Anti-data-center group ‘Protect Fauquier’ endorses Renard Carlos for Warrenton mayor

Warrenton Town Councilman Renard Carlos, who is challenging Warrenton Mayor Carter Nevill in the Nov. 8 election, gained support this week from Protect Fauquier, a coalition of county and town residents who oppose an Amazon data center proposed for Blackwell Road. The endorsement came even though Carlos, an at-large member of the town council since 2018, has not said he opposes the data center outright.

That may be a moot point, however, since mayors do not vote unless there is a tie among the town council’s seven members.

Both Carlos and Cindy Burbank, secretary of Protect Fauquier, held a press conference at the John Barton Payne community room in Warrenton Monday, Oct. 24 to announce the endorsement. At the session, attended by a half-dozen Carlos allies, Burbank praised Carlos’s leadership, while Carlos criticized the town council’s lack of “transparency” and its process of managing its issues — from a boundary line adjustment that would enlarge the town’s land area by three-fifths to its handling of the Amazon proposal.

But the main themes of his presentation were more overarching: that the council needs to listen to residents and respect their views, to make policies based on careful thought and research and to keep residents in the loop as it works through its decision-making. Residents should not have to spend “thousands of dollars” on Freedom of Information Act requests to learn what’s going on in their town, Carlos said.

Earlier this year, the Piedmont Environmental Council and the Piedmont Journalism Foundation, which owns the Fauquier Times, spent about $1,350 on FOIAs for town documents, and Citizens for Fauquier County spent additional money to learn the details behind a Warrenton zoning amendment allowing the town council to consider data centers. In August 2021, Carlos joined the other town council members in unanimously voting to approve the zoning amendment. But after seeing the FOIA’d documents, one council member said he wanted to retract his vote and a planning commissioner called the whole process “disingenuous.”

When questioned at the Oct. 24 press conference about his position on the Amazon data center, Carlos stopped short of saying he opposes the data center but said he’s “skeptical it’s the right place, the right fit.”

Carlos said, “The process that I've witnessed makes it very difficult for me to render a judgment. Because there are a lot of questions right now that I don't know that I have the answers to.”

Carlos, who is communications manager for the Northern Piedmont Community Foundation, contended that Nevill needs to listen to criticism and “not dodge questions.” He said that residents recently have expressed "outright rage over the lack of transparency."

However, some of the “transparency” problems would seem to sit with the council itself. Carlos took note of private meetings that town council and planning commission members had with Amazon representatives in July 2021. He attended one of them.

It turned out that mid-level town employees had signed non-disclosure agreements with Amazon, which the town attorney later interpreted to cover the council and prevent them from discussing the data center with the press. Carlos said the town needs to write a policy on NDAs so everyone understands the rules.

Carlos also complained that Nevill had sent a letter on July 11 to the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors on behalf of the town council asking that the town’s boundaries be extended. Carlos said the matter needs more research as to its costs and benefits before starting negotiations with the county. He said he had asked Nevill for such a review and never received it.

Asked if the council voted on the letter, he said they did not. “Was every single member of council in favor of moving that process forward? Well, I can tell you, no, because I know I certainly wasn't.” On this subject, he said, “Many of [residents] feel that [they] have been left in the dark.”

Nevill responded to Carlos’ criticisms on Wednesday, saying the town council’s processes have been proper and transparent.

Protect Fauquier contributed $1,000 to Carlos’ campaign, Burbank said in an interview after the press conference. The organization has 912 members, according to its Facebook page. Its petition opposing the data center or requiring that corresponding transmission lines be buried has just under 2,000 signatures.

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