Election Year Q&A

Save Crow’s Nest has always been non-partisan. But during election season every four years we are contacted by folks asking about claims being made—especially in the Aquia District where Crow’s Nest is located. Since some voters seem to believe these claims are being made in the name of Save Crow’s Nest, we thought it prudent to issue this clarification in the form of several questions and answers. 

 

Q: Is Aquia Supervisor Paul Milde associated with Save Crow’s Nest?

A: No.  Before he was elected, Mr. Milde was invited to join Save Crow’s Nest. He declined. 

 

Q. What is the connection between Save Crow’s Nest and the web site savecrowsnest.com?

A: There is none. When Mr. Milde began his campaign for Supervisor in 2003, he copied the already-existing Save Crow’s Nest name and created a web site using it (savescrowsnest.com). Save Crow’s Nest asked that he change the name to avoid confusion, but he declined.  As we suspected, confusion did occur, as the Free Lance-Star reported ("Crow's Nest Name Frays Some Feathers", FLS, 5/2/04). That confusion continues to this day.

 

At different times, Mr. Milde has made claims that through his website he leads a “grassroots movement” or a “nonpartisan group of concerned citizens” but to our knowledge savecrowsnest.com has never sponsored or taken part in a single public event; it is simply Mr. Milde’s website. It appears that this website was originally used primarily to collect voter contact information (through an on-line “petition”) that was later used in Mr. Milde’s election campaign.

Q: Was Paul Milde the key to Saving Crow’s Nest, as his billboard and campaign literature suggest?

A: No. We invite support for saving Crow’s Nest from all sectors and Mr. Milde has made welcomed statements supporting the preservation of Crow’s Nest. However, the actual effort to save Crow’s Nest pre-dated Mr. Milde by decades and extends well beyond his campaign claims.  (See award story above.) In particular:

  1. Funding for the purchase of Crow’s Nest came from a network of sources, including Governor Kaine’s Renew Virginia initiative. These funding sources were secured by many individuals and organizations (“Another grant for Crow’s Nest,” FLS, 1/10/09), not just from Mr. Milde’s efforts.

  2. Milde’s predecessor on the Board, Kandy Hilliard (D-Aquia), secured the low-interest loan through the Department of Environmental Quality that has funded Stafford’s monetary contribution to the purchase of portions of Crow’s Nest ("State OKs Loan for Crow's Nest," FLS, 12/4/04).

  3. The Crow’s Nest Defense Fund funded a lawsuit ("Crow's Nest Appeal Stalls Development Plan," FLS, 2/24/05) that ultimately led to the denial in 2006 of a subdivision plan to build 688 homes on Crow’s Nest.

  4. Actions by Save Crow’s Nest and an intent to sue filed by Defenders of Wildlife ("New Defender for Crow's Nest," FLS, 4/9/04) led Toll Brothers (a national developer) to decide against proceeding with a contract to purchase nearly 4,000 acres on Crow’s Nest with the intent to develop it. ("Crow's Nest Deal Off," FLS, 7/22/04).

  5. Efforts to preserve and protect Crow’s Nest extend back to at least 1971 (“Crow’s Nest Harbour Should be Save,” FLS, 11/3/71; “Group Forms to Fight ‘Harbour’,” FLS, 3/5/72).

  6. The many educational events and public rallies sponsored by Save Crow’s Nest, the “Crow’s Nest Preservation Coalition,” and others, raised public awareness about the importance of Crow’s Nest and helped create the political climate necessary for its preservation.  (Descriptions of some of these events can be found on our Archives page.)

You can also read about some of the many actions taken by people and organizations before and since Mr. Milde was elected at the "Newsroom".

 

Q: Was Mr. Milde involved in the deal to save a portion of Crow’s Nest?

A:  Yes.  As a developer himself, who represented the district where Crow’s Nest is located, Mr. Milde played a mediating role between the developers who owned the Crow’s Nest property and the County.

 

Q: Is it true that the deal to save a portion of Crow’s Nest paid developers far above market value for the property? 

A:  Yes.  An analysis by Save Crow’s Nest at the time did conclude that the developers were paid far above market value. We said then:

 …taxpayers are paying higher than fair market value for the land, making this is a sweetheart deal for developers.  Even the reduced purchase price for Phase 2 is a higher per acre cost than the per acre appraised value of the land in 2006--near the height of the real estate bubble!  A purchase based on today’s fair-market value would have left additional funds available to apply towards the purchase of the remaining Crow’s Nest properties.

That statement is still accurate.

 

Since then, both former Supervisor Joe Brito (I-Hartwood) and current Board of Supervisor Chair Susan Stimpson (R-Falmouth) have independently come to a similar conclusion. Chair Stimpson stated "Maybe this one didn't end up being a great deal for the taxpayers of Stafford County. It's obvious right now we paid a lot for land a lot of it is wetlands." Mr. Brito, based on advice provided by the Stafford County Attorney, suggested the figure overpaid was in the vicinity of $10 million dollars.

 

We hope this information is helpful in clarifying matters.  We encourage everyone to vote in November, and look forward to continuing the effort to save the remainder of the Crow’s Nest peninsula.