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Politics & Government

Pierce Aims to Bring in Business, Slow Growth

The Democrat candidate for Algonkian supervisor cites improved transportation among the Loudoun's greatest needs.

Denise Moore Pierce has worked on numerous political campaigns in the past, but this election marks her first as a candidate. Pierce was already in the race for the Algonkian District Supervisor position, but became even more motivated after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli introduced GOP nominee Suzanne Volpe at a kickoff event.

I hope that whomever may ultimately choose to run against her hears about this so that they can run scared and perhaps just run home,” Cuccinelli said.

“I couldn’t believe the attorney general would say something like that,” Pierce, now the Democratic nominee, said. “If I have stood for anything for the past 15 years and don’t take on that challenge, then what have I been doing?”

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Since entering the race, Pierce has spoken with hundreds of voters to determine the most important issues to them. She hopes that the fact that she is not a career politician will be appealing to voters.

“People just want things that make their daily life better to be fixed,” said Pierce, adding that existing residents simply want a responsive supervisor.

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She called business development her top priority.

“The first thing that needs to be done is improving the business tax base to offset residential property taxes,” she said, sounding a common election pledge this year. But she said, “It’s not like you snap your fingers and that happens.”

Pierce wants to properly manage growth in Loudoun to preserve both its rural character and suburban conveniences. Pierce argues that the county grown too quickly and lacks sufficient infrastructure to support the population; she and said her opponent is partly to blame.

“Suzanne Volpe approved every residential housing project that came before her,” Pierce said, referring to votes cast while Volpe sat on the Loudoun Planning Commission. While some may point to the recent economic downturn as the impetus for slowed growth in recent years, Pierce credited the current board with part of that slowdown. Regardless, she said too many homes were approved in the past with Volpe’s support.

A heavy dose of Pierce’s campaign involves transportation. She supports of the Metro extension to Ashburn because she believes it will help the local economy; however, she has concerns about the financing.

“I think there are a lot of people that want it to come to Loudoun and certainly the business community does,” she said, but questioned current plan to rely in part on increased along the Dulles Toll Road. “But if the tolls are going to be, as some people predict, $10 each way, that’s not viable. So there has to be additional funding proposed either through the state or federal government.”

Pierce said she’s keenly aware that traffic is a persistent problem for Loudoun commuters, adding that she hopes the county can continue working with the business community to build new roads that help curb the traffic problem. One road, she aims to fight against, however, is the proposed Western Transportation Corridor; the proposed road currently has no adequate Potomac crossing, so opponents argue it may create congestion on Loudoun’s secondary roads.

“I am against the Western Transportation Corridor proposal that the House of Delegates put forward — that would go north-south instead of east-west,” she said. “That would benefit Prince Williams County, but it would bring more traffic into Loudoun County.”

Pierce said that Virginia and Loudoun should allocate more funds for transportation projects or else the region will run the risk of losing federal matching grants.

Algonkian includes George Washington University and University Center.

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