Growth, Traffic Top List Of Issues

Purcellville Race For Mayor, Council

Managing growth and improving transportation are the hot issues in Purcellville's town election, where three candidates are running for mayor and five are vying for three council seats.

W.T. "Bill" Druhan Jr. is stepping down after two terms as mayor of Loudoun's second-largest town. Competing to replace him are Vice Mayor Bob W. Lazaro Jr., council member Karl R. Phillips and former council member C. Susie Windham.

Windham has presented herself as a necessary change over the "status quo." She was elected to the council in 2002 but resigned in 2004 after her daughter's death.

In an e-mail, she wrote that "issues of 'personality' and 'ego' have gotten in the way of council achievements . . . with good decision making taking a back seat to winning whatever argument is at hand."

Windham said completion of the Southern Collector Road project -- connecting Silcott Springs Road with Berlin Turnpike -- should be one of Purcellville's top transportation priorities.

"The council," she wrote, "needs to work with citizens and businesses to negotiate a compromise with owners of Crooked Run Orchard," the last piece of the route.

Windham also suggested making town politics more collaborative. To that end, she has proposed a charter amendment that would allow residents to participate in council decisions through citizen referendums.

Purcellville's population has grown 61 percent since 2000, and dealing with that explosive growth is a popular topic of discussion, Lazaro said.

"That's what I hear the most from folks: traffic, and what are you going to do about it," he said.

Lazaro, who joined the council in 2004, acknowledged that "no one thing" would solve traffic problems, but he said he would push for the construction of an interchange where Route 690 (Hillsboro Road) meets Route 7, and the installation of traffic signals downtown. His campaign also emphasizes protecting the town's historic, agricultural and cultural resources.

Phillips said he would continue to push for slow-growth initiatives, including amending the town's comprehensive plan and the Purcellville Urban Growth Area Management Plan, to reduce potential residential development.

Phillips is a co-founder of Citizens for Catoctin County, which advocates that western Loudoun form its own county. Nonetheless, he said he supports improved town-county relations, blaming "political posturing by certain individuals at both levels of government" for deteriorating communication.

"It's gotten to the point where the county and the town barely talk to each other," he said. He has also positioned himself as the fiscal conservative in the race, strongly supporting property tax equalization.

In the town council race, Tom A. Priscilla Jr., named to replace Windham on the council, is the only incumbent. Priscilla, an engineer, said he would work to expand Purcellville's commercial tax base.

James R. Vogt, owner of Leesburg Daily Grind Coffee House and Cafe, said he would fight tax increases.

James O. Wiley, a retired dentist and part-time teacher at Lord Fairfax Community College, said that attention should be paid to building a new reservoir and expanding water and sewage treatment plants.

Steve J. Varmecky, a marketing teacher at Loudoun Valley High School, said the town should guard its long-term financial health.

Timothy S. Iversen, a security officer and librarian at Patrick Henry College, said controlling development would help retain Purcellville's small-town feel.