially and a lot of what I am hearing on
whether it is affordable or not—you can't afford not to. And working within the
school system, I have done a session with Leesburg—not Leesburg. I think it was
County probation officers. People don't realize some of the baggage, the biases that
they carry, whether it is implicit or explicit that they don't realize. A lot of the time,
people try to reduce diversity and equity to black and white. When you start talking
about ages and sexism, people's religion. The lady from 75, whatever it is, that was
in my attendance area and I remember one time the school board was changing the
boundaries, the school boundaries. It has been years ago and one of the school
board members said nobody from that community came to speak. I'm thinking 99
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percent of them speak Spanish. Did you make an accommodation for them to come
and speak? Since nobody came that area has been moved from school to school
because nobody comes to speak. I think with the commission, what it could do is to
make voices heard that aren't heard. You know, this thing—government
shouldn't...some people think government should do as little as possible. I have
been in Leesburg 37 years. I have seen a lot of change in Leesburg diversity and I
hope that you will adopt the commission. I don't know the difference between the
two proposals. I do know that being in the public school system for 30 years and
probably being involved in diversity and trying to get things moving for 25 years, if it
doesn't become official, 25 years you will be still discussing it. So, something has to
be done and its not that people are necessarily saying that something—and the
diversity—the hiring thing was another thing the school system—I could be hired as
a person of color and still not be welcome just because, or I might may be sitting in
the AP class and counting heads, but I am feeling marginalized in that environment.
Just because you get numbers that look good...Ferguson did it right after their
incident—we've hired...that doesn't mean a whole lot if you get—if you are not
changing attitudes, if you are not changing policies, if you are not changing
procedures, if you are not opening access to people. I heard Tammy talk about the
feel good—that's when you get to the feel good when people hold hands and sing
kumbaya and it starts for 25 years, but policies don't change, hiring practices don't
change, training for staff doesn't change, our police trained with diversity issues, are
the town government people trained. So, I'm all for it. I didn't plan to speak, but I
am and I've enjoyed 37 years in Leesburg and I look forward to 37 more. I was
young when I came here, Kelly."
The public hearing was closed at 10:04 p.m.
On a motion by Vice Mayor Burk, seconded by Council Member Martinez, the
following was proposed:
ORDINANCE 2015-0-006
Amending Chapter 2(Administration), Article V(Boards and Commissions), to Enact
New Section 2-233(Leesburg Diversity Advisory Commission)
Council Member Martinez offered a friendly amendment to include the language: "or
the investigation, examination or analysis of hiring practices by town staff".
Council Comments/Questions:
• Fox: Would like to go ahead and ask the town attorney to address, I know
there was some concern in the crowd that the legal liability issues have been
addressed.
Staff answer: The last time we discussed this, and several members of the
community reiterated that I had no problem with the diversity commission as
presented. That was because it was my understanding that the diversity
commission would not look into the hiring practices of the town. If the
diversity commission is allowed to look into the hiring practices of the town, I
do have legal concerns. I am not saying that the diversity commission cannot
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help us with recruitment. I think that is important and they could do that. I
am not saying they couldn't help us track diversity efforts. I think that's
important. I am not saying that this diversity commission could not help us
in many very important ways —they could, but if this commission were to get
involved in examining hiring practices, I would have legal concerns because
there is no doubt if they looked at our hiring practices and found fault and
reported to you, that could be held against us in discovery during litigation
and under the Freedom of Information Act, that would be public information.
I say that with having nothing to hide. The town's record on any kind of
complaint is exemplary. Our town has nothing to hide and we work on
diversity now, but could this commission help us - yes I have asked the
Council to add some language and that is in your packet. I think that would
protect the town fully.
• Umstattd: Are you comfortable with 10b—with the writing that was prepared
by town staff and put in our packets?
• Butler: 10b does not include the language that she recommends. It is a
reflection of what we passed last time.
Staff answer: I would be more comfortable with the additional language that
was in the staff report.
• Umstattd: Did Council Member Martinez accurately quote the additional
language that you are now bringing forward.
Staff answer: He didn't, but it was a slight variation. I think if he wants to
read it—he was close. He changed a word. We can go back to the tape, but it
was very close And it would alleviate any legal concerns that I have.
• Umstattd: Barbara, why don't you word the additional language that you are
now recommending.
Staff answer: So, the language before, that was advertised, duty #5 said the
Duties of the Commission shall not include discussion of any individual
employment action or information and I would like you to add after that—
continue on with that sentence "or the investigation, examination or analysis
of hiring practices by town staff".
• Umstattd: Marty, is that language you are comfortable with?
• Martinez: yes.
• Burk: Why are you dismissing the ability to analyze hiring practices?
Staff answer: Separate and apart from the legal liability, I do have concerns
about that, I think that is a very complicated task to ask of any advisory
commission. The most important thing to understand that under the Town
Council/Town Manager form of government, this body is not authorized to
look at personnel matters other than the Town Attorney and the Town
Manager. The town staff hires and looks at hiring practices. It is not
included in the Town Charter for the Council to look at hiring practices.
Legally, I cannot advise the Council to enact an ordinance setting forth a task
force that does not have the power you have.
• Burk: How did we have the diversity task force looking at hiring practices?
Staff answer: Done legally perfect, it would have been the town manager,
and in the future, the town manager should appoint a diversity audit.
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COUNCIL MEETING March 10, 2015
Looking at hiring practices is very complicated. State and federal laws
change all the time. If the Town Council wants to look at hiring practices, as
they should, the town manager should be tasked with that and the report
should go to the town manager.
• Fox: How will that keep our legal liability at bay?
Staff answer: Under FOIA, if the town manager asks for a diversity audit, it
can come under the FOIA exception for his working papers. That would
protect the town totally and free up the diversity commission to look into
other things that they can do within the community. To me, there are many
things that the Diversity Commission could do besides looking at the hiring
practices of the town. That's my only concern.
Fox: When you brought up the audits, when something is protected under
FOIA, and this goes to somebody's statement, it has zero applicability in
litigation. The rules of discovery in litigation say that a diversity audit can be
used against the Council. How can we be protected, if we are audited against
litigation? Staff answer: A diversity audit would be exempt from FOIA.
Could the diversity audit be part of discovery in litigation?—Yes, I guess it
could.
• Butler: This was an inadvertent thing by staff and I clarified it with staff
earlier today. It was a mistake. But, the duty under#1 that Kelly read to you
was not what we passed at the last meeting.
Council Member Butler offered a friendly amendment to align the duties under#1 with
those that were passed in the initiating resolution, specifically removing the words "within the
Town of Leesburg government workforce"and the addition of"the duties of the advisory
commission shall not include the discussion individual employment actions or information or
the investigation, examination, or analysis of hiring practices by the town staff The
amendment was accepted as friendly.
Council Comments:
• Burk: When people said how proud they were to hear the comments tonight,
I have to echo that. It was very inspiring to see so many people come out. It
was inspiring to hear so many people express their ideas and how eloquently
so many people did it. Today, we as members of the Town Council have an
opportunity to right a wrong. It is not hate, it is indifference towards people
of different cultures and countries and people who might not look like
ourselves up here, but we have the opportunity to create a commission whose
whole focus will be to move "those people" and "them" to "us" and
"we".We have an opportunity under the guidance of the town to look at
diversity in a new and exciting way. We have the opportunity to unite us with
transparency and openness and understanding that different cultures do not
make us different, but make us better and stronger. I was very moved to listen
to all the comments that everybody made, but I was really shocked by the
bear story because I have walked by that bear 100 times and never thought of
it like that and that's exactly what this commission will be all about. I just
think this is an opportunity that we shouldn't miss. This is an opportunity
that we can bring forward—that we can be a model and a leader. For that
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reason, I am not just supporting this resolution, I am enthusiastically
supporting this committee.
Martinez: I think that when we look at some of our opposition comments,
what I hear is the fear of changing and liking the status quo. For me, I don't
like change for change's sake, but this is not. This is, as Kelly mentioned,
righting a wrong. Something that should have never happened. I know I've
had issues being the only person of color on Council. I've had issues with
diversity. I helped co-found La Voz with Yvette and other organizations
trying to right some wrongs and it has been really hard and I have to say that
I am so encouraged by what I see tonight. I want to thank a couple of
residents out there who really emailed us and put us on the burner and when I
saw those emails, I was so excited that finally we were getting some people
out in the community finally saying we've had enough. We need to stand up
and I think that's what we are saying today. Let me give you a definition of
what I think government is. Government, in general, does collectively what
we cannot do individually. Imagine us coming to you and saying, hey you've
got to build a curb. You've got to build a street and you've got to make sure
your neighbor know what you are doing because it's his turn next week. We
can't do that. So, collectively, we do what you can't do individually. The
other thing is, we are taking care of the boring and mundane business that
you guys don't want to listen to. You don't want to worry about the contracts
for our trash. You don't want to worry about budgets unless there is an item
on our budget you really have concerns about, but mostly you trust us, you've
elected us because you believe that we are going to be doing the right thing. I
respect that and honor that. But, I think the last definition of government is
that when the community comes and asks you to take notice and to do
something, that we have an obligation as a council member to sit up and
listen. My God, you guys have been speaking loud and clear and I am so
happy to hear it. I want to thank you. The other thing is, I was really
encouraged by our teenagers showing up. You know, it really shows that I
have a lot of faith in our youth. I'm not going to be able to be up here very
much longer and I need to have them taking care of us. One of the things that
I think is really funny, is my daughter was really shocked one time because
you hear this name, Martinez, and can you all imagine what she looks like?
I'll tell you, there is some pretty—my daughter went in to be talked to and the
person says, I'm waiting for Whitney Martinez and she goes, that's me. He
says, no you're not that. He was expecting a five foot Mexican girl instead of
a 5'9" beautiful hybrid mixed girl. Perceptions. We need to break those
barriers. We need to accept people for what they are and I think this diversity
commission can help with that. The thing to remember is this is not going to
fix everything. What is going to fix it is our commitment outside this
commission to continue what we want to do. I think back about what really
has hit me the hardest on this issue is Martin Luther King, and I'm
paraphrasing—he dreams of a time when people are judged on their character
and not the color of their skin. As you can tell, I am invested in this and I'm
going to support you. I'm here. I listen and I do what I can to help.
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• Hammier: I, too, want to thank all of you for coming out tonight. I had so
many moments of feeling so honored to be representing you all up here and
yes, I had a few moments where I said "whoa". I did not know things like
when you walk down Plaza Street, that's how you feel. So, yes, I was
thinking from more of a Council member, official perspective, I started
thinking about the budget presentation and two of the five goals in the town's
budget are increasing customer service and efficiency and yes, we will be
tackling those bysupporting this Leesburg Diversity Commission. I also
wanted to say a couple of other things. I wanted to thank Council Member
Fox for bringing forth her proposal. I think, particularly as a new council
member, it took a lot of courage to bring forward something else for Council
to discuss openly, with courage, particularly when you've got a room full of
people who don't necessarily support your exact proposal. In particular, I
think what happened is you all were very inspired to share with Council
some very important things that we needed to hear and through the due
diligence, we have fixed what things need to be fixed relative to what we feel
would be the important goals that we hear you reflecting on what the
commission will focus on as well as things that it will not focus on. There are
a couple of other key points relative to looking at the differences such as the
importance of transparency, for instance, and this is a fundamental job that
Council has to have liaisons to be able to communicate directly with us as
elected officials who can act in a government capacity. I specifically wanted
to, because she called me out, Ito specifically call out Gladys and thank her
for coming to my house when all my appointees got together and she shared
the results of the task force. What was very evident was all the positive
feedback from each of my appointees from all the commissions in terms of the
value that the Diversity Commission will have for all the rest of the
Commissions. A couple of key things that I would like to ensure happens is
that there are liaisons from the Diversity Commission to the Economic
Development Commission and the Technology Commission so that we can
address very specific things and ultimately this doesn't become something that
hinders the process. You know, EDC is working on Economic Development
issues and ensuring that business owners have a better set of resources, but to
the Diversity Commission where you may hear from very specific individuals
who have great ideas, so that we have that bridge of communication. So
liaison is important and I'm very open to specifically having all seven
members be Leesburg residents. I'd like to hear what my colleagues have to
say about that. The other way of looking at that is ensuring that we do have
business owners that do not live in the town, but are represented by their
businesses. So, with that, the key other take away that I have for tonight is—
again, we could cite statistics, and I'm sure the commission will be looking at
those, but it really is important how your town makes you feel. Certainly, I
recall that quote, 50 years from now, we are not going to remember anything
about what we wore, what, when or what the statistics were, but how that
person made you feel or how your town made you feel or how your town
inspired you. And, we will learn so much being able to gather information
from our youth. An my quick anecdotal idea is about six months ago, there
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was a lady who walked into Ida Lee clothed in her full burka and I was in my
work out clothes and I immediately said I honestly had never seen someone
walk into Ida Lee in a full burka, so once I got over that initial shock, I
simply went up and introduced myself and exchanged phone numbers. To
me, this is an opportunity to have a destination for that king of discussion and
embrace bringing everyone into our town regardless of what they are wearing
or what you can see from the color of their skin. Again, it has been my honor
to listen to all your great suggestions because democratic representation is a
team sport and our winning team will win because we are diverse.
Council Member Fox proposed a friendly amendment to the membership portion of the
ordinance. She requested that the wording be changed from "may"to "shall"to require that
members be residents, town property owners or town business owners.
The motion was not accepted as friendly.
Council Member Fox proposed an amendment to state: "Membership of the Leesburg
Diversity Commission shall consist of town residents, town property owners, and town business
owners. At least four members shall be town residents." The motion was seconded by Council
Member Dunn.
Council Comments/Questions:
• Fox: I want to make sure that people who have a vested interest in our town
are appointed to the Commission.
• Dunn: How is that different from what is already written into the resolution?
Council answer: Under Section 2-193, Membership, this is the default for
town commissions, which is what this would fall under. It states, unless
specifically noted, each board and commission shall consist of seven members
who shall be residents of the town or town business owners (as allowed by
law) and appointed by the Town Council. So, there is basically right now a
shall and it includes town residents and town business owners only.
• Dunn: So, the only difference is property owner?
• Burk: No, the only difference is shall to may.
• Butler: The default right now includes the word "shall". They shall be
residents of the town or town business owners.
• Hammier: I think the core of the question that Council needs to decide is do
we feel that we want all seven to be residents of the town. I think that's the
intent is to determine whether there should be non-resident business owners
on the commission.
• Umstattd: I don't think that is where Suzanne was going.
• Fox: I wanted to make the distinction between may and shall.
• Butler: Right now, the default is shall, so without a motion to amend, this
resolution will include shall without the motion. What it will not include is
property owners. It will include business owners and residents, without an
amendment.
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The motion to amend was withdrawn.
Council Comments/Questions:
• Fox: Our history has come a long way. I have listened to the folks in
chambers talk passionately about their experiences and I agree that Leesburg
is quite an amazing place to live and I see the. good in each and every
comment made tonight. Let's be fair that what we are not arguing about or
disagreeing about whether racism exists in society today. This is not whether
the town needs to be more responsive or improve relations with minority
groups —it seems pretty clear that weneed to go ahead and do that. It is a
town issue because all groups in Leesburg should feel represented by their
government officials and by their government. When we find out that there
aregroups who don't feel represented, feel disenfranchised, it is appropriate
and prudent for us to reach out to those groups with a hand. We can dothis
one of two ways—the first way is we can create this new commission to act as
a middleman between the Council, minority groups and the community.
This solution, though, grows the size of government and adds additional
bureaucracy, it increases liability as explained tonight here on the dais, and is
a little more cumbersome. It limits issues that can be discussed in the
commission. I sit, right now, on a commission and we have had to go into
closed door sessions many times because of legal issues. So, that's where I
distinguish the transparency issue. Sometimes those closed door sessions are
going to be necessary and I fear with this commission are going to be more
necessary than not. So, that's where the transparency issue comes in for me.
So, ultimately I believe it is not the most effective solution.The other solution
is to empower community stakeholder groups that are already in place. They
are already organized, they are motivated. They are very effective. We've
heard from them tonight. What the town should do is consider partnering
with these groups in a way that maximizes communication, maximizes
influence and trust between the town and the stakeholder groups. A working
directly with these groups could solve lots of issues, in my opinion. The one
issue I'm most concerned about that has waved a red flag time and time again
about is the legal liability issue. It also solves some problems that the
commissions have with flexibility. I don't see why it is a good thing to
create a commission and then limit its purview. I just don't see that as a plus
with them. So, rather than creating an intermediary between decision makers
and community groups, we should create a mechanism by which decision
makers are able to reach out directly to community groups. This approach is
streamlined, more effective and limits the size of government. The proposal I
put out there along with my husband, because he does deal with things on
school issues, pre-supposes that diversity is an issue and is something that
needs to be addressed and that we need to deal with this issue at hand. I've
heard from many people here tonight, but I've also heard from many people
who are not here tonight via phone calls, via emails, via facebook. You name
it, I've heard it. Probably more people than were here tonight. We've had a
poll in the Leesburg Today poll—it's unscientific, but it's there. The question
is whether a diversity commission is needed. Almost a solid two-thirds say
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either we don't need anymore government committees or things are fine now.
Well, I don't believe things are fine now and that only accounts for four
percent. I think Leesburg does realize that something needs to be done here.
I believe that people know that creating a commission is not the best way of
addressing the issue. So tonight, I speak on behalf of the people that couldn't
come, who wouldn't come or were unwilling to speak to this issue. In my
opinion it is not a good use of taxpayer dollars and is potentially divisive.
Most people, from what I've heard and what I see here in the paper, don't
think we should have this commission—they don't want it. I'm not talking
the people who are here in Chambers tonight. Creating the commission will
surely increase our potential liability. We did hear that from our legal
counsel. I believe we can accomplish the goals set forth in the proposed
ordinance by leveraging existing resources and, without growing the
government. On these grounds, I will not support the creation of a diversity
commission.
• Dunn: Again, unfortunately the connection is bad somewhere that I literally
could not hear hardly any of what has gone on once Council took over the
microphone. I could hear the petitioners fairly well, but unfortunately
anything that Council said, I literally heard maybe 10 percent of it. The first
thing to understand in this discussion is that there is only one race—and that
is the human race. Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs, whatever.
We are all different ethnicities of the same human race. All humans have the
same physical characteristics with minor variations, but the thing to
remember is we were all created equally. For convenience process, I will say
that I have been very . I appreciate the speakers that came forward
tonight. The most disappointing part of this process I felt the first thing from
Council—some of the reasons that they said that we needed this commission
in saying that Leesburg has been unwelcoming and that's been forever.
Saying that police are picking up Council Members or stopping council
members just because of their race and no other reason, multiple times a
year. Council has said we want to have this diversity commission, but when
being offered the opportunity to make a diversity decision in the past, they
have opted not to. During the town manager hiring process, when the
opportunity to add diversity language in the hiring announcement—I had
made that suggestion. This Council said no we don't need to do that. When
an individual was asked should we interview this individual, Council said no
we shouldn't. I said yes, we should. That was a female. The one female that
requested an interview, Council chose not to during the town manager hiring
process. I consider the opposition to changing the election date to November
—that was held by all the council. I feel that was a bit of an effort to hamper
the vote. There are a number of cases where Council has had the
opportunity to exercise diversity, yet chose not to and yet now, there is a
commission before us that is going to correct all those ills, I guess. I don't
know. I really wish I could have been there tonight to see everyone and
everyone could see me. But, I really look back and said, you know what? I
think Mr. Thompson said this earlier and I'm going to say shame on Mr.
Thompson for bringing slavery into this discussion. There are people who
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feel that government, I guess is supposed to be the answer for everything. Mr.
Thompson, I do not believe government freed our slaves that we had in this
country. That was an evil that this country had. It was the hand of God
touching the hearts of man that freed those slaves. It is the same hand of God
touching the hearts of man that will bring unity within diversity. It is not
government. If you think the people in this room, where you all are sitting,
obviously, are going to be able to make a change in any shortfalls that we
have in how we handle different cultures and races, that is one holding
yourself up too high...that has to come from God. That feeling comes from
God. Jesus said, "I give you one commandment and that is to love one
another". He could have said, "Go out and create a diversity commission,
but he didn't". He said you go out and love one another—not rely on
government to do that. If government was the best answer, he could have
said that. I don't know why folks feel that race or multi-culturalism is
something causing the stumble in their ability to access the services that
government is already providing. I don't know why folks feel that the
government has to give their race legitimacy. I don't believe that. Lee Ann, if
you could pull up that slide for me. I wanted to give you a quick picture of
somebody who I think might actually be able to help this commission. I don't
know. You all are there. You can see this person's qualifications and
whether this person, you feel, has enough diverse background to have an
understanding of the minority community and what they deal with. You can
go down the list there and see—Hispanic background, interracial relationship.
Children not being taught that cultures really matter—it's the individual that
matters. The person lives on a street that has multi-culturals and races all
around them. Even studied under Dr. James Farmer—I'm sure many of you
know him as the founder of CORE and the Freedom Ride. The person that
I'm talking about on that in front of you—you're listening to on the phone.
That's me. So, I'm torn. One of the things that's not on there, because I
didn't want to give it way is by the way, many of you might know my son is
special needs. He has a disability. That's going to be with him his whole life.
Recently, I met with people at the school system who were telling me all the
things the government could do to help my son. It was all brand new to me
and foreign to me. The reason why is I don't expect the government to do it.
That's my job. Not the government's job. I do have to consider what I can
do for him when I'm no longer around and it causes me to look into other
situations that can possibly help the situation. It might include the
government, it might not, but I've never gone into it expecting the
government to be the answer for my son's needs—that's my responsibility
and my family's responsibility. I would have rather seen this commission be
an advisory board to the town manager. That the town manager be
responsible for selecting the people on this advisory board and that they meet
at the town manager's discretion The reason why is becauseas long as the
diversity commission is in existence answering to politicians, then you are
going to have a warping of reality because politicians will use this either as a
tool to bridge gaps or as a weapon to create more division and there are
people out there that don't see an end to bridging the gap of diversity. In fact,
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they almost hope the gap between people stays there so they have a purpose
for being. I'm not saying that's what the diversity commission is, but there
are people that could, could come to that commission with that goal. I hope
that the commission doesn't turn into a complaint board. I hope the
commission can go out and truly look at how the gaps in diversity can be
bridged. But, I will say this —I actually went to a number of people—I didn't
tell them who I was. I met and provided work service to a Hispanic family
and while I was there—they had just moved to town and I said why did you
chose Leesburg and they said the price was right on the house, but hey since
being here, my son has gotten a lot of friends. It's a nice town and I said
could we change anything for you and they said everything is good. It would
be nice not to have to drive so far to Ashburn to work. I recently went to a
black business owner and asked the same thing. Nope, things are good. We
have chose this community over a number of communities and he listed them
all in the Northern Virginia area, even Maryland. He chose to move his
business here. So for those people that wanted to promote the Diversity
Commission using the offices of hate, shame on them. Shame on them.
Because you know what? Those are the same people and you guys right there
in that audience and on TV, you are looking at the same politicians, the same
ones, that were waving flags and shouting the praise of how great Leesburg is
and then they also said they couldn't understand why it has taken so long for
this commission to be established, yet, they had the ability to establish this
commission anytime they wanted. There was an election in the middle there.
Maybe that was their concern. But to now say Leesburg is great when I'm
running for office, but now Leesburg is so bad that we have to have the
government step in and create legislative actions that are an attempt to change
attitudes? You cannot legislate attitudes. I heard people say we've got to
create diversity. You can't create diversity. We are diversity. I am still torn
about this. In actuality, I wish the best for this commission. I have been very,
very disappointed in the process the Council has taken up and the language
the council has taken up trying to move this forward. I would have chosen
different ways of doing that. Much like our president did when he was
senator, I will be—tough as this may sound, but I guess I'm going to do it
anyway—I am going to vote present for this measure because I do not feel
that this truly represents the way in which Leesburg is moving diversity
forward.
• Butler: I like commissions and I think this commission is a great idea. I don't
see it as—while it certainly is part of the government, I do not see this
commission as an extension of government. It is not be putting new rules into
place or anything else. It is a way, if you read the duties of the commission, it
is a way to bring people together and that is what I think is always great
everywhere. It is clear, if you look down the dais and you remember what
Tom had up on the screen, it is clear that I'm the least diverse person on this
Council. I hope you'll endulge me a very quick, personal story and it will add
some flavors to why I think this commission is such a good idea. I did not
grow up in a diverse community at all. It was in central New York and our
idea of diversity in that town, and I kid you not—this is the truth. The church
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down the street where the Italians go to and there is a Jewish family on the
corner. That was it. That was diversity. Then, I went to a college that, like
me, was pretty much all white male geeks and while we all watched Star Trek
and Mr. Spock with his infinite diversity and infinite , we all thought a
lot about that. I was in a fraternity and one African-American tried to join
and he was blackballed by a couple of the members. But a few years after I
got out of college, I was sent to Singapore for two months for work. There
were two other gentlemen that I worked with, primarily, two were Chinese,
one was Indian, and then it was me—the one American in Singapore, which
is reasonably diverse, actually. Out of the four of us, there was on Christian,
one Buddist, one Hindu, and one agnostic. I can clearly remember us sitting
in a restaurant in Singapore, eating pizza, drinking beer, and we were all
young men at the time and we talking about women. I realized then that how
similar we are is much, much greater than how different we are. I recall one
time, I was in a night club—a very different experience for me. No one else
in the night club was taller than 5'6" and I was the only white person in the
entire night club. Since I couldn't see myself, I didn't notice. I'm like Holy
Cow. It was a different experience. Slightly different, very different. But now
my children, especially my youngest son, he's a freshman in high school right
now. I was just listing down all of his main friends. One of them, the parents
were born in Bosnia. Two are half Hispanic, one is African-American, one is
Asian and two are half Asian. I don't think he has one really good friend who
is what you would consider a stereotypical white person. None. He thinks
nothing of it. In addition to this, he knows more gay people and couples than
I ever knew existed when I was his age. So, he is living in a very different
environment than I ever knew—he thinks nothing of this. I want him to keep
that. I don't want him to learn that the differences are greater than our
similarities. He is having fun. All of the kids play Xbox, they all play sports,
they all do all the same things and it is for that generation that I think this is a
wonderful commission and I want it to be—while I'm sure it will be very
successful and I look forward to supporting it.
• Umstattd: I would like to say just how touched I was by so many of the
personal stories that were shared tonight by members of the audience. Some
of you have been here before and shared your personal experiences and they
are mind-opening. Ms. Randolph has shared a number of her personal
experiences—tragic personal experiences about discrimination when she had
just given birth to her child in the hospital; discrimination at restaurants,
discrimination at the libraries. A good friend of mine that died a number of
years ago grew up in this town and walked on the opposite side of the street
when passing the public library because they would not allow her to use it.
The one woman who has left, but talked about her experiences on Plaza
Street. That is really food for thought as to how things can change and need
to change in Leesburg. There are good signs. If you look at the top three
students at Loudoun County High School this year, one is of Black/Asian
heritage, one is Hispanic and the third is white. We are seeing
accomplishments by people of all backgrounds, races and ethnicities in this
town and in our schools, but there is work to be done. Because we need to see
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the town through eyes of more than just us, I will be supporting this
commission. I think it offers us, as Ms. Carter said earlier, a chance to have
an entirely transparent forum for people to come to and let Council know
what problems they are encountering in the town and what opportunities
they can bring to everybody in the town. We've had a lot of really good ideas
so far and I think that we will be getting a lot of really good ideas in the
future. I want to thank all members of the task force—those of you who are
still here—Gladys Burke, Hasan Ibrahim, Mary Randolph, Ann Daye and the
others who are not here— Greg Hudson, for pushing for this diversity
commission. I believe that was the unanimous recommendation out of task
force on diversity. I appreciate you pushing for it and continuing to push for
it and the huge difference I think you've already made in the town. I will be
supporting this.
• Burk: I think this is long overdue. I apologize, Tom, if you can't hear us, but
it sounds like crunching paper on the mics. I want to go on record and make
sure you can hear I am very enthusiastically supporting this effort. I think
this commission is long overdue and I look forward to voting yes in favor of
it.
The motion was approved by the following vote:
Aye: Burk, Butler, Hammier, Martinez, and Mayor Umstattd
Nay: Fox
Vote: 5-1-1 (Dunn abstaining)
11. RESOLUTIONS AND MOTIONS
a. Virginia Public Safety Foundation Sponsorship
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Mayor Umstattd, the following
was proposed:
MOTION
To approve the use of$500 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to sponsor a hole at
the Virginia Public Safety Foundation Golf Tournament scheduled for April 22 at the
Raspberry Falls Golf Course
Council Comments:
• Butler: The Virginia Public Safety Foundation (VPSF)provides assistance to
families of public safety officers killed in the line of duty and also provides a
limited scholarship fund for the dependents of these fallen heroes. A few years
ago I had the opportunity to visit the state police training center outside of
Richmond. At that center, there is a room with portraits of very state trooper
killed in the line of duty and I can tell you it was a very moving experience for
me. If you are not a state trooper, you are only allowed to look in that room
from the outside. You can't go in. As you said, the Raspberry Falls Golf
Tournament has a Leesburg address and this resolution is just asking for$500,
which is 1000th of 1 percent of our General Fund. The hope would be that
this token amount will encourage others to also help support the families of
our fallen public safety officers.
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• Burk: This really causes me some distress. I understand your motive and
admire your motive and$500, you're right, is insignificant; however, I am
concerned that there are a lot of other charities out there that are very good
that I would like to support also and I do personally support. I'm afraid that
we are setting a precedent that we are going to support this one—how can we
say no to the other ones. I looked at one point on the calendar and I counted
22 charity golf tournaments last year. I am distressed at not being able to
support this only because I think we can't take one particular charity and
support that one and not all the others.
• Hammier: Dave, I too appreciate the motivation behind your bringing this
forward. I guess I would approach it in a similar way to what Kelly just
described. If we were going to take $500 on the one hand there is so many
important charities of people killed in the line of duty—whether it is public
safety officers, first responders, our military—but as it relates to more of a
local angle, perhaps contribution to those injured through that we recognize
for the Valor Awards who are specific to our police department or
scholarships in that regard— I would feel that sort of discussion. I cannot
support this particular one.
• Fox: I tend to think along the lines of what Kelly and Katie have mentioned.
Going into budget season, I know this may seem like an insignificant amount,
but according to Kaj, we have no wiggle room. I would like to maintain
what needs to be done with the town and I also have a concern about
charities coming forth after the fact. I feel this is a precedent as well. I don't
think I could support it either.
• Umstattd: I think this is a good cause and I'm happy to support it.
• Butler: I'd just like to say even if we have ten charities come up and have
golf tournaments with a Leesburg address, that still only adds up to $5000
which is 100 of 1 percent of our budget. So, I think it's a shame if we can't
get four members to support fallen public safety heroes.
• Dunn: If we start giving funds to one group, we have to give it to all groups.
The motion failed by the following vote:
Aye: Butler, Martinez and Umstattd
Nay: Burk, Dunn, Fox, and Hammier
Vote: 3-4
13. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a. None.
14. NEW BUSINESS
a. None.
15. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Council Member Dunn had no comments.
Council Member Butler had no comments.
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COUNCIL MEETING March 10, 2015
Vice Mayor Burk disclosed a meeting with a group of people concerning an
assemblage of land outside of the town including Mike Wilkins, Ronda Paice, Christine
Gleckner, and representatives of NVR. She stated she attended an event at the George
Marshall House with the former Prime Minister of Germany, which was a very interesting
experience. She stated the George Marshall Foundation has created a French student
exchange program with our partner city in France. She stated this will be a great
opportunity for the students. She stated she met with her Boards and Commission members
and it is amazing how much time and energy these volunteers contribute to the town. She
thanked the Parks and Recreation Department for taking over the job fair. She stated since
the Economic Development staff person left the town, the Parks and Recreation department
took over and they have done an amazing job. She noted that the job fair is March 21 in the
ProJet hangar at the airport from noon to 3 p.m. She encouraged high school and college
age people to come out and participate. She stated that NVTA is having a hearing at their
headquarters that is open to the public on March 25 at 6 p.m. It will be regarding the
NVTA Proposed 2015-2016 Two-Year Program. She wished everyone a very happy St.
Patricks' Day.
Council Member Martinez stated he was overwhelmed by the number of people who
came out to support the Diversity Commission. He stated it is good to hear from the
residents and when they speak, Council should listen. He stated he was with Vice Mayor
Burk for the meeting with NVR and Christine Gleckner. He stated last Saturday, his son
invited him to go meet Congressman Connolly. He stated he met a fundraiser with the
Boys and Girls Club and they are going to look at ways to generate some activities here.
Council Member Hammier thanked everyone who came out, specifically Ms. Ann
Robinson, who spoke about some really important people. She stated it is remarkable what
has happened to Ms. Robinson in terms of healing from cancer and she is happy that Ms.
Robinson is healthy and literally cancer free. She stated it is amazing to see her so healthy
and vibrant and part of tonight's spirited dialogue. She thanked former Vice Mayor Susan
Home for introducing everyone to the Sunlight Foundation. She stated she got in touch
with the CEO and their State and Local Expert, Emily Shaw, will be participating in the
Technology and Communication Commission meeting as they are going through the
Transparency proposal to see how they can work with them and what grants are available.
She stated she will follow-up with an update on that. She stated they were snowed out.
She thanked Kaj and everyone involved with snow removal operations for the great
job. She stated that Parks and Rec is always open. She stated this is a great healthy eating,
active living community despite the weather. She stated she was in Richmond because
Virginia Municipal League is featuring Leesburg in their article about Healthy
Eating/Active Living and Leesburg being a community that has embraced that initiative.
She congratulated the Deputy Town Manager on the arrival, despite the snow, of his
daughter, Lauren Elizabeth. She stated they are looking forward to more photographs.
Council Member Fox disclosed a meeting with Christine Gleckner of Walsh Colucci.
She stated that Randy Minchew was there. She stated Hobie Mitchell representing
411 Page
COUNCIL MEETING March 10, 2015
Lansdowne Development was there and she talked with them regarding their project,
"Crescent Parke", on March 3. She stated that she wishes the Diversity Commission well.
She expressed her hope that they can reach their goals. She stated as things come up, she
would love to have motions, resolutions and ordinances are fully vetted before they are
brought to the public so that there are no misunderstandings.
16. MAYOR'S COMMENTS
Mayor Umstattd thanked Kaj Dentler and Clark Case and staff for all the work done
in preparation for the trip to visit the bond rating agencies. She stated everyone did a very
good job making a strong case for Leesburg. She stated her understanding is that the town
will find out by St. Patricks' Day what the bond ratings will be. She thanked everyone for
coming out tonight.
17. MANAGER'S COMMENTS
Mr. Dentler stated he is hopeful that there will be no more snow. He reminded
everyone of the budget work session on Saturday from 9-12 in the Council Chambers.
18. CLOSED SESSION
None.
19. ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Council Member Butler, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, the meeting was
adjourned at 11:25 p.m.
'. - •� . mstattd, Mayor
Town of Leesburg
AT S7:
Clerk of C; ncil
2015 tcmin0310•- " -.
42 I Page