I’ve been fighting alongside people of the Gainesville District for years to stop corruption and halt data center sprawl. Gainesville doesn’t give up.
In May of 2021, two property owners had requested a vote to conduct a study on their land for data center development. A Board of County Supervisors member—who happened to live just a few miles from them—proposed expanding the scope from these properties on Pageland Ln and Route 29 to the Loudoun County line. Most of us were stunned. Our community didn’t know what to make of it.
The Board voted on this plan, including its expansion, a few months later. The Board decided not to extend to the one-lane bridge on Sanders Lane but settled instead on Sudley Road. The meeting ended quickly. The next morning, the people of the Gainesville District woke to find themselves in a fight that might be the most significant challenge we’ve ever faced.
The Prince William Digital Gateway was now out in the open. Our Gainesville Supervisor was conflicted out of future votes. We faced the largest corporations in the world, the BOCS determined to push this through, our once-trusted Board member staying in office, a Chair convinced this would be her defining legacy—and our only representation was the two Republicans on the Board, but the five Democrats always outnumbered them.
Most communities would have thrown in the towel. But not Gainesville.
We dusted ourselves off and got to work. We went to friends and neighbors, many of whom thought we were crazy. They couldn’t understand our passion and believed you couldn’t take on the government. But we persisted. We educated neighbors on the threats ahead. We built a coalition—Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians—all united. We’d go from meeting with the Sierra Club to meeting with the Heritage Foundation on the same day.
We went to every Board of County Supervisors meeting and Planning Commission meeting. We spoke out. We fought, not with bitterness, but with positivity. We even threw parties in the Government Center. When the Board ignored us, we made their disdain the story. We showed up in butterfly costumes. We sang, they received coal for Christmas, we presented the facts, and made it fun for us. We refused to be silent.
While Prince William County’s Democratic Party moved in lockstep, we thought we might find an ally in state-level Republicans. We rented buses, went to Richmond, and pleaded our case to legislators, only to see most of them also favor data centers in PWC. Our allies in elected office were few, but those few became legends to us.
We opened recalls on Supervisor Candland and Chair Wheeler. We stood in the rain on Saturdays and Sundays collecting signatures. We filed lawsuits and pushed for criminal investigations. We stood up to intimidation. One day, I had 11 complaints filed against my property in one day, and while I was at work, inspectors came to investigate each one. Still, we pressed on.
When the election came, we worked to help Deshundra Jefferson defeat Ann Wheeler in the primary, and won. Something that my opposition has attacked me for. When Bob Weir stepped up, we fought like hell to get him elected, and we won.
When the Board passed the Prince William Digital Gateway, we rolled up our sleeves again. We filed two lawsuits, though we could have filed many more, given the blatant violations, funded entirely by the community. We knew no one else had our backs. It didn’t matter. We kept going.
On Thursday, August 7, we accomplished a significant victory. The judge saw what we knew, that the county knowingly violated its own rules and regulations. It was a great victory, but far from the end.
Now is not the time to relax. Not the time to let developers return with the same or an equally damaging high-density housing proposal. Now is the time to put the Digital Gateway down for good. To stay united. To look toward intelligent land use. To showcase the beauty and history of our region. To protect the Occoquan Watershed. To finish what Bob Weir had worked so hard on.
This community has been battle-scarred, tried, and tested, but Bob was often at the tip of the spear. We need to ask ourselves: What would Bob be doing right now?
I wish I could walk into Giuseppe’s, pull up a barstool, have a beer, and laugh with him about what we’ve been through. Everyone’s first reaction to the case was the same: This is amazing, I wish Bob were here to see this.
So let me be clear: this isn’t a new fight I’m stepping into. My passion didn’t begin with a political opportunity. I’ve been in this fight alongside the people of Gainesville for years.
Sending me into the chamber sends a message to the Board, to developers, that Gainesville doesn’t back down. I may be the next person to step up, but it’s up to all of us to keep this fight alive. Not just to win, but to win this fight, and win it so decisively that future generations will talk about those crazy people in Gainesville, who never gave up.
