Cummings Visits Ampersand Pantry Project
Mayor Kelly Burk and the Democratic candidates for Leesburg Town Council were invited by Leesburg attorney Peter Burnett to visit the Ampersand Pantry Project on Market Street.  The project is a non-profit helping to feed our most vulnerable citizens during the current health crisis.  Mr. Burnett and his team of wonderful volunteers have handed out over 29,000 meals.  The Ampersand Pantry Project has partnered with local non-profits, like Mobile Hope, and local restaurants to prepare meals and groceries for those in need.  The team of volunteers were incredible to see in action.  They all were working hard to handout lunches and other grocery items, as well as diapers and feminine hygiene products in a way that protected the volunteers and the folks receiving the items.  

The Ampersand Pantry Project is driven by donations and volunteer help.  It's an amazing operation that is making the difference to residents of Leesburg and Loudoun County everyday.  Thank you to all the volunteers.  If you'd like more information on how to volunteer or contribute to help keep the pantry operating, click here.  

This evening I was honored to receive the endorsement of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee with eighty votes. As a life-long Democrat, I look forward to working with members of the party to run a strong campaign that wins in November.  Additionally, I'm excited to run on a ticket with Leesburg Mayor Kelly Burk, Ara Bagdasarin, and Bill Repogle.  

Borrowed from the Loudoun Now

Leesburg's Council Ballot Set...
Seven candidates will vie for four seats on the Leesburg Town Council in November, with the filing deadline expiring Tuesday.
Mayor Kelly Burk, in her bid for a third two-year mayoral term, will face a familiar challenge. Councilman Ron Campbell, whose own council term is up at year’s end, officially qualified for the mayoral ballot just before the deadline. Campbell challenged Burk two years ago, but finished third in a three-way race that also included Councilman Tom Dunn.
On the Town Council ballot, Dunn is the only incumbent running for another four-year term. If successful, it would be his fourth victory since having joined the council in 2008. He has also run for mayor three times, twice against former mayor and current Leesburg District Supervisor Kristen Umstattd and two years ago against Burk.
Challengers include first-time candidates Zach Cummings, Ara Bagdasarian, and Bill Replogle, and second-time candidate Kari Nacy, who ran for the council for the first time in 2018.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Those who are victorious at the polls will take office Jan. 1.
While as many as three new faces could join the council dais in January, there will be a new addition even sooner. At the council’s next set of meetings, June 22-23, council members are expected to appoint a new member of the council to fill Josh Thiel’s unexpired council term, which runs through Dec. 31. Thiel resigned from the council in May because of a move outside of town limits, as well as family and work obligations. Applications from town residents interested in filling the seat for the remaining six months of the year are being accepted through June 15.
While the town races are non-partisan, Campbell is also expected to challenge Burk for the Loudoun County Democratic Committee endorsement. The committee is scheduled to make its endorsements June 13. Burk has received LCDC support in both of her previous campaigns.

The following article is from the Loudoun Now.
Cummings Announces Leesburg Town Council Run
January 23, 2020
A Leesburg resident whose political career began in his Ohio hometown has his sights set on a seat on the council dais of his new home.
Zach Cummings, a four-year town resident who lives in the Greenway Farms neighborhood, has filed paperwork to run for one of the three Town Council seats on November’s ballot.
If elected it wouldn’t be his first political rodeo. Cummings ran for—and won—his first council seat in his hometown of Dover, OH, in 2005 at just 23 years old.
“I was born and raised there so I felt like I wanted to give back to the community that gave me so much,” he said.
It was a steep learning curve, Cummings acknowledged.
“I was 23; I hadn’t really gone out and experienced much, other than going away for college. I learned very quickly [a council position] is not as sexy as you think,” he recalled.
Cummings said he learned a lot from his first political stint, serving almost all of his four-year term before resigning to take a job out of the area. Now, with his family settled in Leesburg, he is looking to serve again.
“What drew me to Leesburg was the sense of community I felt,” he said. “It mimicked to me what I grew up with. To be able to give my son that same community feel in an era where that community feel isn’t everywhere, that is pretty special to my wife and myself. Part of enjoying that community feel and being part of that community is stepping up to serve. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to run for Town Council. I feel that my fresh perspective is needed on council.”
He said the need for a fresh face was made even more evident by the events that transpired this week, with three council members accusing the other four of a hidden agenda in moving to terminate the town attorney.
“I don’t think you have to be friends, but can disagree without being disagreeable,” Cummings said.
At the top of his list of priorities if elected is economic development. He points to his background as a Realtor, following a previous career in political fundraising, as being an asset in this area.
“We need elected officials who are able to market and sell Leesburg because we’ve got to balance this burden between property taxes and commercial taxes and ensure the burden isn’t on the individual property owners. We need a balanced approach to fund our town,” he said.
Focusing not only on attracting new businesses to locate in Leesburg, while understanding the challenges of a mostly built-out town, and also ensuring continued success for existing businesses is a good two-pronged approach, he said.
Cummings also points to the need for smart growth and development, as well as ensuring continued viability of the water and sewer utility system, as big priorities. On the former, Cummings acknowledges that many will look at his career choice and assume he will be beholden to residential developers.
“A lot of people are going to think I’ll want every residential development to go up. What I can tell you is home values are related to the new development happening around them. A bunch of new houses won’t necessarily raise property values. You have to really balance this development. Ultimately my job as a member of Town Council is to protect the taxpayers of Leesburg, keep property taxes low. That’s why I want to focus my efforts when we talk about development on true revenue-generating development which is commercial versus residential,” he said.
Cummings has not yet set a date for his campaign kick-off, but said it will likely occur sometime after the March 3 presidential primary. For more information on his campaign go to facebook.com/ZachCummingsforLeesburg.
The seats held by council members Ron Campbell,  Josh Thiel and Tom Dunn will be on the ballot in November. None has publicly announced whether they intend to run again. Mayor Kelly Burk is also up for re-election and has confirmed she will be on the ballot. The filing deadline to run for one of the four seats is June 9.