CARD has wondered for some time now about an organization called "The Western Corridor Mitigation Committee." We don´t know too much about the committee, neither does anyone else.

In an article in the Manasass Journal Messenger on May 2, 1997, reporter Dave Marino-Nachison reported that he had attempted to attend the second meeting of the group, and had been asked to leave. He reported that the group had been formed by Supervisors Wilbourn and Thompson.

According to the article, Wilbourn announced that he didn´t need a bunch of radical people interrupting something that was very productive. Thompson said that the group was not official.

In general, the public has heard nothing from the group, does not know who the members were, and most importantly does not know what the recommendations were.

Then, on the 18th of September, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the Western Transportation Corridor for transition from a Major Investment Study to the Environmental Impact Study...that is they approved the project through to the next phase. Within the resolution that they passed, there was the following statement:

10.Segment 5 avoid residential areas as much as possible, and act as a buffer between the Linton Hall residential area and the industrial corridor with particular attention to the recommendations of the Prince William County "Western Transportation Corridor Mitigation Committee"; and,

At this point it becomes quite clear that the input from an "unofficial" group that met in secret had become part of Prince William County´s official input to a commonwealth process.

In the October 26th edition of the Washington Post, in the Prince William Forum section, an Alesia Ruppen reported having served on this committee. The letter in the forum suggests that undeveloped land interests held sway over existing subdivision residential interests. The letter further suggests that Supervisor Wilbourn, an announced developer in Prince William County, may have had some influence in the process. Although copyright restrictions prevent CARD from posting the letter, you can read it yourself in the Washington Post. Note: The Ruppen letter is about half way down the page, and because there is no return link you will have to come back to this page using the "Back" button on your web browser.

Wanting to better understand the truth in all this, VDOT was asked what the recommendations were. The resulting correspendence is shown below:

Subject: Re: A Question from a Citizen and Taxpayer
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 08:10:58 -0500
From: Bob Spieldenner
Organization: VDOT
To: <citizen>@erols.com
References: 1

That part of the resolution was put in by Chairman Seefelt from the county to thank the group for their work in supporting the corridor. It is not a VDOT committee. If you have concerns about the committee, they should be directed to the county.

<citizen> wrote:

Greetings.

I noticed that in the resolution recently passed by the CTB on the Western Transportation Corridor MIS, part of the resolution referred to "the recommendations of the Western Transporation Corridor Mitigation Committee." The resolution is posted to your website under planning and projects. The specific reference is:

10.Segment 5 avoid residential areas as much as possible, and act as a buffer between the Linton Hall residential area and the industrial corridor with particular attention to the recommendations of the Prince William County "Western Transportation Corridor Mitigation Committee"; and,

I was wondering what these recommendations might be. To the best of my knowledge this committee was secretly selected, met in secret, and produced secret recommendations.

I think there may be a bigger question here about the insertion of the input of a secret society into a process that is at least supposed to be open and public? What do your lawyers say about this?

I certainly hope that these recommendations can be brought to light. It would be a shame to see your wonderful highway plan thrown out on a legal technicality.

Thank you.

<citizen>
Haymarket, Virginia

-- Bob Spieldenner
Virginia Department of Transportation
Public Affairs Specialist
and Web Site Editor
vdotinfo@richmond.infi.net
http://www.vdot.state.va.us

From all this a few facts emerge. The honest, hard-working, taxpaying, law abiding citizens of Prince William County have been excluded from a public process, and labeled as "radicals" by a member of the Board of Supervisors.

Another member of the Board of Supervisors has inserted the output from a secret society as an official government input to a commonwealth process, and at the same time has not disclosed to the citizens what that input may have been. This act is in contradiction to the principal of an honest and open government, and one that represents the citizens.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Supervisors Wilbourn and Seefeldt, regardless of whether you are for or against the Wester Transporation Corridor--there certainly is evidence that something irregular has taken place in this transaction.

This is further compounded by Supervisor Wilbourn´s announced interests in developing land in some proximity of the route that the committee was formed to discuss.

The Prince WIlliam County Board of Supervisor´s needs to do two things at this point:

1. Disclose the findings of the "Western Transporation Corridor Mitigation Committee,", and explain the process used to derive these findings.

2. Explain to the citizens the process used by the County in forming secret societies to provide official input to a commonwealth process.

Barring this, we can only conclude that a breach of the public trust has indeed taken place.

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