McGimsey Touts Background, Experience in Campaign

Potomac Supervisor Andrea McGimsey faces a three-way race and a slew of new voters in her bid for a second term on the Loudoun Board of Supervisors.

After redistricting, the incumbent Democrat found herself written into a new district – the Sterling and newly created Algonkian districts essentially swallowed Potomac. So McGimsey is running for the Broad Run seat.

McGimsey ensures that her campaign will be focused on the issues during the election season. She sees traffic and economic development as the two chief issues in Ashburn, and she plans to address them both, if elected Broad Run supervisor.

A former Ashburn resident, McGimsey believes she’s amply suited to the serve the district – which includes the Metrorail extension planned to end in Ashburn – and remains focused on the issues important to Broad Run residents.

McGimsey is an avid supporter of the Metro project, which she believes the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will finish. A rift between MWAA and the local governments about the project’s design and cost appeared nearly impassable earlier this year, and agreements about who will pay for elements of the project remain in question.

“We still need to work out financing details, but Ashburn needs Metro,” McGimsey said. “The business world needs some consistency. People have made investments in businesses thinking Metro is coming to Ashburn. For us to pull the plug on that would be irresponsible.”

Though most local candidates agree that economic development should be a top priority for the next Board, McGimsey believes her background makes her best suited to bring new businesses to Loudoun.

“I’m a businesswoman,” she said. “I founded my own consulting business. I run Oatlands. I understand the business world from small businesses all the way up to big corporations. I help businesses on bread and butter issues like infrastructure and planning.”

In addition to bringing in new businesses—and business tax revenue—to the area, McGimsey said she would work to protect the Loudoun’s AAA credit rating.

“I was one of five votes every year to get the budget done,” she said, adding that a AAA rating “keeps our debt as affordable as possible.”

Though McGimsey sees traffic and business development as top issues, she believes quality education and public safety are two foundational elements of Loudoun that the next Board needs to work to protect.

“I’m a big advocate of public education. And public safety is a bottom-line issue,” she said. “That’s the point of strong economic development. We need a stronger tax base so we can continue to fund high quality schools and protect our citizens.”

McGimsey faces Independent Cliff Keirce and in the race. In an earlier interview, , an accusation she does not take lightly. For starters, she pointed out that board votes require a majority for approval.

 “There are nine of us on the Board, so five of the supervisors had to reach an agreement. The idea that I singlehandedly drew lines is ludicrous,” she said, adding that eastern Loudoun “grew 84% in the last 4 years and we had to redraw the lines. I don’t have control over the process.”

McGimsey said that the board determined new district lines by referring to census numbers. Though many members of the board had different ideas about how the new districts should be organized, McGimsey said, they ultimately decided on a plan that was a compromise of multiple proposals.

In the end, McGimsey’s precinct was lumped in with the district that included the Metro line. An attempt by current Broad Run Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) to swap that precinct with the precinct that includes George Washington University and University Station failed to win a majority of votes. That means, if elected, McGimsey would only represent half of one precinct from her current district.

McGimsey had a little criticism for Keirce as well – who she said she really doesn’t consider an opponent because of his lack of campaign funding. She said he voted for a land use project that failed to obtain adequate funding for Gloucester Parkway before supervisors changed the proffer.

Under the version approved by the planning commission, of which Keirce is a member, the developer would have received about a $20 million credit toward capital facilities requirements for constructing the missing link of Gloucester Parkway; however, that project may have never been triggered by the development, Kincora, according to McGimsey.

 “We need to finish the local road grid,” McGimsey said. “My opponent approved a contract that would have been a $20 million giveaway to the developer.”

McGimsey believes that the board needs to require new developers to complete roads, such as Gloucester Parkway, in exchange for approving zoning changes. Otherwise, she argues, the influx of new residents will exacerbate the traffic situation. Loudoun County has a long history of obtaining roads from developers and the private community.

“We’ve got to have the proper infrastructure in place,” she said. “We can’t have sweetheart deals with developers where they profit and the community has to pick up the costs. We’re going to grow, but we need to grow in the right way.”

McGimsey hopes that her record on the board and her stands on land use, economic development and the environment help her win in November.