The Ashburn Comeback Plan
The roadmap
This is not a four-year agenda. Naming the long work is the point — a town that plans in four-year pieces gets four-year results, and then starts over.
← Back to the planFirst 90 days · 18 commitments
Years 1–2 — Find out and fix cheap
Count what we have. Publish what we find. Do every small visible thing that doesn't need a budget line. This phase is unglamorous on purpose — you cannot plan around a town nobody has measured.
- 1. Who Does What, on One PageKnow Your City
- 2. How to Get Something FixedKnow Your City
- 3. How to Show UpKnow Your City
- 4. Tell You When I LoseKnow Your City
- 8. Audit the Youth Resource CenterOur Young People
- 13. Publish the Condition ListOur Neighborhoods
- 22. A Condition Assessment on All Six ParksParks, Health, and Recreation
- 30. One Person, One Page, One List for VeteransOur Elders and Veterans
- 34. Publish Response TimesPublic Safety
- 38. You'll Know Before and AfterHow City Hall Works
- 39. Posted Hours You Can Find MeHow City Hall Works
- 40. Confirm we Can Even ApplyHow City Hall Works
- 41. Build a Grant PipelineHow City Hall Works
- 42. Show up to the Regional CommissionHow City Hall Works
- 43. A Close Look at City FinancesHow City Hall Works
- 44. Sit in on Budget Work SessionsHow City Hall Works
- 48. Ask the Ones Who Left WhyBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
- 49. Talk to the Ones Still HereBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
First year · 23 commitments
Year 1–2 — Build what the counting earned
Turn documents into funded things. Grants land or they don't, and we say which.
- 5. Explain the Budget Like a PersonKnow Your City
- 6. A Town Hall Before the Budget, not AfterKnow Your City
- 9. An Operating Plan, and the Doors OpenOur Young People
- 10. Build it on Partners, not One OrganizationOur Young People
- 11. Young People at the TableOur Young People
- 14. A Repair Schedule, not a Complaint LineOur Neighborhoods
- 15. Find Out if the Rates Cover the CostOur Neighborhoods
- 16. A Cleanup Schedule for the Whole CityOur Neighborhoods
- 17. Publish a Land InventoryOur Neighborhoods
- 19. Get People from Renting to OwningOur Neighborhoods
- 21. A Maintenance Standard for our ParksParks, Health, and Recreation
- 24. A Safe Place to WalkParks, Health, and Recreation
- 25. A Community Garden That ExistsParks, Health, and Recreation
- 27. Publish What Healthcare Actually Exists HereParks, Health, and Recreation
- 28. Make the Transportation we Have Actually WorkParks, Health, and Recreation
- 31. A City Update That Reaches EverybodyOur Elders and Veterans
- 33. Veterans Mentoring our Young PeopleOur Elders and Veterans
- 35. Stop Training Officers for Other CitiesPublic Safety
- 36. Grant Funding for our Police DepartmentPublic Safety
- 37. Light the Dark StreetsPublic Safety
- 45. A Technology AuditHow City Hall Works
- 47. Reinstate Ashburn's Development AuthorityBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
- 51. The Exit and Downtown Are One ProblemBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
Years 2–4 · 8 commitments
Years 2–4 — The rest of the term
The work that needs a budget cycle behind it, and the programs that only run once the foundation exists.
- 7. Civics for our StudentsKnow Your City
- 12. A Paid Summer Work ProgramOur Young People
- 18. Fix What's Still StandingOur Neighborhoods
- 20. Clear the Tax-delinquent BacklogOur Neighborhoods
- 26. A Farmers MarketParks, Health, and Recreation
- 32. Somewhere to Be, not Just Somewhere to LiveOur Elders and Veterans
- 46. Invest in City StaffHow City Hall Works
- 50. Put Teeth in our OrdinancesBusiness, Downtown, and I-75
Years 5+ · 3 commitments
Years 5+ — Compound
The things that take longer than one term. Naming them honestly is the point — a town that plans in four-year pieces gets four-year results and then starts over.