Ron Meyer Recap

BWPU Recaps Ron Meyer

By Jack Versace and Ashwin Prabu

A vivid recap of a BWPU event that featured Ron Meyer, the former Broad Run Supervisor, as a guest speaker

Ron Meyer, the former Broad Run District Supervisor, met with Briar Woods high school students to discuss bipartisanship, youth engagement, the importance of local government, and his road to success in the political field.

Meyer began the discussion with the importance of getting involved at the local level. With so few people engaged at the local level, making an impact in the community can easily be accomplished. This impact can come in the form of many things: bringing down lunch prices, creating a traffic signal, making a new playing field, etc. Meyer was able to implement the askings of the community as they pertained to tolls on the Greenway. When knocking on doors during his Broad Run Supervisory campaign, he was able to decipher that the rising prices on the Greenway were somewhat of a problem among the population. There was little policy in place at the state level to regulate taxes and to implement distance-based tolling. Meyer was able to provide a solution by proposing a parallel road to the Greenway that would be paid entirely by the private sector. This road is set to finish in the coming two years and provide a free alternative to those who were originally paying to only drive a mile or two on the toll road.

Meyer has also made his impact as District Supervisor with the proposal of the Children Science Center that will be built on Route 28 with the help of county and state funding. This center will prove to be a great resource not only for younger kids but also for people of all ages.

Meyer was not able to get to where he is today on his own. Tom Davis, a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, acted as a political mentor for Meyer. Davis instilled the importance of bipartisanship in Meyer. Walking across party lines is often a difficult step to take but one that is necessary when creating policies with widespread impact. This is an idea that he will be taking into the future. Meyer, who runs across party lines on some issues, may not be running for office in the next term due to the idea that Republicans and Democrats should stay ideologically pure. This makes it hard for Meyer to win Republican votes when he does not always stick to Republican views. This break would also allow Meyer to focus on his family.

Davis also taught Meyer the significance of knocking on doors. When Meyer was campaigning, he went knocking on doors and was able to talk to voters face to face and listen to the problems they saw in the community. With this being done, he was able to create a list of things to do for the moment he stepped into office. Knocking on doors, along with hosting a plethora of townhalls, gets the people engaged in the decision-making process. Meyer also recommended ways for students to get involved in politics at a young age.

Getting involved as a teen can be done in a variety of ways. Meyer suggested volunteering for local campaigns to go door-knocking for candidates that uphold one’s beliefs. With an election every year in Virginia, it is easy to reach out to local politicians and take part in the day to day operations. Advocating for important causes is another way to get involved. When teens see an opportunity for change in the community, creating groups and getting heard can make a large impact on policy that gets made.

Meyer also touched on the issue of finances when it came to local government. The yearly pay for the House of Delegates and the State Senate falls far below the necessary pay needed to support oneself, especially in Loudoun County. This opens up the jobs to those who are usually independently wealthy or retired and creates a structural exclusion of those who are young or cannot afford to maintain a household on a low income.

To close off the meeting Meyer looks into the future of the Board Supervisors. The first issue the Board will be tackling is that of affordable housing. Building more affordable housing allows for a younger generation to move in, creating a better workforce. This creates a snowball effect by attracting new companies to the area due to an increase in an effective workforce. The Board of Supervisors is also looking to create more trails and parks. The Emerald Ribbons Project will be working to create linear parks along stream valleys in an attempt to provide more spaces to allow for recreation. Meyer himself has aided in a project to help link sidewalks that had previously been cut short. Although he plans to take a four-year break from his position, Meyer’s persistence in politics and his advocacy for change at a local level will remain strong.