We are mourning the loss of Bill Backer, long-time PEC supporter and Piedmont Foundation President, who passed away on May 13, 2016. An advertising genius who taught the “world to sing” when he created the 1971 “Hilltop” commercial for Coca-Cola—what many consider to be the most famous commercial ever.
Bill loved the Piedmont and chose to make Fauquier County his permanent home in 1994. I’ve known Bill for over 20 years. He was a man of incredible intellect and insight into the human spirit…
In February, I faced a new challenge—explaining the mission and programs of PEC to millennials. I was asked to give a guest lecture to an audience of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania, which included my daughter Caroline, a freshman…
The opening of the Silver Line this past July was an important step toward a better future for the Washington metropolitan region and the Commonwealth of Virginia. For decades, Tysons has been an example of 20th century development, urban and suburban areas that don’t quite work—too many cars, no sidewalks and not enough green space.
Over the past two years we’ve been writing (and sometimes jumping up and down) about the McDonnell Administration’s prioritization of the multi-billion dollar DC Outer Beltway project. It’s been difficult, however, to get press coverage or widespread citizen engagement, because the project has seemed remote. But that changed this past December, when VDOT finally put a line on the map.
Since then, citizen opposition to the project has mounted. At the end of April, six legislators from Northern Virginia announced their opposition to the project. This Tuesday, Congressman Wolf sent a letter to Governor McDonnell expressing “serious reservations.” This text is from an email alert sent out on May 16th.
In 2011, PEC alerted its members to a renewed effort to get an Outer Beltway project built. A highlight from the email text:
"In a meeting of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) last week, the Governor's Secretary of Transportation and two CTB members announced a renewed effort to prioritize a highway connecting I-95 in Prince William to Rt. 50 in Loudoun."