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An opportunity to shape the future is a rare one and when presented with that opportunity, bold leadership is required. We have arrived at such a time today in Loudoun. Will we rise to the occasion? Will we listen to our citizens, be mindful and innovative and seize the time to rethink and challenge?
Read moreBy Roger Vance Yes Virginia, recent events make it clear we really need to talk. It’s time to talk straight
Read moreBy Roger Vance Traveling from vision to reality can be a long and arduous journey, as if on an unmarked
Read moreThe mere fact that a day after a big snowstorm–with roadways still dicey—some 350 people turned out for a “Rural Summit” hosted by Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall and joined by Supervisors Tony Buffington, Geary Higgins and Kristen Umstattd, speaks volumes about the importance Loudoun residents attach to the subject. Even more impressive was the level of the discussions, the composition of the attendees—including old farm families and young rural entrepreneurs—and the sense of urgency that permeated the summit.
Read moreBy Roger Vance An important story is being written that could have profound impacts on our region’s health and quality
Read moreBy Roger Vance With the dawn of each day we are all offered a fresh opportunity to chart our course,
Read moreWe are making history on July 1 in Hillsboro. We are also making our future. And that is something to celebrate indeed. But more than that, as we celebrate our nation’s birth and pay tribute to our democracy on this day, we are holding high an example of good governance—when a grassroots vision for the future was perceived and embraced by politicians and officials at the federal, state, regional, county and local levels.
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Loudoun County is approaching a fork in the road. The path we choose to follow, as we near the end of the second decade of the 21stcentury, will determine the future that awaits generations to come. On the horizon in one direction the outlines of some of the shapes of our future are coming into focus. But what we cannot yet see is what awaits us behind that next curve, beyond that next ridge.
Read moreSometimes we see liabilities when in fact we are looking at real assets. We see something that is old and perhaps worn around the edges as old-fashioned, out of step, not up to snuff, inefficient and thus ineffective. We believe that something new and bigger must be, will be, better. When this happens, we often don’t see the treasures hidden in plain view.
Read moreI am glad the silence is in fact not deafening and that my January View From the Gap has prompted much dialogue and discussion in this newspaper and elsewhere. The confluence of recent events that prompted my commentary—anti-immigrant fervor, local Klan activity and the juxtaposition of holidays honoring Confederate heroes and civil rights leader Martin Luther King—seemed to me to beg for some contextual bearings that might help lead us toward reconciliation.
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