The chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, as well as local tourism and business groups, is urging the board to revisit its 5-4 rejection last week of a partnership with the Washington Redskins.
“This [board] came in on a platform of economic development, yet the [board] turned this down,” Chairman Scott York wrote in a recent constituent’s newsletter. “This simply leaves me baffled and discouraged as we head into making probably the most difficult budget decisions during my tenure on this board. I encourage you to write directly to your own supervisor and ask them to reconsider this vote.”
The Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Tuesday called on the board to reverse its decision.
“I was partially surprised [by the vote],” said Chamber President Tony Howard. “It was considered by many to be a very thoughtful, very well-crafted, very unique opportunity for the county.”
Representatives from the Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association and the National Conference Center in Lansdowne also have come out against the board’s vote.
The proposal for a marketing partnership with the Redskins, whose headquarters complex Redskins Park is in Ashburn, would have involved $100,000 in county taxes for the first year. In exchange, the team would market the county as its home, including putting Loudoun County’s logo on its Web site and referring to the county in all training camp literature. The county also would be able to set up a kiosk at training camp to promote tourism.
The next year, $150,000 in tax funding would be used to develop a future Redskins Hall of Fame in Loudoun County.
York, with Vice Chairman Susan Klimek Buckley, D-Sugarland Run, Lori Waters, R-Broad Run, and Eugene Delgaudio, R-Sterling, voted in favor of the partnership.
Buckley said she would support a motion to reconsider the partnership, but that it would encompass more than simply asking supervisors to change their minds.
Jim Burton, I-Blue Ridge, who voted against the partnership proposal, said Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has displayed a “lack of loyalty” and that he had “no confidence” that an agreement in the interests of the county could be reached.
Kelly Burk, D-Leesburg, said she would have a problem with the league’s second-wealthiest team in the NFL asking the financially struggling county to assist in building a Hall of Fame.
“We can’t overcome those objections,” Buckley said. “If they still have those objections, then we can’t move to reconsider.”
Buckley added that she was hopeful the Redskins wouldn’t immediately look elsewhere as a result of the vote. Virginia Beach officials in January asked the team to consider moving its summer training camp from Ashburn starting in 2009.
“The Redskins are a sophisticated organization,” she said. “I know that’s probably on the table, but I don’t expect a knee-jerk reaction like that.”
