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Sterling Residents Seek Help

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Supervisors Hear of Area's Decline

By Sandhya Somashekhar (Contact)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

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Dozens of Sterling area residents pleaded with the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to take steps to improve conditions in their community, where some say aging homes, a spate of foreclosures and illegal immigration have worsened crime and diminished the quality of life.

At a special board meeting at Park View High School, residents — most of them from Sterling Park — described a once-peaceful and pleasant community that has degraded. They complained of heavy traffic, violent crime, unkempt yards, garbage-strewed streets, graffiti-stained fences and crowded homes. They urged supervisors to take swift action to restore the community's tranquil suburban atmosphere, which they said has vanished over the past five years.

"I consider Sterling Park my home town, and what legacy will these youths grow up with?" Rose Castellano said. "Must they hang their heads with shame when someone says, 'Where do you live?' I'm so tired of being Loudoun County's stepchild."

Howard Manas, who lives in Sterling Park, said a small number of residents in the community have treated it with disrespect.

"Why can't they do what's necessary to make Sterling Park what it can be, rather than destroying what it was?" he asked.

Illegal immigration "drives all of the other stuff," resident George Jahnigen said. "It drives the condition of housing, it drives the increase in crime and gangs and it drives the overcrowding. They are all a direct consequence."

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The meeting, attended by about 300 people, was the board's last before its August recess. It was part of a months-long effort to refocus attention on the county's eastern communities. Future meetings will focus on Ashburn and Dulles.

Frustration over the deteriorating conditions erupted in the Sterling area last year when activists lobbied the county to take steps to drive out illegal immigrants. Republican leaders were poised to follow the lead of neighboring Prince William County, which has garnered national headlines for its efforts to curb illegal immigration.

But a Democratic majority that took office in January said immigration enforcement was not a local priority and was best handled by federal authorities. Since then, several of the Democrats have said they support improving conditions in eastern Loudoun largely through zoning enforcement.

County staff members had a series of meetings in the Sterling and Potomac communities and administered more than 500 questionnaires to hear about residents' concerns. Although the staff members are still analyzing the data, they delivered a preliminary report to the board Tuesday, with a more complete report scheduled for completion this fall.

According to the report, Sterling and Potomac area residents were pleased with many aspects of their communities, such as the quality of their schools and the proximity to shopping, job corridors, parks and other amenities. But they are concerned about crime, residential crowding and neighborhood upkeep.

"Community change" was also listed as a key concern. In recent years, the community has become "more economically and ethnically diverse," the report stated. "While many appreciate this diversity, there are also many who believe these newcomers are responsible for the loss in their quality of life."

The survey was "a broad overview" and not intended to be a scientific sampling, said Michael "Miguel" Salinas, a county planner who is managing the outreach effort. According to the preliminary report, 85 percent of the respondents were older than 35, and English was the primary language spoken in 88 percent of the respondents' homes.

The outreach effort was initiated by the board in February. Eight of the nine supervisors voted in favor of the effort, but Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), who represents part of the target area, voted against it.

In a news conference just before Tuesday night's meeting, Delgaudio explained his no vote by saying he had initially dismissed the initiative as "pie in the sky" and an "obfuscation" of the underlying issue, which he said is the influx of illegal immigrants. But he now supports it, he said, because illegal immigration is part of the discussion and because the community meetings are yielding immediate, rather than long-term, results.

"It's not that I have changed my position," he said. "It's that the Board of Supervisors has joined with the people of Sterling Park and Sterling."

But Board Chairman Scott K. York (I) said Delgaudio was backtracking.

"The guy's full of hot air," he said. "He did not support us coming down and talking to the communities. The facts are there."

Tagged: Board of Supervisors, immigration, Sterling, Sterling Park, Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio

Comments:

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"They complained of heavy traffic, violent crime, unkempt yards, garbage-strewed streets, graffiti-stained fences and crowded homes."

Problem is, none of the people responsible for the violent crime, unkempt yards, garbage-strewn streets, graffiti-stained fences and crowded homes were at the meeting. It's probably best to secede. There are probably parts of 20164 that are distinct communities where people value clean streets and tidy yards. That's why I put Potomac Falls as my address.

Posted by foobar2 (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 7:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

"It's probably best to secede. There are probably parts of 20164 that are distinct communities where people value clean streets and tidy yards." Would be kind of hard to do that if your little enclave is surrounded by the areas with undesirable conditions. Hopefully these meetings will bring about some actions that will get at the root of the problem rather than applying bandages.

Posted by tmotley (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 9:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The solution is to form an HOA and hit the owners of these dilapitated properties in the pocketbook. HOA's protect EVERYONE from this. I live in South Riding Station and if I see plastic toys left in someones yard for more than a day, I have remedies to get it taken care of.

Posted by kmccorma (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Instead of foisting additional rules on folks, how about just enforcing the ones that are in place. That would take care of many of the problems that the hard working taxpayers of Sterling are concerned about.

Posted by LoudounModerate (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

kmccorma we are not allowed to form an HOA. That would be at the Board's discretion. Believe me, I think a majority of residents would go for it at this point!!

Posted by Justthefacts (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 11:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I'm saddened by the state of Sterling Park. I really loved the place when I moved there in 1999, but the place has gone downhill since then. I would like to move back again someday, but until Loudoun cracks down on illegal immigration, I don't see it happening.

Posted by look (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Sheesh. I think it is unfortunate how the residents of Sterling work so hard to keep its (undeserved) less-than-respectable reputation going. Based on what I have read in the crime blotters, more crime is happening in Ashburn and Leesburg than in Sterling. Sterling Park is an old neighborhood and coupled with foreclosures it is looking worse for wear because of that reason. (News flash - even rich white people got more house than they could afford and lost them to foreclosure!) Older communities in Springfield and Fairfax look just as bad without all the finger-pointing at illegal immigrants. I'm new to Sterling and I like it here. I get annoyed when other people refer to my neighborhood (Sugarland Run) as “bad” or less than desirable.

Posted by frankieo19 (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

liberals won't do anything about illegal immigration and the people of Loudoun heard these folks when they were running for election and the folks of Loudoun voted them in. Now they are whining? LOL. Whatever. Typical American way.

Posted by tom31p (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 2:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

To all of you who voted for the current Democrats - you reap what you sow in the form of increased crime and higher taxes. Hope it was worth it.

Posted by Hoqenishy (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 3:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The problem Hoqueishy and Tom31p is that while it is true that the knuckleheads in Potomac and Sugarland voted in Democrats, Sterling Park (where the main problem is) is staunchly Republican. So Sterling is voting for lower crime and to clean up its mess but it's the libs in the rest of Loudoun who vote for the Dems who stymie it.

I feel sorry for the people of Sterling - they have really tried and so has their supervisor, but they need the help of the bleeding hearts to get anything done.

Posted by Justthefacts (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It's time for the County to help the residents take back their neighborhood. That means NO services to illegals, cracking down on businesses that cater and hire them, and enforcing rules already in place.
No, it's not an easy task - made more difficult by the County's desire to simply ignore the problem and hope that it goes away.
Make things uncomfortable for the offenders. There are rules for a reason. Given the choice of dealing with stepped-up enforcement, the illegals will take the path of least resistance and go elsewhere.
Again, it won't be easy. But throw enough resources at it and it will work. To do nothing will simply suck the County of even more money.

Posted by SavedByZero (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree, enforce exisitng laws and the problem should be solved.

Posted by CountrySide2cents (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 6:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Enforcing the zoning laws and mandating E-verify for employers would go a long way to cleaning up Sterling. No jobs - no stay.

Of course, the school board puts up the school signs in English and spanish and JC Penney has its signs in English and spanish, so some are going out of their way to make the south-of-the-border crowd feel welcome.

It's past time to burn up that bi-lingual welcome mat. After all, although there are legal immigrants from many different countries, it is only the illegal alien invaders from mexico, el salvador, guatamala, et al who get the glad hand - probably because they are the peasants who will work cheap.

Posted by pjvm (anonymous) on July 23, 2008 at 7:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Just having an HOA won't necessarily solve these problems. The HOA for my community, which is attached at the hip to Sterling Park, and may as well be called Sterling Park because of its location, is not pro-active when it comes to enforcing its own rules. If the residents of Sterling Park are allowed to form an HOA, they will want to be vigilant in ensuring the board members chosen actually follow through, don't slack off after a few months or a year, and take direct action when there are violations. Otherwise, they'll end up with an HOA, HOA fees, and little improvement.

Posted by rachelfriend (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 6:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Unfortunately, there's no way to force 'voter accountability' - ideally, anyone who voted Democrat would have their taxes automatically go up 17%, and would have to foster a family of illegals in their basement.
Anything less would be hypocrisy.

Posted by Hoqenishy (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Continuing to blame the problems of Sterling Park on immigrants is even less productive to the community than electing Eugene Delgaudio as their representative.
.
You reap what you sow

Posted by AFF3 (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 10:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)

AFF3 wrote: "Continuing to blame the problems of Sterling Park on immigrants is even less productive to the community than electing Eugene Delgaudio as their representative. You reap what you sow"

Obviously, this fool is either an employer of illegal alien invaders, an illegal alien invader him/herself, or a determinedly blind DIMocrat.

AFF3 needs to take a walk around some of these Sterling Park neighborhoods - but not alone and not after dark - - his/her safety will be in jeopardy from these same illegal aliens that he/she so promotes. AFF3 is the personification of what Lenin described as a "Useful Idiot" - useful to the illegals.

Posted by pjvm (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Why does everybody assume that the people who are causing the crime, creating the mess in Sterling Park are all illegal immigrants. Grant it, they are largely immigrants but most are here legally with permanent green cards. The ones in the gangs are kids who need better parenting and more mentors. Everybody needs to stop pointing fingers and think of solutions to fix the problems. The immigrants are not going to go away, they are here to stay. So we need to do our part in helping them adapt to our culture so we can all live in harmony. The cultures in their native countries are different, they haven't figured out how to "keep up with the Jones's'" Sterling Park needs a HOA and people to enforce the HOA. With effort from everybody Sterling Park can return to what it was 10-15 years ago.

Posted by jessi609 (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It appears that AFF3 and jessi609 are collaborators with the illegal alien invaders. They claim that most are here legally with green cards - - and that is absolute BALONEY (see how polite I'm being?). These folks are no more 'legal' than the drugs they are spreading, than the identities they are stealing, than the documents they are forging, than the social services they are stealing.

Be advised, dreadful duo, the good CITIZENS and LEGAL IMMIGRANTS of Virginia (and in particular Sterling) are already doing our part in "helping them" find the door on their way out.

Posted by pjvm (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 3:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

So, PJVM....are you implying that the only reason their are illegal drugs in Sterling park is because of the illegal immigrants? COME ON???? I have lived in Sterling my entire life, when ever I encountered a person who was selling drugs they were not immigrants. Also, according to your previous posts these immigrants don't speak English....so they are not the ones stealing the identities, forging the documents. This is being done by the "WHITE MAN" (oh, am I being rude) and they are selling it to immigrants. By the way, I am a GREAT CITIZEN and resident of Sterling Park, who do you think you are to help people find the door on their way out....you should be the one who doesn't let the door hit you in the back on your way out!

Posted by jessi609 (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Fine jessi, go minister to the downtrodden and prove your moral superiority instead of just preaching about it to us mean ole white folk. But as pjvm said, not alone and not after dark. Otherwise we're gonna be reading about you in the Easterner under the headline "Do-Gooder Assaulted By Illegals" ... actually no, they don't use the word illegal, they bury the word "undocumented" and such PC drivel somewhere in the 5th paragraph.

Posted by Justthefacts (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 6:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Sterling Park rednecks have for years had cars parked on their lawn. Now the problem is compouded by forclosures and the hispanic invasion. Just enforce the laws we have.

Posted by CountrySide2cents (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 6:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"Sterling Park rednecks have for years had cars parked on their lawn."

Amen! I live next door to one and three doors up from another! U.S. born and bred, if not inbred.

Not all of 20164 or even all of Sterling Park is an issue. Are you aware that there ARE, in fact, HOAs in Sterling Park? And our houses don't look perfect, and not everything is taken care of, but Church Mills is a fine neighborhood.

Posted by backinloco (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Backinloco, you mean Church Mills that has Ithaca Road running through it? Where a female pedestrian was grabbed and almost raped last week by a Hispanic male who has still not been identified? Where there are still about 6 foreclosed houses for sale in a less than 1 mile stretch along Crestview/N Lincoln Road? Where you can tell pretty much down to the inch where the border with Herndon is, because all of a sudden the ghetto ends and the roads have been recently paved? You're right, Church Mills sounds pretty "fine" to me!

Posted by Justthefacts (anonymous) on July 24, 2008 at 8:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It is clear that jessi609 and backinloco (interesting handle - spanish meaning 'crazy') are (a) employers of illegal aliens, (b) illegal aliens themselves, or (c) self-loathing Dimocrats.

jessi609 admits to having interactions with drug dealers and invites the law-abiding to leave. Wow - hope the sheriff is reading this. The legal folks of Sterling and Potomac at the supervisors' meeting would be much more inclined to boot his/her fanny out the door than mine - shall we leave it to a democratic vote, lawless jessi609? I know that I'm not the one who would be packing.

And as for backinloco, your choice of handle pretty much identifies your own agenda. Clearly you have contempt for the 'inbred' 'rednecks' who established and live in Stering. Perhaps you should join jessi609 in exiting through the portal into the illegal aliens 'cielo' of MS13, gang tattoos, drugs,
machete murders, boarding houses, trashy dwellings, et cetera ad nauseum.

I know that the legal residents of Sterling/ Potomac would be happy to help you pack.

Posted by pjvm (anonymous) on July 25, 2008 at 6:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

By the way, jessi809 and backinloco, we legal residents of Sterling / Potomac would just LOVE to see you at the next supervisors' meeting - we'd LOVE to know those folks behind the handles. We'd LOVE to know who is working to enable the destruction of our community. How about it?

Posted by pjvm (anonymous) on July 25, 2008 at 6:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

pjvm ... you DA MAN! TESTIFY

Posted by OhTheHumanity (anonymous) on July 25, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Forest Ridge is a really nice neighborhood and has an HOA. It abuts Sterling Park, but is not "the Park" as some people label it. And the HOA works there. You can definitely see a difference when you drive from Sterling Park and then turn into Forest Ridge. It's like night and day. Since Sterling Park is so large, perhaps, breaking the Park down into sections and integrating an HOA for each section would be more manageable. At any rate, I agree, the illegals are DEFINITELY a problem in terms of blight, crime, and those stupid stupid stupid bilingual signs. I mean, really, do we need bilingual signs for a minority of the population? The problem is that the minority of the population is causing the majority of the crime and blight!

Posted by Virginia (anonymous) on July 25, 2008 at 2:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I have more sympathy for the immigrants when I read through these comments- good move people! Way to drum up support for your "movement"!!
.
Dé la bienvenida a mis hermanos americanos. Excuse por favor a gente grosera que no puede controlar su

Posted by AFF3 (anonymous) on July 26, 2008 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)

It is hilarious that "you" assume that I am one of "them". What makes you think I was not at that supervisors meeting at Park View. I am a citizen of this country, born here! I have lived in Sterling Park my entire life. So, I am one of you legal folk...so nobody can boot my family anywhere. Nobody can boot anybody's family anywhere, who do you think you are? I love Sterling Park, it has definitely gone down hill but if people could stop being so racist and if we would establish HOA for communities and had the rules enforced then the community would turn around. Stop trying to blame everybody, think of ways to fix it. Telling everybody to leave isn't going to work and it isn't going to happen. I am not enabling anything, I have no problem going to my neighbors and expressing my concern over they trashy yards, or the 3 cars parked in the yard. When you discuss this like adults people are more inclined to change. When my neighbors are made aware of their short comings they make effort to fix it. The next day the grass is cut, a car is removed one by one over time. It takes time and effort. Rather than just sit in my home and complain about it I talk to them so it can be fixed. We are all living in this community, everybody needs to make an effort.

Posted by jessi609 (anonymous) on July 26, 2008 at 12:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

AFF3 exposes him/herself as hispanic, so the agenda is clear. No more needs to be said.

jessi609 - if you really WERE at the supervisors' meeting, then we know who you are - you are the tall gay kid. Hope to see you around:-)

Posted by pjvm (anonymous) on July 26, 2008 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"By the way, jessi809 and backinloco, we legal residents of Sterling / Potomac would just LOVE to see you at the next supervisors' meeting - we'd LOVE to know those folks behind the handles. We'd LOVE to know who is working to enable the destruction of our community. How about it?"

My name is Pat Coleman. I live on Argonne. I'm a citizen. How about you?

Nice assumptions.

Posted by backinloco (anonymous) on July 30, 2008 at 1:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

And no, Ithaca is not part of Church Mills. Yes, there are a lot of foreclosures. But our grass is cut and our houses are actually selling.

Go spew your hate on some other neighborhood. Way to assume you know something.

Posted by backinloco (anonymous) on July 30, 2008 at 1:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)

pvjm's hate mongering is a blight on the neighborhood.

Posted by frankieo19 (anonymous) on July 30, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I guess that this site's blog title is indicative of its agenda as well: "Living in LoCo"

Posted by backinloco (anonymous) on July 30, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

You guys assume (or at least some of you) just because we want ILLEGAL immigrants out we are racist and full of (LOL) "hate". We would just like for the rules TO BE enforced, one of these rules is if you are here illegally than you need to leave by whatever means. This will fix or at least help many of the problems in Sterling, I am not saying it's the solution to all of the problems but it is the right thing to do and it will help; ask them to leave or kick their ass out, I don't care just get them to leave. And Tall Gay Kid(aka jessie...) don't you dare call us racist just because you can't comprehend the law and you think with your feelings instead of your head. You don't know us so you don't do the assuming this time.

Posted by Inconceivable (anonymous) on July 31, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Just 7 yrs ago, before the illegal invasion impacted our area in earnest, Sterling was a nice, clean, low crime, modest middle class community. Today it's decayed to the point where recovery would be difficult. I believe the Fairfax proposal of criminalizing overcrowding could be effective on that front but ultimately it's not going to change the mindset of the Nomad like tendencies of these folks who could care less about our values, standards, morals and lifestyles. They and their 12 roommates have no desire to fit in with the community. Anyone that has experienced the misery of living next/near to a boarding house can testify to their wretched lifestyle and how it impacts everybody's quality of life in the neighborhood, not to mention safety and property values.

Posted by hunter340 (anonymous) on July 31, 2008 at 5:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The county should confiscate the vehicles of anyone caught driving without a valid license.

Posted by hunter340 (anonymous) on July 31, 2008 at 5:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

When growing up in Sterling in the 70's and 80's, and it was a safe and healthy environment. Hope you all solve the current problems, and based on what I've read, it's not the place that it once was, nor it is the place it has potential to be.

Several people are missing the point by blaming others and bickering. Those perceived as illegal probably are not; they are simply different and an easy and obvious target of frustration. Please understand they are here for a reason -- your standard of living probably increased while the American economy expanded tremendously since the early 90's. These 'illegals' are performing work Americans once did or fail to want to do. The level or work required from our citizenry has outstripped the labor pool (although that may not be the case right currently). This has been America's story several times in her past. Immigrants no longer flow solely through New York, and it's simply easier for people to be more quickly transcient with modern transportation and seemingly increasing cultural transparency.

The fact is both Clinton and Bush opened up the southern border to permit virtually anyone and everyone immigrate. Misguided political decisions are adversely affecting many localities, as the influx of immigrants burdens the support services paid for by the local taxpayers who are suddenly faced with an unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation. Bascially, the proverbial toothpaste is already out of tube.

At this point, all you can do is take some personal responsibility, set an example for the kids and those who may look to you, and become an agent of change. Take back this wonderful place that is Sterling from those who do not care about its condition and the quality of life, and make it unquestionably better than you found it. Make it better than you ever imagined it could be.

Patrick Tewell

Posted by ptewell (anonymous) on April 11, 2009 at 3:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

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