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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Board candidate: Make airlines help pay for Metrorail
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Loudoun Politics
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Date: August 05, 2011 07:19AM
Board candidate: Make airlines help pay for Metrorail
Thursday, Aug. 4 by Crystal Owens
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/board_candidate_make_airlines_help_pay_for_metrorail898/
Blue Ridge District candidate Janet Clarke knows she’s got a challenge ahead of her to unseat a four-term incumbent from the Loudoun Board of Supervisors.
But the Republican recently threw out a challenge of her own in discussing the ongoing debate over funding to bring a Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport and into Loudoun County.
Clarke said she believes elected leaders should be pressing the airline industries harder for money to help fund the $2.5 billion project.
“Who is going to benefit the most from that Metro at Dulles?” she said. “… The airlines are not in the red anymore. They’re in the black big time with all their baggage fees that they’ve instituted. Why aren’t they contributing for that Dulles rail? Why hasn’t anyone approached them? Why are they not at the table?”
Under a negotiated proposal on the table right now crafted by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Loudoun County would be responsible for paying 4.8 percent of the project’s overall total in addition to $135 million for the construction of three parking garages through either public-private partnerships or state and federal loans.
The agreement, which has not been finalized, also places an above-ground Metro station at the airport – a bone of contention among the project’s funding partners, including Fairfax County, the state and the Washington Metropolitan Airport’s Authority. Funding for the project will also come from Dulles Toll Road revenues.
Clarke, an educator and former Purcellville Town Council member, is vying against Jim Burton, an independent, on Nov. 8.
Transportation is at the forefront of her campaign, along with the economy and education.
The candidate said she believes each issue is connected.
“[Transportation] is linked to so many things. It’s linked to jobs, it’s linked to quality of life. It’s linked to the economic well-being of our county overall. When you talk about transportation, you talk about roads and it’s not that cut and dry,” she said.
Metrorail is only one of the many ways Loudoun County can help solve its traffic and transportation problems, Clarke said.
She said she believes incentive programs to get builders and the real estate community to offer more affordable housing so residents can live where they work will help to ease the congestion on the roads.
“We need to do whatever we can to keep our people working in Loudoun County in Loudoun County,” Clarke said.
Clarke, if elected, said she would also would like to see incentive programs for businesses to help keep taxes low and more money in government coffers.
Small businesses, which Clarke says right now is sustaining the county, could benefit from the empty office space in Loudoun, she said.
“We have some antiquated policies with respect to how we apply our taxes to businesses and not providing incentives,” Clarke said.
A scaled tax approach to businesses would help provide more incentive for owners to plant roots in Loudoun, she said.
The county could also utilize the empty office space in Loudoun by housing public service or educational facilities.
“Rather than always building new buildings, why aren’t we thinking outside the box?” Clarke asked.
To read more on Janet Clarke, visit her website at http://www.clarkeforloudoun.com.
Thursday, Aug. 4 by Crystal Owens
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/board_candidate_make_airlines_help_pay_for_metrorail898/
Blue Ridge District candidate Janet Clarke knows she’s got a challenge ahead of her to unseat a four-term incumbent from the Loudoun Board of Supervisors.
But the Republican recently threw out a challenge of her own in discussing the ongoing debate over funding to bring a Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport and into Loudoun County.
Clarke said she believes elected leaders should be pressing the airline industries harder for money to help fund the $2.5 billion project.
“Who is going to benefit the most from that Metro at Dulles?” she said. “… The airlines are not in the red anymore. They’re in the black big time with all their baggage fees that they’ve instituted. Why aren’t they contributing for that Dulles rail? Why hasn’t anyone approached them? Why are they not at the table?”
Under a negotiated proposal on the table right now crafted by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Loudoun County would be responsible for paying 4.8 percent of the project’s overall total in addition to $135 million for the construction of three parking garages through either public-private partnerships or state and federal loans.
The agreement, which has not been finalized, also places an above-ground Metro station at the airport – a bone of contention among the project’s funding partners, including Fairfax County, the state and the Washington Metropolitan Airport’s Authority. Funding for the project will also come from Dulles Toll Road revenues.
Clarke, an educator and former Purcellville Town Council member, is vying against Jim Burton, an independent, on Nov. 8.
Transportation is at the forefront of her campaign, along with the economy and education.
The candidate said she believes each issue is connected.
“[Transportation] is linked to so many things. It’s linked to jobs, it’s linked to quality of life. It’s linked to the economic well-being of our county overall. When you talk about transportation, you talk about roads and it’s not that cut and dry,” she said.
Metrorail is only one of the many ways Loudoun County can help solve its traffic and transportation problems, Clarke said.
She said she believes incentive programs to get builders and the real estate community to offer more affordable housing so residents can live where they work will help to ease the congestion on the roads.
“We need to do whatever we can to keep our people working in Loudoun County in Loudoun County,” Clarke said.
Clarke, if elected, said she would also would like to see incentive programs for businesses to help keep taxes low and more money in government coffers.
Small businesses, which Clarke says right now is sustaining the county, could benefit from the empty office space in Loudoun, she said.
“We have some antiquated policies with respect to how we apply our taxes to businesses and not providing incentives,” Clarke said.
A scaled tax approach to businesses would help provide more incentive for owners to plant roots in Loudoun, she said.
The county could also utilize the empty office space in Loudoun by housing public service or educational facilities.
“Rather than always building new buildings, why aren’t we thinking outside the box?” Clarke asked.
To read more on Janet Clarke, visit her website at http://www.clarkeforloudoun.com.