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Supervisor announces measures to help beleaguered community
Loudoun Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac) announced a series of measures Sept. 29 aimed at helping Sterling, which has been mired recently in a string of violent crimes and negative press about unkempt lawns and foreclosed homes.McGimsey's dozen suggestions include creating a Sterling community Web site where information about crime and other community issues could be posted, strengthening zoning enforcement efforts in Loudoun, establishing neighborhood watch groups and working closer with churches to address the problems plaguing Sterling.
The suggestions were spurred by a community meeting that took place in Sterling Park Sept. 23. During the meeting, several residents heatedly questioned county leaders' commitment to Loudoun's aging eastern communities, particularly Sterling Park.
"What you are telling us is a bunch of fluff," one resident shouted during the meeting, which was held at Park View High School in response to a series of unrelated shootings and one stabbing that left several people in the hospital. "Tell us what you are going to do!"
McGimsey, whose district includes Cascades, CountrySide and parts of Sterling Park, is also suggesting that the Board of Supervisors and county sheriff communicate more frequently, that the allocation of more money to the Sheriff's Office be discussed, and that a series of public safety seminars on self-defense, gang awareness and domestic violence be held.
"Some of these measures will be accomplished by the county," McGimsey wrote to residents in an e-mail, "and others will need to be done by the community; we will figure it out together."
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com
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