Terry Titus Appointed to Town Council

The Town Council held a special meeting Wednesday night where they appointed Terry Titus to fill a vacant seat left by Ken Reid. Reid was recently elected to Loudoun County Board of Supervisors during the November elections.

Titus, who was a council member back in the early 1970s, was one of twenty two applicants who petitioned council for a chance to serve the town. Mayor Kristen Umstattd said that although she was “very impressed by the number of applicants as well as their qualifications” only one person could be chosen.

“We had professionals, we had people with town experience, with county experience, and we were truly fortunate to have this many good candidates apply but in the end I’m delighted that Mr. Titus won,” Umstattd said. “I think Terry Titus brings an unprecedented level of experience both with town issues and county issues. He can clearly hit the ground running. We’ll have no problems with him getting up to speed. He’s already up to speed.”

Titus said that although he doesn’t plan to run during the special election in April he’s happy to fill in while tackling issues that are most important to him. Among them is the appearance of the downtown, which Titus has called home all of his life.

“I don’t want to change this town,” Titus said, but its image is important especially when it comes to parking. “There’s not enough parking in this town. I don’t care how many studies the town has that says there is. There’s not.”

Titus will also be a decision maker when it comes to this year’s budget. Although he isn’t a numbers man Titus said he’s not fearful and has already gone over some of the details with Town Manager John Wells.

“It’s just been a while since I’ve been that intimately involved,” Titus said.

Wednesday night’s nomination process only took about thirty minutes. Each council member nominated one applicant before voting began.

Council member Marty Martinez nominated former Leesburg Supervisor and Town Council Member Kelly Burk, Vice Mayor Kevin Wright nominated Neely Law, council member Tom Dunn nominated Bob Zoldos, council member Katie Hammler nominated David Schmidt, council member Dave Butler nominated former Leesburg School Board Member Tom Marshall and Umstattd nominated Terry Titus.

Each applicant received a 3 to 3 vote except for Titus who led by one. Mayor Kristen Umstattd, Marty Martinez, Tom Dunn and Katie Hammler voted in favor of Titus' appointment.

Titus will hold the position until April 17 when a special election will be held to fill the seat until Dec. 31, 2014. Titus said the only way he would run is if the council asks or if there are other people running that he doesn’t agree with.