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Norman K. Styer
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GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson campaigned in Sterling on Sunday night. Carson is the first 2016 presidential hopeful to stop in Loudoun, but will likely not be the last. The 2012 race brought President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney to the county.
Leesburg Panel Puts Spotlight On Town’s Increasing Diversity population at just more than 46,000, and non-whites accounted for 39.7 percent of the town’s population. Hispanics have seen the largest increase, making up 20.6 percent of the population compared with 2.4 percent in 1990. Asians make up the thirdmost prominent group at 8.1 percent after registering at 1.4 percent in 1990. Blacks have dropped to 7.8 percent.
NUMBERS CHANGING
MINORITIES IN GOVERNMENT
In 1990, Leesburg had 16,202 residents, and 83.7 percent of them were white, according to town records. Blacks made up the second-largest racial group at 12.2 percent, and 16.3 percent of residents overall were non-white. Ever since, a steady increase of residents of Hispanic and Asian descent has driven an ever-changing scene in Leesburg. An estimate in 2013 put the
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see employment numbers, and they were worse than I thought,” Loudoun County NAACP President Phillip Thompson said, mentioning a Freedom of Information Act open records request. “This is a problem, and they needed to do something.” Fast forward to July of this year, when the town’s most recent Workforce Diversity Report showed the numbers have slightly increased in terms of minority employees. There are now 12 Hispanic workers compared with eight in November 2013, and there are four employees of Asian descent compared with three two years ago. The number of black employees has held steady at 12. “I think part of the reason there was some lag there is because there’s been a tremendous amount of stability with those who work within the town,” Councilwoman Katie Sheldon Hammler said. “There Continued on Page 9
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The driving force behind the creation of the commission came when the task force looked at diversity numbers within the town’s government. Although 60 percent of the town’s residents were white, that group made up 90 percent of the town government’s workforce. In November 2013, white men and women occupied 293 of the town’s 336 jobs. “I sent a FOIA to the Leesburg government to
PAID
hile other cities across the United States are struggling with racial tension, Leesburg is working to be at the forefront in addressing diversity concerns. “We have to all work together as a team,” said Enrique Gonzalez. He was tapped to chair the region’s first municipal Diversity Commission, created by the Town Council in March to improve relations with minorities. “We need to see how we can move this forward so we can avoid the problems that a lot of other cities are having.” For commission member Linda McCray, the effort started two years ago when she was asked to be part of a task force charged with analyzing diversity within Leesburg’s government.
As its work evolved and the numbers trickled in, the task force found that even though slightly more than half of the town’s population was white, that racial group made up most of the town workforce. “We consumed all the data, and I was amazed at what I was looking at,” McCray said. “The numbers were pretty startling, and that propelled the Diversity Commission forward.”
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C l as si fi e d
ust as a new poll showed he was tied with Donald Trump in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, Dr. Ben Carson brought his campaign to Sterling on Sunday night. More than 1,500 people gathered in the school’s gymnasium to hear Carson’s message advocating increased fiscal and personal responsibility. Carson is the first 2016 presidential candidate to hold a rally in Loudoun, but more are expected to follow as they seek to impress voters in the key swing county
in an important swing state. Both have gone Democratic in the past two presidential elections. Speaking for an hour, Carson covered a wide range of policy proposals. “The stuff that I’m talking about is not Democrat or Republican stuff,” he said. “It is American stuff.” Much of his message focused on addressing the nation’s fiscal challenges, an $18 trillion debt and a $200 trillion “fiscal gap” of unfunded government obligations, including Social Security and Medicare. “This is not something you’ll hear any traditional politician talk
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Carson Is First To Stump In Loudoun
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