FOLLOW THE MONEY (DATA CENTER MONEY CORRUPTS PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY)

There is an old adage in politics that you just have to follow the money to find the truth.

The money flowing into Prince William County from some of the wealthiest multi-national corporations on the globe is unprecedented, and it has exposed the ugly underbelly of how money corrupts public officials and community leaders.

Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland, who had previously pledged he would fight "tooth and nail" against the destruction of the Rural Crescent by developers to protect the families who elected him to office, has come under fire from his constituents because he set aside his commitment to them to sign a contract with data center operators for somewhere between $5 to $10 million for his lot.

County Chair Ann Wheeler, immediately after getting elected, started making large investments into data centers and companies that supply them to take advantage of the data center boom that she knew was being proposed as a "target industry" by county staff.

Pageland Lane residents, who were the fiercest opponents of the Bi-County Parkway that would destroy the historical significance of the Manassas National Battlefield Park and the sanctity of the land they had invested in, threw all of that aside for a promise of a multi-million dollar payday.

Many Pageland Lane residents reportedly reluctantly agreed to sign the contracts because they were told by the leaders of the data center land grab that it was "inevitable" and that everyone should just accept the cash and run. Those who are advocating for the data center alley will clearly profit handsomely both from direct payments, and in some cases, from fees from the transactions they encouraged their neighbors to agree to.

Money talks.

But the reason so much cash is being shelled out to lubricate the process on the Board of County Supervisors for approving the most dramatic change in land use policy ever in Prince William County is these multi-national data center companies want to pad their profits. Those data center operators know money in the pockets of politicians and so-called community leaders is the way to overwhelm the voices of individual homeowners whose quality of life will be destroyed and their property values will plummet.

For the data center operators, it's just the cost of doing business.

It is hard to criticize Pete Candland for taking a $5 to $10 million payday when he paid only a fraction of that for the lot his home sits on. Who wouldn't? It's like winning the lottery.

What Candland has been criticized for is that he wants to profit from data centers but not give up the seat he pledged to represent his constituents -- a job he was elected to do. He is disqualified from voting on any land use policy because of the conflict he created for himself, and his critics say that should disqualify him from sitting on the Board of County Supervisors because his constituents now have no representation on the most consequential issues impacting their community in many decades.

When Pete Candland signed his name to the contract to pledge the sale of his lot to the data center operators, he stripped the vast majority of Gainesville District citizens of their right to be represented on the issue when votes were taken on the data center proposals. 

Pete Candland said he made the decision for his family.  Critics say Pete Candland should now make the right decision for the families of the Gainesville Magisterial District so they are represented on this important issue.

Many of his constituents now argue the right decision -- the honorable decision -- the ethical decision -- and the morally correct decision -- would have been for Pete Candland to sign his name to his resignation letter from the Board of County Supervisors on the same day he signed the data center contract.

Candland's conflict means that instead of needing just one vote on the Board to stop the data center money grab, the opponents of the data center land grab now need TWO VOTES!

Ann Wheeler, when she made her highly targeted investments in the data center industry while embracing the plan to drive up their profits and thereby enrich herself personally, should have also penned a resignation letter or at least announced she would recuse herself from ANY votes on the issue. 

Critics point out that Chair Wheeler voted on numerous occasions on issues that clearly benefit the data center industry and the suppliers to them. On every vote, when Wheeler could, and arguably should have, explained the potential conflict and why she believed she could still vote, she sat silent.

Detractors also point out that Ann Wheeler was silent while the controversy around Pete Candland's conflict of interest was making headlines. The argument is that Wheeler should have stepped up then and declared her thinking on why she had not believed her investments created a conflict.

Now that Wheeler has been called out for her failure to make what her critics believe was a required disclosure on those investments, Wheeler has announced she sold her interest in some of the stocks she held with the data center industry.

Both Wheeler and Candland will now face recall petitions. The citizens collecting signatures on those recall petitions claim they earned that position with their decisions to enrich themselves over the interests of their constituents without taking appropriate steps to protect the interests of the families they swore an oath to protect.

Chair Wheeler is a Democrat. Supervisor Candland is a Republican.

This is not a partisan issue of being Red or Blue.

For Wheeler and Candland, it appears to be a GREEN issue.

For the HOA Roundtable, this is a civic issue. One of justice. Every citizen in Prince William County has the right to expect their elected officials will act in their interest and respect the sacred trust given them to serve their constituents with integrity.

Wheeler and Candland argue that data center operators have the same standing as voters.

They do not. 

Citizens invest in our communities to ensure our families have a quality community to live in. 

Corporations invest in politicians to make larger profits.