The Who
I was elected to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in 2003 to represent the Sugarland Run District. I am a one of six Republicans on that Board. My father was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia back in the early 1980's which got me interested in politics and public service at a very early age.
Most of my bio is on my website - www.mickstaton.com, so I will not go into any more of the details here.
The What
There are so many things going on in Loudoun County right now that it can be hard to keep up with them all. Many of these issues are also pretty complicated, taking more than a sound byte or a single quote in the local paper to explain them all.
This site is my attempt to communicate with my constituents and the citizens of Loudoun County in a quick and easy format. There will be a wide array of topics that will be posted here. We will talk about taxes, politics, and of course the most controversial, volatile subject that has gripped Loudoun County for the last fifteen years or more...growth.
The Why
Before I began my run for the VA 33rd Senate Seat in a Special election, I had never really paid attention to blogs. The next thing I knew my name was plastered all over them and I started following some of the blogs that cover Northern Virginia, and met some of the local bloggers. I guess one of the things that surprised me is how many people were reading them, and how effective they could be in getting information out.
I have also become increasingly frustrated over the one-sided media in Loudoun County and Northern Virginia. I cannot tell you how many times I have had conversations with reporters for the local papers or for the Washington Post, spent hours with them describing issues with them in detail, mainly dealing with growth, detailing fact after fact about the issue, and then watch them totally ignore everything I have said and write an article that is biased and slanted.
So this site will be my opportunity to give people the facts about these issues without the spin and restructuring of the issues by a media that seems more interested in forwarding an agenda than reporting the facts. I will also be giving you my positions on these many issues in more detail than I ever could in any other forum.
So begins my latest experiment in communication and constituent contact. I hope it works out well, and I hope it is able to generate a healthy discussion about the issues that are discussed here.
