Loudoun County, Virginia

www.loudoun.gov
Phyllis J. Randall
Chairwoman At Large
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

March 9, 2018

Dear Congresswoman Comstock,

I read your letter to me in reference to the discussion I had with Ms. Erin Rayner regarding her attendance at
the Loudoun County Commission of Women and Girls meeting. I found your letter “interesting” to say the
least; let’s review.

First some background. Listening to the voices of women in Loudoun County, on January 3, 2017, I brought
forth an item to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, to establish the Loudoun County Commission on
Women and Girls. Unfortunately, on a six to three decision, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted
against establishing the Commission on Women and Girls (Supervisors Saines, Umstattd and Chair Randall
voted in support of establishing the Commission and Supervisors Buona, Meyer, Buffington, Volpe, Higgins
and Letourneau voted against establishing the Commission). In response to continued calls and requests from
women, I made the decision to go forward with the Commission from my office. I am extraordinarily proud
of the work the Commission has been involved in since its inception, to include, partnering with other nonprofit
organizations that serve women and girls in Loudoun County and Northern Virginia. The women who make
up the Commission of Women and Girls are leaders in the Loudoun community and come from the nonprofit,
business, education, disability and faith communities just to name a few. The Commission is already an
established nonprofit and interest in the Commission grows on a daily basis.

Second, it seems that you may believe that I was not aware that Ms. Rayner was invited to speak at the
Commission meeting and who invited her. As the Commission is conducted from my office, I am always
aware of who will be attending the meetings and was happy that Commission members welcomed Ms. Rayner
to the meeting. After completing a County Budget meeting, I was happy to have some time to spend at a
Commission meeting. Upon walking into the room, Ms. Rayner was already standing up to leave with her coat
on and said to me “I hope you don’t think I’m leaving because you walked in,” we laughed and I asked to
speak to her before she left. This interaction was observed by every woman in the room, to include the ladies
who invited her, please feel free to call any one of them. Because Ms. Rayner had already expressed she needed
to leave, I did try to hasten our conversation however, the fact that she described me as hostile is both
unfortunate and baffling.

Furthermore, in no way did I disparage your “Young Woman Leadership Program.” In fact, I have said in the
past, and said more than once to Ms. Rayner during our conversation, that your program was one of the many
things that influenced me to bring the Loudon Commission on Women and Girls to a vote on the Loudoun
County Board of Supervisors. Clearly, she and I have very different versions of our conversation. Although I
find Ms. Rayner’s interpretation of the conversation inexplicable, I nor anyone else has the right to tell another
person what to think or how to feel. To further respond to her version of our conversation is nether helpful,
nor would do anything to move my vision and mission to make a positive impact on the lives of women and
girls in our area.

1 Harrison Street, S.E., 5th Floor, P.O. Box 7000, Leesburg, VA 20177-7000 MS #1
(703) 777-0204 {Phone}  (703) 777-0421 {Fax}  Phyllis.Randall@loudoun.gov {email}
So now, let’s discuss what we can do in the future, together. As you may know, as a result of her visit to our
meeting, the Chair of The Commission on Women and Girls already reached out via email to Ms. Rayner to
follow up on some of the items discussed. In fact, before I received your perplexing letter, an email to the
Chairs of the Commission had already been sent with Ms. Rayner’s contact information. In addition, some
of the women on the Commission have graciously offered to speak at your Young Woman Leadership
Program.

Finally, I do believe that raising the next generation of women leaders in Loudoun, is a sacred responsibility
of all us. Toward that effort, I invite every Elected Leader, regardless of political affiliation to join me in this
effort. Assuming you share that belief, I look forward to speaking with you and have already reached out to
State Senator Jennifer Wexton to discuss how she can be involved in the Commission. I will be making calls
to other women Elected Officials in the weeks to come.

Thank you and now…we go forward.

Phyllis J. Randall
Chair at Large

Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

Loudoun, VA