Meet The Candidate: Zach Cummings For Leesburg Town Council

LEESBURG, VA — The Leesburg Town Council election on Tuesday, Nov. 3 has four candidates — Zach Cummings, Kari Nacy, Ara Bagdasarian and Bill Replogle — vying for three council seats.

A Leesburg Town Council post is nonpartisan, but candidates typically seek the endorsement of a major party's local committee.

Cummings, Bagdasarian and Replogle have been endorsed by the Loudoun County Democratic Committee, while the Loudoun County Republican Committee has not endorsed any Leesburg Town Council candidates so far in 2020.

Cummings, who has also received the endorsement of former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, said he plans to use his experience as a Realtor to make decisions facing the town council on land use and zoning issues. He also wants to push policies that will keep Leesburg as a destination for families and small businesses.

In 2009, Cummings and his wife Jeanette moved to Virginia from Ohio. They moved to Leesburg in 2016, picking the town as a great place to live and raise their son Jackson.

Learn more about Cummings and why he is running for Leesburg Town Council in 2020:

Candidate

Zach Cummings

Age (as of Election Day)

37

Office Sought

Leesburg Town Council

Party Affiliation

Non-partisan races, but I'm endorsed by the Loudoun County Democratic Committee

Family

Wife, Jeanette, and son, Jackson

Education

Bachelors Degree, Otterbein University, Westerville Ohio

Occupation

Residential Real Estate Agent

Campaign website

www.zachcummings.com

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Leesburg Town Council’s top priority now should be helping our small businesses survive and thrive during this pandemic. Our small businesses are the lifeblood of our community. We rely on their tax revenue to help provide the amenities our citizens enjoy. Town Council must continue working with town staff and our small business community to think outside the box on ways to keep people coming to Leesburg and spending their money. As winter approaches, we need to assist in finding ways to continue outdoor dining options, help with expanding opportunities for take-out services, and bring customers to Leesburg.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

The town council’s inability to come together to allow town staff to gather information and research the opportunity to purchase WestPark is a perfect example of the gridlock preventing debate over important issues. As a town, we are almost 97% completely built out and the availability of green space is limited. For our current council to not even allow town staff to research the purchase opportunity was a mistake. The members of council all had their own opinions on the purchase price, opportunities for the land, and ideas to generate revenue from the purchase.

The councilmembers are board of directors for the town of Leesburg and they are the decision-makers for the direction of our town. Town council needed to direct staff to research the opportunities for land banking or nutrient banking at Westpark, how much of the land was usable versus flood plain, and conduct an appraisal to negotiate with the seller. None of this happened because certain members of council were unable to put aside their differences and work for the people of Leesburg.

As a member of the Leesburg Town Council, I would have allowed town staff to gather information to help our town council make an informed decision on the WestPark property and, potentially, negotiate a better deal if one was available. I don’t believe our town only had one option of purchasing at the initial price — every real estate deal is negotiable. Our town needed the information required to negotiate successfully.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

As a candidate for Leesburg Town Council, I’m running to bring a fresh perspective to Leesburg. If elected, my priorities will be helping our small businesses survive and thrive during our current health crisis by supporting smart growth here in Leesburg. Smart growth is revenue generating growth that fits with the neighborhoods here in Leesburg and the overall town plan. Finally, as a member of council, I will work to end the gridlock that has kept important ideas from being debated by the council. We must have elected officials that can disagree without being disagreeable.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

If elected, one initiative that I will pursue is to create a committee of council members and town staff to help build a stronger working relationship between Loudoun County and the town of Leesburg. As the largest taxpayer in Loudoun County, our town and our citizens deserve more collaboration and cooperation between the county and town. In addition to building bridges, this committee should be working to negotiate with the county on the current joint land management area, current, and future boundary line adjustments. Additionally, the committee can work to help streamline and find opportunities to work together to help save our citizen’s tax dollars. It’s imperative to our town and county’s futures that we work together heading into a new decade.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

There is no greater document that outlines a government’s values than a budget. As a member of the Leesburg Town Council, I will work together with our fellow members to craft a budget that continues to make Leesburg great. We will need to look at ways to pull back spending to balance the budget. I do not believe that raising taxes in the middle of a pandemic, which has caused unemployment to jump, businesses to close, and families to cut back their own spending, is the right thing to do.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Just like my son was taught in kindergarten, you have two ears and one mouth and that means you should listen twice as much as you speak. As an elected representative of the people of Leesburg, I will listen twice as much as I speak!

Are you running for office in Leesburg? Contact Mark Hand at mark.hand@patch.com if you have not received your candidate questionnaire.