Politics & Government

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Bulk of Dulles Named Dean, while Blue Ridge escapes Brambleton Ridge moniker.

A protest rally in the range of 50 or so disgruntled eastern residents and homeowners representatives greeted members of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors Thursday night with a request reconsider last week’s adoption of a new redistricting plan.

But when County Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) asked if any members of the majority in that previous vote wanted to reconsider it, no one spoke.

Opponents of the plan did not get their wish to have it reconsidered, but were treated to an entertaining yet short meeting as some supervisors seemed bent on irking others.

Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It started when Leesburg Supervisor Kelly Burk requested to name a district that includes the county’s southern tip and most of Dulles Airport after Jennie Dean, a former slave who founded Prosperity Baptist Church.

While few argued against the name, Supervisor Stevens Miller, who represents the area now, said he felt the name was a political move. He also said Dean’s name would be tainted by the highly charged political debate that resulted in the redistricting plan. He abstained in the board’s 7-1-1 vote, with Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) voting against it.

Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Waters then proposed naming one new district Brambleton Ridge because it includes much of the existing Blue Ridge District, but also parts of Brambleton. She lost that bid on a 2-7 vote with Miller joining her. Blue Ridge was selected instead.

Algonkian was chosen for the name of a new district that stretches along the north side of Rt. 7 from University Center to the Fairfax border, although some residents had requested Potomac Falls. Algonkian was intended to be representative of the park, parkway and school within the district that share the name.

Waters got a laugh for her Brambleton Ridge proposal, and another for Ashdowne: a district that includes a swath of land from Ashburn Farm to Lansdowne, including Belmont Country Club. But she wasn’t really kidding. Instead of falling back on suggestions from staff, such as Goose Creek or Belmont, Waters preferred Ashdowne.

“I’d rather see Ashburn and Lansdowne united in some way,” she said.

If it was a bluff, the board called her on it, voting 7-2 to approve the name. Supervisors Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) and Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac) voted against it.

Miller referred to some of the names as a “legacy people can be laughing at for a decade.”

The full list of district names is as follows. The numbers are coordinated with the map in the photo gallery:

  1. Sterling
  2. Algonkian
  3. Broad Run
  4. Dean
  5. Ashdowne
  6. Leesburg
  7. Catoctin
  8. Blue Ridge

The new districts and their names – pending any ordinance changes and approval of the Department of Justice – take effect next year when supervisors elected to those district in November take office.

[Correction: A previous version of this story indicated Miller said he was not consulted about the Dean name. He clarified that no supervisor consulted him about it. Miller said Larry Roeder, a Democratic candidate for supervisor, was the only person to ask him about the name. Patch apologizes for the error.]


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