GAINESVILLE, Va. — Prince William County Board of Supervisor Chair Ann Wheeler is under fire by residents and a conservation group.
The Coalition to Protect Prince William County started a petition to recall her after financial records disclosed to the county revealed she had invested tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in technology companies tied with data centers.
The chief of staff for Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth said the office is "looking into the matter."
The expansion of data centers in the technology corridor of the county and the use of land in the "rural crescent" have been an ongoing controversy. Many residents have voiced their concerns for months specifically about the Prince William Gateway Project, which proposes to build data centers near Pageland Lane.
Data centers have been of high interest to county officials because of proposed economic gain and the revenue that would benefit schools and housing. For supporters who showed up to the meetings, the data centers are a way to bring the county "into the future."
However, citizens are concerned over the impact on the environment including wildlife and the watershed, traffic, noise and threat to the nearby Manassas Battlefield Park.
The recall effort sparked after financial records from 2020 showed Wheeler invested in several technology and data companies in the county. She is accused of lack of transparency and using her position to financially benefit from the development of data centers despite community opposition.
The State of Economic Interest forms showed she invested in at least seven stocks in the data center industry from February 2020 to February 2021 each ranging from $5,000 to $250,000. In the most recent filing, several of the companies include ones with active data centers in the county including Blackstone, Amazon, and JP Morgan Chase.
"She bought this stock after becoming chair and after the developments happening, so, you think there's something wrong there but we don't have the proof," resident Roger Yackel told WUSA9.
"You have lost the trust of the people," one resident said during the public comments section at the meeting. "At the very least, recuse yourself, Chair Wheeler. You are compromised."
"Everything about this stinks to high heavens," resident Gary O'Brien said in a press conference before the meeting.
Wheeler has not responded to WUSA9's request for comments.
Earlier this week, a Nokesville resident sent a letter to Ashworth to investigate possible violations and a conflict of interest.
Although the chief of staff told WUSA9 no other details could be released, an email responding to the letter this week said, "the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office does not investigate criminal cases. That duty is performed by the appropriate law enforcement agency. Once that investigation is complete, this office reviews the findings and makes a determination as to what charges, if any, are to be filed. We would also at some point make a decision regarding possible recusal of our office. I will forward your email in its entirety to the proper law enforcement agency."
WUSA9 is also following other data center developments that have drawn the ire of neighbors worried about their change backyards including the Bristow community where developer Stanley Martin Company promised to install "buffers" to ease concerns.
The company, known for building residential homes, wants to turn a stretch of land along Devlin Road in Bristow into 4 million square feet of two-story data storage facilities.
In one of the more recent meetings, Truett Young with Stanley Martin promised a 100-foot, tree-filled buffer between homes and the data facilities.
Young said the buildings would be set back to keep them mostly out of sight from the neighborhood.