Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 5h 42m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/3133
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-11-02. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:08] Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our board meeting of December 5th, 2023, and I'm sure many of you have seen today's agenda. We have a very full morning, a lot of recognitions, a lot of things to celebrate this morning, but before we do that, we are going to begin with a moment of silence to be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, and before those who are able, I ask to rise for a moment of silence. Before that, I'm going to ask my colleagues if they have anyone that they would like to keep in our thoughts and prayers this morning. And I'm going to begin by sadly asking

[00:00:47] us to remember Travis Trainham and his family. Travis was with our Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and was with Relief Battalion 8 B-Shift. Sadly passed away on Thanksgiving Day.

[00:01:02] He passed away in an activity unrelated to his Fire and Rescue Department work, but passed away in Richmond, was a valuable member of our Fairfax County Fire Department since 2004, and will be greatly missed. If we could please keep Travis's friends and family in our thoughts and prayers, as well as his Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department family, who also is dealing with this very challenging loss of life.

[00:01:31] And also, as the board is aware, we did have a tragic juvenile car crash on November 20th on Pioneer Lane. And since that accident, we now learn that one of the young people passed away as a result of injuries sustained in that crash.

[00:01:49] And two remain hospitalized in very serious conditions. So we ask that we keep their family and our thoughts and prayers as we progress as well. With that, I'm happy to recognize any other supervisors who have anyone they would like to mention.

[00:02:06] Seeing and hearing none, at this time, if we could all rise for a moment of silence to be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Please face the flag.

[00:02:37] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And this morning, we have three presentations today to do before we recognize outgoing, retiring members of our Board of Supervisors.

[00:03:09] We also have a lot of legislators and school board members who are also retiring that we're going to recognize this morning. Before we do that, we have a few other presentations. And just as a reminder, I will announce the proclamation and invite our speaker, designated speaker, down to the podium.

[00:03:26] If there is anyone here with the speaker who would like to join them, they are welcome to join them at the podium at that time. After we read the proclamation and after our speaker's remarks, we will pose for a picture from the dais. And our first recognition this morning is a resolution to recognize the McLean High School girls softball team for their state championship.

[00:03:49] And this was requested by myself, Supervisor Faust, and Supervisor Palchuk. Our speaker today is Maurice Tewill, coach of the McLean High School girls softball team. If you could come on down, and it looks like a lot of members of the team here this morning.

[00:04:09] And again, anyone who's here with you that would like to join you down at the podium is welcome to do so. And while you are coming down, I am going to recognize Supervisor Faust for a resolution. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move the following resolution.

[00:04:28] Whereas the McLean High School girls softball team won the Virginia Class 6 state championship tournament crown, just the second state championship in the team's history. And whereas due to conditions that delayed the first round contest, the McLean Highlanders played three state playoff games in just 28 hours, including one that went into extra innings to take home the championship.

[00:04:52] And whereas the championship is a testament to the hard work of these student athletes, the guidance of their coaches and staff, and the support of the community. And whereas these impressive achievements bring honor to the individual athletes, their coaches, and their school.

[00:05:11] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, on behalf of all Fairfax County residents, does hereby congratulate the McLean High School Highlanders softball team for its outstanding achievements and state championship victory.

[00:05:27] So moved. And I'm happy to second that, along with it sounded like half the board. Discussion on the motion, Supervisor Faust. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I like to say whenever a state champion comes before me, a lot of us played sports in our day, and very, very few of us won state championships.

[00:05:51] It'll be something you remember for the rest of your lives, and you'll look back, and it'll bring you such pleasure. And each of your teammates, you'll recall something special about each other. It's just something that will be permanent. But the other thing I'd like to say is that as impressive as your athletic accomplishments or as a resident of McLean, a member of the community, I just want to say how much I respect you and your fellow students.

[00:06:23] Your athletic accomplishments are great. Your scholastic accomplishments are just phenomenal. And your contributions to the community at large are great. And so I want to thank you, Coach. Thank all of you who participated and helped bring home the state championship.

[00:06:43] We're very proud. And I want to thank Alan Riley, who continues to bring state champions to this board. Thank you, Alan. So thank you and congratulations. Thank you, Supervisor Faust. any further discussion Supervisor Pouchek than Supervisor Gross? I just want to congratulate all of you. I know it really is a team effort and as was mentioned not just of this team here you're all incredible but we know it's a community effort and we know from your wonderful principal who helps bring this collaborative environment to your school to your parents who spend countless hours

[00:07:19] helping you as well as to your coaches and your teachers who have helped ensure that you are where you are. I believe we also have a world champion among us, and so there she is. It looks like that girl from the picture. Congratulations for your accomplishments as a team, for your accomplishments as a school, for being such great members of the community, but also for helping create the environment that helps bring our very own students to the world stage as well. I know you're very, We're very proud of all of you and you have school board members here today.

[00:07:54] So not only is it a community of McLean, but the entire One Fairfax community is very thrilled and excited to have you represent us in McLean. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Gross. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This will be my last opportunity to comment about Title IX.

[00:08:15] Congratulations to you all. As one who grew up before there was ever a Title IX, which allowed, which gave young women, girls, older women, everybody the opportunity to compete on the field, just as boys do.

[00:08:32] I am really pleased when we see the young women in Fairfax County come before us. We've had a number of teams, and this is something that has now sort of taken as a given. It wasn't always that way.

[00:08:49] I suspect your mothers probably grew up under Title IX, but your grandmothers may not have. And so when we look at the young women athletes today, you know, you've proven that we've always had that opportunity to be athletic.

[00:09:05] We haven't always had that opportunity to actually play and compete with everybody else. And so congratulations on your victory, and keep reminding people, because there are still folks out there who don't think that girls should play sports, don't think girls should ride horseback, don't think, I mean, it's stunning to look at some of the things that people think girls should not do.

[00:09:34] Girls should be able to do absolutely everything they want to do, and you are a very good example of that. congratulations thank you supervisor gross and that that may be the last time here you do that but that never gets old and I have a feeling that resonates in this building for many many years to come and I think a reminder of how far we've come but that we still have work to do it wasn't that long ago as a part of a budget consideration that we had to add an item dealing with girls softball

[00:10:10] equity and making sure that we had the adequate number of girls softball fields in every inch of this county that we needed. And so I know there may be some people here who are involved in that effort, but an important reminder that our work is not finished. And I just want to also congratulate McLean High School and particularly these young women who are here before us on your success.

[00:10:34] Supervisor Faust mentioned, you know, some of us played, never received a state championship. I I remember playing high school sports and never even having a win in two straight seasons. And so not only is it remarkable that you succeeded, but I think the most important thing is the camaraderie, the sportsmanship, the lifelong friendships that you have forged in playing sports.

[00:10:58] And it's an important part of your high school and something that you'll never forget. And so I also want to thank your parents in particular, their dedication, making sure that you were able to participate, and of course the good work of the coaches and know how proud we are.

[00:11:15] Anytime we get a state title, it's all of Fairfax County that is celebrating with you. And so we congratulate each and every one of you on a huge success. With that, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

[00:11:31] Any abstentions? And as expected, that motion carries, and Coach, we're glad you're here with us. We welcome you. The floor is yours, and I know we're going to take a moment to allow each of the girls to introduce themselves, too. Welcome. Excellent. Thank you. Good morning.

[00:11:47] I'm Maurice Twill, head varsity softball coach at McLean High School. It's nice to be back. We were here in 2010 when we won our first state championship. Mr. Chairman, Ms. Vice Chairman, distinguished members of the Board of Supervisors, thank you.

[00:12:04] Thank you for making us feel special, because this is truly a special group of student-athletes and coaches. I'd like to share with you our unprecedented journey to the softball state championship. We were scheduled to play the state quarterfinal on Tuesday, June 6, but McLean High School had graduation that day.

[00:12:23] So the game was rescheduled for Wednesday, June 7. All the other teams played on Tuesday. On Wednesday, just before we boarded the bus to Lake Braddock, the game was canceled due to Code Red, poor air quality. The game was rescheduled for Thursday evening. Thursday morning, Fairfax County canceled all extracurricular activities again.

[00:12:44] The Virginia High School League devised a plan for us to travel to Charlottesville to play the game at Albemarle High School that evening. About an hour before we were scheduled to board the bus, the game was postponed. The air quality in Charlottesville was no better. The VHSL then approved the plan for us to play a doubleheader on Friday, June 9, with the first game being played at 9 a.m. at Lake Braddock.

[00:13:07] That morning, we defeated a strong Lake Braddock team 2-0. Our athletic director bought us lunch. We then boarded a bus at 2 p.m. to John Champ High School in Loudoun County for a 4 p.m. game. We trailed Kellum High School 3-0 after five innings.

[00:13:25] We scored one run in the sixth inning and then tied the game with a clutch two-run homer by a freshman in the seventh inning to four extra innings. We scored one run in the ninth inning and prevailed 4-3 in an improbable comeback victory.

[00:13:42] No rest for the weary. We had the state championship game the next morning at 11 a.m. against our crosstown rival and defending state champion, Madison High School. They defeated us about a week ago, 6-0 in the regional championship game. But our girls were up to the task.

[00:13:59] What a series of events. I told our team that you just can't make this stuff up. I told our team that it was our destiny to win this game, and they believed me. McClain won a well-played, hard-fought game 2-1. Our sophomore pitcher threw every pitch in those three games in a 28-hour time frame.

[00:14:19] So here we are. Perhaps we weren't the most talented team in the tournament, but we were the finest example of a team. This was the most tight-knit team I have ever coached. We all liked each other. We were having fun. The girls played the game loosely.

[00:14:37] We enjoyed coming to practice, and we believed in each other. In the end, the special group was rewarded with the state championship. Thank you. Maybe, just maybe, we'll see you again. Thank you to Dr. Riley, Coach Miller, Director of Student Activities, Assistant Jen Sabota.

[00:15:02] Absent today are Varsity Coach J.J. Foster, and seniors Gabby Colder, Taylor Stotts, our pitcher Haley Simpson, Addison Ward, McKenna Sullivan, Elise Walker, Caitlin Cole.

[00:15:22] I think I got everybody, and then in attendance, please introduce yourselves. I'm E.K. Templer. Saoirse Sigler.

[00:15:38] I'm Abby Hart. I'm Maddie Henry, one of the assistant coaches. I'm G.G. Norton. I'm Jenny Fagan. I'm Emory Haddon. I'm Chelsea Engel. I'm Madeline Stotts.

[00:15:55] I'm Riley Stotts. Excellent. Thank you very much, Coach, and thank you all for being here to celebrate this with you. And I think at this time we're ready for a photo. If you all could come forward against the dais and face the audience.

[00:16:14] Supervisor Faus will join me.

[00:16:15] And next, we have a resolution to recognize the Army Historical Foundation for its 40th anniversary.

[00:18:45] And this was requested by myself. Our speaker today is Brigadier General Bert Thompson, the president of the Army Historical Foundation, who is on his way down. And I am going to turn the gavel to Supervisor Gross so that I can read the following resolution.

[00:19:01] Whereas the Army Historical Foundation, AHF, was established in 1983 as a member-based charitable nonprofit and the official fundraising organization for the National Museum of the United States Army, and whereas the National Museum of the United States Army celebrates over 245 years of Army history and honors our nation's soldiers past, present, and future,

[00:19:27] And whereas AHF's award-winning museum opened on November 11, 2020 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and recognizes the service and sacrifice of all American soldiers who have served since the Army's inception in 1775.

[00:19:43] And whereas AHF's mission is to engage, educate, inspire, honor, and preserve the history of the Army and to establish and support programs and projects that promote public understanding of and appreciation for the Army's contributions to our nation.

[00:20:02] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on behalf of all Fairfax County residents does hereby congratulate and thank the Army Historical Foundation on the occasion of its 40th anniversary and for its contributions to preserving the history of the United States Army.

[00:20:20] You've heard the motion, which I'd be happy to second. Is there discussion on the motion? Yes, very briefly, Vice Chair Gross, I want to congratulate the Historic Foundation, obviously, for, as the motion says, all the years of work that has been done.

[00:20:38] Also, of course, Brigadier General Bert Thompson, who is before us for the work he personally has engaged in to make sure that the Army's history is never lost. And what we know is how proud we are to have the Museum of the United States Army here in Fairfax County.

[00:20:59] And I mention this a lot of places I go because I'm still astounded how few people know that Fairfax County's largest employer is Fort Belvoir. And here we have not only our largest employer, but on the campus of that, a United States Army museum that can make any member of this country proud, not just members of our Army, but any service and any American, to be able to walk into that facility, see the amazing thought that has gone into its design,

[00:21:33] The amazing thought that has gone into honoring those who have served in any capacity and an opportunity for us as Americans to come together and promote support and understand the sacrifices that so many people in our military make and how important that is here, that it be here, not in Washington, D.C., but in Fairfax County, Virginia, which has such a strong military presence in all of our communities.

[00:22:03] And so this is to celebrate the work of the historic foundation, historical foundation, and we know without them, the museum would not be built, would not be where it is, and not something that we can celebrate as a treasure to all of us in Fairfax County.

[00:22:19] And so we're proud to recognize this moment, but also to recommit to many years of partnership with the museum and with the historical foundation in the years ahead. and so congratulations thank you mr chairman others supervisor stork thank you madam chair it's really an amazing that it is here in fairfax county and specifically in the mount vernon district because it had a number of other locations that the museum was looking at i wasn't on the board at the time i know many of you worked very hard i know my predecessor jerry highland worked

[00:22:57] very hard to have it there and I think the the vision the I think I think really the reality of its being there has benefited everyone not only obviously the army and the building an amazing museum if you have not been to the museum it is absolutely amazing I mean it's state-of-the-art it brings to live in fact it's it really scarily brings it alive what are really our veterans and others who have given their their all to this country what they went through and the processes and efforts that went with that but it's all part of a connected

[00:23:36] telling of the history of our country and and my colleagues will remember that the semi-quincentennial is coming up but it's something that I've mentioned many times we have a group that's working on that in Fairbanks County that's part of connected to a state group obviously the Historical Society is part of that and We appreciate your involvement and engagement.

[00:23:55] But that is our opportunity to further celebrate the fact that the army preceded the founding of this country, 1775. And that history, that story is told at the museum and frankly, the Historical Society.

[00:24:11] You all have put those pieces together in a way that's truly phenomenal. And I'm deeply appreciative, blessed, thankful, all the other adjectives you wanna go with that to say that it's part of a larger effort in Fairfax County, in particular Potomac Banks, our effort to bring together all the different historical venues and other venues, state parks, George Washington's, Mount Vernon, Woodlawn, Workhouse Arts Center, the regional parks, county parks, as part of an effort to let,

[00:24:50] frankly, the country, let the world know that by coming to the Potomac Banks area, you can not only see a first-class museum, the history of the United States, but also see the founding of our country and all the other core individuals who were parts of making that happen.

[00:25:07] So I could go on and on, as you could tell, but I'm, again, thank you very much, General, for being here and for the opportunity to recognize your efforts on behalf of all of us. - Thank you, Supervisor Stewart. As one who was on this board when we were working on getting the museum here in Fairfax County, I will say there were many times where we didn't think we were going to be successful.

[00:25:31] It was a long and difficult road. I think one of my constituents in Mason District was also one of the people who worked very hard on it. As an army brat whose father was stationed at Fort Belvoir three times, I never realized that in my adulthood I would be part of this.

[00:25:51] because i didn't grow up here um but i am really pleased that uh that the museum is here we worked hard to bring it here we need to work hard to keep it here and to also include it in all of those wonderful opportunities that we have for visitors here in fairfax county and i haven't been there yet but maybe after the first of the year i'll have time to go and visit uh seen and hearing no further discussion all those in favor of the motion please say aye any opposed say nay Any abstentions? That motion carries.

[00:26:24] Thank you, Vice Chairman Gross. And as I mentioned, we have Brigadier General Thompson here with us. Sir, welcome. The floor is yours. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman McKay, to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for allowing this opportunity on this day to share the Army Historical Foundation's anniversary milestone on the agenda.

[00:26:42] As you all know, with Fort Belvoir in our backyard and the Pentagon as our neighbor, there are an estimated 65,000 military veterans who live in Fairfax County as well as 13,000 active-duty personnel. The Army Historical Foundation residing in this county is very special to our community and especially important to me as not only the president of the foundation that was part of making the museum possible, but also as a soldier, a 31-year Army veteran, and a Fairfax County resident.

[00:27:06] Our nation and our Army are indebted to the leaders who foresaw the value of collecting military artifacts more than 200 years ago. However, so much of the credit for the world-class museum here in Fairfax County that now holds many of these artifacts goes to the visionaries who established the Army Historical Foundation in 1983 and those like you here today and your predecessors who tirelessly supported the foundation and helped to turn the dream into a reality.

[00:27:33] The early years of the foundation were led by a small but mighty band of retired Army and civilian leaders who were determined to see the idea of a national museum brought to life. The baton of this museum campaign has been passed from one committee champion to the next for the last four decades, all supported by a passionate and talented team of professionals and a generous bedrock of supporters.

[00:27:55] An even greater testament to the Foundation's commitment to the preservation and presentation of U.S. Army history is how we expanded our work to fulfill our mission beyond the walls of the museum. While serving as the foundation that ran the campaign to build and now support the National Army Museum, we have also developed the foundation into a member-based organization, organized battle rides funded artifact restoration projects and provided grants to other museums to share in our mission for nearly 30 years the foundation has managed a historical inquiry program providing reliable information on army history to hundreds of students to reporters veterans and their

[00:28:31] relatives and anyone else seeking knowledge on the history of our army and its many campaigns we're grateful for their county's support and for today's recognition the army's foundation celebrating our 40 years our latest project on the museum grounds as we look to 2024 is our new memorial garden it's an honor of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice and their families and we know our community of veterans and military families this space will hold a special meaning to the area residents as a place of remembrance and a place of reflection we truly appreciate the recognition of our mission as we continue the treasured work of the army historical foundation for the next 40 years and beyond.

[00:29:10] Together, we will ensure the contributions of the American soldier and their families are appreciated and remembered forever. Not to quote the coach, but I will. But maybe, just maybe, I'll be back for the 50th anniversary standing before you in another proclamation. I thank you all for your support.

[00:29:27] Thank you very much, and we thank you for all that you do as well. And as Supervisor Stork said, I will reiterate, if you have not been to the museum, go. You will thank yourself for going later, and of course, the museum is always changing, so going once is not sufficient.

[00:29:46] You can go many times, and it's free, and it's in our backyard, and so let's be proud. Visit the museum and visit it often as a community, and with that, I think we're ready for a photo, and Supervisor Stork, if you'll join me.

[00:29:59] And we now have a presentation to recognize the many elected officials who did not seek re-election but have served Fairfax County in some cases for short times and other cases for very long times.

[00:31:20] And we're going to recognize them based on their office this morning. We have one speaker for each office and then we will do a photo with the entire board with everyone from that office at the end. And we are going to begin first with outgoing Fairfax County Clerk to the Court, John Fry.

[00:31:39] John, if you could come on down. Again, if there's anyone here with you that would like to join you, that is certainly fine. And I'm going to give you a second to get down here. I'm going to turn the gavel to Vice Chair Gross so that I can read a resolution.

[00:31:58] Whereas the work of an elected official is to be a public servant dedicated to making a difference in the lives of their constituents, and whereas the effectiveness of democracy depends on committed individuals rising to the challenge of serving in public office, which requires working in the best interest of all while respecting dissenting views and individual concerns, and whereas elected officials must hold themselves to the highest ethics and standards and ensure the public trust, and whereas John Fry has served as the clerk of the Fairfax County Circuit Court for 32 years, for 32 years, and established himself as the

[00:32:38] consummate professional in a stressful and often high-stress environment, as well as leading the court through numerous changes. And whereas during John Fry's lengthy tenure, the Circuit Court created several first-in-the-nation online applications, including the ability to view land records, court records, and file marriage applications online. And his steady and dedicated leadership through the past three decades demonstrates that he is a true public servant.

[00:33:07] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, on behalf of all Fairfax County residents, does hereby thank John Fry for his distinguished service to the residents of our county, region, and state, and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

[00:33:22] Second. It's been moved and seconded by Supervisor Herity. Is there discussion on the motion? Yes. Mr. Chairman? Very briefly, Madam Vice Chair, I want to congratulate John on, as the resolution reads, a very long tenure of 32 years.

[00:33:38] I mean, you've seen changes in this county through your lens in a way that most people couldn't even imagine. And I, in particular, want to thank your family. It's not one of the whereas resolves here, but as an elected official, I think we sometimes forget the toll that our work takes on our family.

[00:34:00] Calls in the middle of the night, work on weekends, being in the public eye, not always the easiest thing for our family members. So I want to thank them as well. But in particular, John, you know, I think circuit court clerk, most people don't realize what that person does.

[00:34:17] I think if you surveyed people in the county, very few would know. And they certainly would have no idea the scope and the complexity of the court system that we have here in Fairfax County. and the largest in Virginia, clearly. And your steady hand navigating through many changes as the resolution reads over time is appreciated.

[00:34:41] I also want to thank your staff. I know you're going to do that too, but there's professionals who work in the clerk's office who have made this a career. They're dedicated, they work hard on behalf of all Fairfax County residents without regard to politics, they're on a mission to serve.

[00:34:58] And I also want to thank them for their service and your leadership of them over these many decades. You'll be missed and always appreciated. Congratulations. Thank you. Supervisor Walkinshaw. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to thank the chairman said it very well.

[00:35:16] I'll just add, John, you know, in my almost 20 years knowing you and seeing you do your work and seeing you in the community, every time I've seen you interact with an individual, you've done it with respect and consideration for them.

[00:35:33] And I think that ethos is reflected in the folks who work for you at the courthouse. And that means that people from our community who are visiting the courthouse, sometimes when they prefer not to be, are being treated with that same dignity and respect.

[00:35:51] So thank you for the unsung work, 32 years of ensuring that folks in our community are are treated that way when they come to the courthouse and for your service and and for your family for enabling you and helping you to to do it thank you thank you supervisor harry yes and i i echo everything uh that has been said so i'm going to try not to repeat it one of the warehouses that you we left out too was the fact he's a west springfield high school grad So, very important.

[00:36:22] So, anyway, very deep roots. You do have his records from those days. Anyway, in the clerk's jobs, eight-year terms, one of the kind of luckiest elected positions we have, and that you only have to run for every – but it's a long, long time of service.

[00:36:40] And, you know, the unique thing about the clerk's office is, unlike some of our jobs, you try to stay out of the Washington Post because usually if you're in a Washington Post, it's not a good thing. And that's probably one of the biggest tributes to you is that the only time you were ever in the post, it was for doing something very, very good. And people have around here have taken the clerk's job for granted because they've had such a great steward for 32 years. And when there's an issue, it gets handled and keep politics out of it, get the job done. And hopefully we continue that. Public official of the year from NACO, you know, bringing

[00:37:20] the court into the 21st century all the great accomplishments so i want to severely thank you for for everything you've done for for fairfax county over the years and sorry we're going to be losing you to texas where the grandkids are but the grandkids do that to you sometimes so enjoy your time and come back and visit as often as you can thanks thank you supervisor harry before we vote. John, you were already a veteran when I joined this board. But I know that I haven't had to call you very often, but usually, you know, there's something that somebody's going to get

[00:37:57] married tomorrow and they lost their license or the marrying official doesn't have the right papers or usually it's never anything that's really horrendous. It's usually something that people are just sort of at their wit's end. And so you've always been very responsive, very quick.

[00:38:14] And I appreciate that. Good luck in your retirement. The one thing that people, you know, yes, there are eight-year terms, but you have to run countywide. And that is an enormous lift, an enormous lift.

[00:38:31] So you've earned a retirement that you can be proud of. And good luck to you and your family. Thank you very much. With that, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. Any abstentions? That motion carries.

[00:38:47] Thank you, Vice Chairman Gross. And with that, John, welcome. The floor is yours. Thank you very much. I'm very humbled, very honored. It's been an honor and a privilege to serve Fairfax County and the city of Fairfax because we represent both.

[00:39:04] One of my goals has been to try to treat everyone equally and treat them with respect, as James said. And I've just been so fortunate and so blessed with not only with my family, with my wife, Sheila, and my kids, but with my staff.

[00:39:26] And they're excellent. And, you know, if you get a good staff, they make us look good, right, as elected officials. Your staff is what really makes you look good. And I've got a wonderful staff, and I just can't thank them enough. because they want to go the extra mile they want to help people they don't want to be bureaucrats they don't want to just say no if they can find a way to help these people through a very troubling time because most people don't want to be at the courthouse okay it's not a fun time in your life and so we've been very fortunate and as you said earlier most people don't know what the clerk's

[00:40:01] office does but we touch probably every single family in fairfax county during the eight-year term of the clerk. We do marriage licenses, the probate of a will of a loved one, land records. So you buy, sell, refinance, concealed handguns, permits, adoptions, you name it, the clerk's office is involved in it. So we do touch a lot of lives. And that's been a real honor and a privilege to be responsible and to have that responsibility. So thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

[00:40:34] Thank you very much, John, for all your years of service. And we are going to miss you. that is for sure but we do look forward to working with the next clerk and and making sure that the quality staff that we've always relied upon there is something that fairfax county can continue to rely on so thank you uh with that i think we're ready for a photo if you could come forward and

[00:40:56] the board would rise and next i'll ask any members of the house of delegates to come on down i know

[00:42:13] delegate plum is here if you could come on down and i am going to read the resolution but we are going to when we vote to approve we're going to be approving a stack of resolutions for all the members of the house of delegates under the same vote who will be getting a similar tailored resolution to their service and so at this time i'm going to turn the gavel to supervisor Gross, whereas the work of an elected official is to be a public servant dedicated to making a difference in the lives of their constituents, and whereas elected officials must hold themselves

[00:42:50] to the highest ethics and standards to ensure the public trust, and whereas Delegate Kenneth Ken Plum was the longest-serving member of the House of Delegates when he announced his retirement, having taken office in 1978 and serving in numerous posts throughout his career, including state chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, charter member of the Virginia Literacy Foundation, and multiple leadership roles in the House of Delegates.

[00:43:21] And whereas Delegate Ken Plum has been a strong advocate for education, having been a teacher himself and has been a champion for gun violence protection, civil rights protections, especially for our LGBTQ neighbors and women's health is well known for his even keel and approachable demeanor while working with members of both parties to find common ground and move Virginia and Fairfax County forward. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on behalf of all Fairfax County residents does hereby thank Ken Plum for his

[00:43:58] distinguished service to the residents of the county, region, and state, and wishes him well in his future endeavors. And as I mentioned, we have a similar resolution for all retiring members of the House of Delegates that I am also moving at this time. I've been moved, seconded. Is there discussion? Yes. Imagine there's multiple folks for discussion. I want to congratulate Ken and Jane is here. Jane, you're welcome to come down too. Please, please. And, you know, I want to

[00:44:30] recognize not only that Ken has served in office since 1978, which is amazing. It is not lost on me that we have retiring before us the longest serving member of the House of Delegates when Ken announced his retirement and someone who was one of those legislators here in Fairfax County that this board never had to worry about. Ken would just do the right thing. He knew the right thing to do, and he did it, was well ahead of his time. Now, I mentioned some of the many issues that

[00:45:07] Ken was involved in in Richmond, but most of the things that Ken was advocating for and effectively doing it in Richmond was well before most other legislators and most other people were even talking about some of the issues that Ken was in Richmond advancing and so Ken I can't say thank you enough on behalf of the residents of Fairfax County for a lifetime commitment of public service to our constituents for the outstanding job that you did in Richmond over all of these years

[00:45:39] fighting for the rights that people in Fairfax County enjoy today and doing it in a standard that I've not seen replicated by anyone in terms of demeanor, not being the loudest person in the room, but always being the most effective.

[00:45:57] And I think a lesson for all of us in politics, Ken, thank you for being a gentleman and such a great legislator for all these years. We are all grateful to you and to your family. Jane, I'm glad you're here as well, because as I mentioned earlier, Being the family of an elected official is not always the easiest task in the world, and we're recognizing you here today as well.

[00:46:20] So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. So very well said by the chairman. Ken, you know, I want to highlight just something that was touched on in the resolution but is often overlooked, and that's your public service as an educator as well.

[00:46:40] You know, you spent, I believe, about three decades with Fairfax County Public Schools. And, you know, that combination of your dedication to education and then your public service in the current role, that still lasts another 25 days or so, I guess, something like that.

[00:47:05] Hopefully you won't get called back into session for anything, but, you know, we'll see. But it really does speak so much to your character and, frankly, your tenacity to help others and to also make the world a better place.

[00:47:23] So I certainly appreciate it. I know the legacy that you've left in Reston, in Fairfax County, is going to be very, very long-lasting. I know we're well-served with Delegate-elect Karen Keyes-Gumarrow.

[00:47:40] but I feel sorry for Karen a little bit trying to fill those shoes. There's some big shoes to fill. So thank you again, Ken, for everything you've done for the community. - Thank you, Supervisor Alcorn, and the Plum Center is in Mason District, and I'm always pleased to go by the school, the former school that is now the Plum Center at Edsel Road, 'cause your name is well known.

[00:48:06] Supervisor Walkinshaw, and then Supervisor Lusk, And then Supervisor Patrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. I mean, there's so much that could be said and has been said. I'll just make one point. I think it was Woody Allen who said that 80% of success is showing up.

[00:48:24] Probably in politics and public services, maybe 90%. And as someone who has spent the last 15 or 20 years at a lot of community events across Fairfax County over that time, there is nobody who is as active and engaged in the community as Delegate Plum has been.

[00:48:49] And quite frankly, given his tenure and the stature he has in the community, he could have been phoning it in a long time ago and just showing up to vote. But if two people are gathered in Reston or his district or outside, and I know Jane knows this, he is there.

[00:49:06] And I think it's so valuable because he is literally absorbing the needs of the community as he's doing that work and engaging. And I just have an incredible amount of respect for that. Supervisor Alcorn mentioned his service to FCPS.

[00:49:24] That legacy lives on. Just a plug for Best of Braddock. Tomorrow night will be catered by the Annandale High School culinary class led by Chef Plum. Delegate Plum's grandson so he's continuing on your legacy of service as I know others in your family are as well so thank you for everything thank you supervisor Lusk thank you very much madam vice chair and I'll say congratulations on an exemplary number of years of service on behalf of the residents here I just want to acknowledge yesterday I was at the

[00:50:01] Children's Science Museum and got to see you get an award there but what you You said to me after I thought was kind of telling, and that was these things that you've been involved with have taken decades to get to the place of fruition and that you've been there decade after decade after decade to ensure that these things have happened.

[00:50:23] And you talked about Metro and thank you for what you've done to make sure we've been able to build out the Metro system. And then I just want to make one last point, which I think Supervisor Alcorn made yesterday when we were talking, and that is you've been around for four different governors.

[00:50:45] Oh, no, 11. Excuse me. 11. Way more than that. Sorry. Way more than that. Yeah, four, excuse me, 11 different governors. You've been able to survive through that period, and that is pretty significant. There are very few people, I think, who can say that, and I just want to commend you for your service and dedication and your commitment and the last thing i'll say is just your temperament um whenever i see you have a smile and you are just always bubbly so thank you for that as well thank you supervisor palchick thank you ken and jane um i know many like to follow um the pictures

[00:51:25] i post of my my baby i follow your babies now your plans um and your lifelong learning um of everything you continue to do i am just the other day i was presenting to a group of daisy scouts about local government and i did my very best to try to bring what we do to an understandable level but the one thing that really got to them and that i think you do every day is that for me as a former educator it's just a larger classroom right we are in charge of communities ensuring

[00:51:59] the best for our communities listening and hopefully helping lead us in the right direction collaboratively and I think so much was said today about what you do and have done for so many years I will never forget that when I met you I knew the Plum Center and had taken cooking classes there had very much appreciated the efforts of the lifelong learning that you brought to the whole community. And I was a little starstruck when I first met you at Reston Town Center and humbled by your gentlemanly style, by your ability to listen, to not think that you knew

[00:52:38] all the answers, but to want to work with all of us in the community. So I know so much has been said. And absolutely for me, so much stands out. But number one is that the tone and the tenor you have brought to public life and leadership for so many years and that I know beyond even the Plum Center will continue to help shape the lives of our community members, especially our young ones coming through Fairfax County.

[00:53:05] Thank you. So thank you so much for all you've done. Thank you. Seeing and hearing no further discussion. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. Any abstentions? That motion carries. Thank you, Vice Chairman Gross. And before I turn to Delegate Plum for some comments, I also want to acknowledge the other resolutions are for Delegate Eileen Fidlercorn, Delegate Kathleen Murphy, and Delegate Kay Corey, who also are being recognized by the board with similar resolutions.

[00:53:36] With that, Delegate Plum, the floor is yours. Welcome. Thank you very much. Thank you for all your good comments. I'm certainly glad I came. I don't really know why my other colleagues didn't show up, but when they hear this tape of this one, they're going to be ashamed of not being here.

[00:53:55] I came to, and I also want to say I'm particularly glad that Jane was here to hear this. I came to Fairfax County in 1965 as an intern teacher from the University of Virginia and started teaching at Edison High School and went on to Oakton. And then I went into administration running the evening school program and setting up alternative schools for kids who couldn't make it through the regular program.

[00:54:18] Became also involved early on with parenting education programs and so on. So that was a 30 years labor of love. But along the way in helping candidates run for office, it came to me along the way that, gee, I think I'm as smart as they are.

[00:54:33] And in fact, I know I'm smarter than a bunch of them. So I ran for office. And if you follow that history of 30 years working as an employee of Fairfax County Schools and 44 years working in state government, you don't add those together.

[00:54:51] They overlapped. But anyway, it's been a pleasant time to serve the public. As I leave, the question that people most ask is, what are you going to do now? And let me advise you or warn you that I'm not going to leave public service entirely.

[00:55:10] I will not hold an elective office. The stress of that over a period of time says you've got to put it aside. But my interest in good government and my interest in serving the public will not wane. I'm not sure exactly what capacity I'll be in.

[00:55:27] I suggested to someone this morning that I thought from being here that maybe I want to be a board watcher. But we'll see. We have something really special here in Fairfax County.

[00:55:41] We have an open government. And incidentally, I started in the bird era. I started when Democrats were Dixiecrats. And I was the unusual guy who got there because I was a national liberal Democrat. And it took some time to chisel away at that. But we've made progress. We didn't finish the job. I'm not quitting because we're finished. I'm quitting because we made as much progress as we quit on my watch. But a lot more needs to be done.

[00:56:07] And a lot more needs to be done, always here at Fairfax County as well, but you've made amazing strides. I'm proud to live in Fairfax County, to have my children educated here. I'm proud of Virginia. We're making progress. It's been a great run. I'm pleased to have been able to do the things that I've been able to do.

[00:56:28] I've been blessed being able to do the things I've been able to do. And I wish you all well, and I will see you along the way. Thank you very much, Ken. And let me just say, Supervisor Gross mentioned the Plum Center. My son plays soccer there.

[00:56:45] And the first time we went there, he asked who Ken Plum was. And I told him, and he asked, do you know him? I do. He was more impressed by that than anything else that I do. But I say that because that sign that's out there that Penny mentioned, hopefully a lot of other people, especially young people, ask that question.

[00:57:06] Who was Ken Plum? Because the story of what Ken did for this community over the long period of time and the accomplishments you just mentioned can be a lesson for all of us. And so the legacy lives on through children, grandchildren, but also at that particular location.

[00:57:24] And hopefully many, many people will ask that question so that many people can learn what Ken Plum did over his career serving the public. So congratulations again, Ken. And I think we're ready for a photo. And Mr. Chairman, if I could say, and I appreciate your comments, I hope you heard what he had to say in terms of carrying on that legacy.

[00:57:45] Because you see, when they dedicated that building to me, among the things they did was to plant a plum purple tree, right out, purple plum tree out in the courtyard. And I said, do you know, in receiving that, I said, you know, I'm pleased you've done that because in the future, people are going to be asking, I wonder why they named this school after that tree.

[00:58:07] We didn't mention sense of humor in this resolution. We should have led with that. I love it. With that, I think we're ready for a photo, and Supervisor Alcorn, if you'd join me.

[00:59:56] Okay, next up, we are going to recognize members of the Fairfax County School Board who are retiring. If you could come on down, any outgoing members of the school board, come on down to the podium. I know we have many who are here with us, and I am going to turn the gavel for a moment over to Supervisor Kathy Smith so that I can read the following resolution.

[01:00:24] Whereas the work of an elected official is to be a public servant dedicated to making a difference in the lives of their communities, and whereas elected officials must hold themselves to the highest ethics and standards to ensure the public trust, and whereas Elaine Tolan joined the Fairfax County School Board as a Drainsville representative in 2020, bringing with her a passion for advocacy and a commitment to supporting students and whereas Elaine Toland took a strategic approach to her work and fought hard against attempts to undermine Fairfax County's ability to decide the direction of its public education system and whereas her work to bring down barriers students

[01:01:03] face is commendable now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on behalf of all residents does hereby thank Elaine Toland for her distinguished service to the residents of our county region and state and wishes her well in future endeavors and i should add we have resolutions very similar resolutions to the one i just read for laura jane cohen tamara darinat koufax karen keys gamara megan mclaughlin abraro mesh stella pokarski karen corbett sanders in addition to the one i just read for elaine tolan and i move approval of all

[01:01:41] them okay i heard you hand the gavel to kathy that's what i wanted um you've heard the motion and the second is there discussion on the motion yes mr chairman um i'll try to keep it brief we have i read the list of retiring school board members it's a lot but we are really happy to have the five of you with us here this morning who have all served for various periods of time on the school board but i can't emphasize enough to those watching at home and who are here in the

[01:02:17] auditorium how important our relationship is with our partners in the fairfax county public schools we've seen it throughout the morning what a role that schools play and how important they are to the fabric of our community i think it's fair to say over the last four years in particular there haven't been any harder elected positions in fairfax county than serving on the school board the challenges that we faced during COVID on top of challenges that confront our school system on a daily basis could have been overwhelming at times but the exemplary work that you did

[01:02:55] through all those years the last four years in particular to get us through one of the most trying times our country has ever faced and to be able to cut through some of the nonsense to put politely that was out there in our community we know that those who are standing before us were fighting for our kids lives and for the sanctity and the respect that our public school system deserves and that was not easy work not for one minute not for one day was that easy work and so I know I've enjoyed serving with all of you and you know count you among friends and know that

[01:03:34] some of you are going on to other endeavors. I'm looking at Karen Keyes-Gamara, and I know she's going to finally get us more state school funding. But in all of you, you know, who knows all of what the next chapters are going to be, but I trust that all of you will remain engaged and advocating for our Fairfax County public schools and our young people in the many, many years ahead. And

[01:04:02] And as I mentioned, I, you know, think about people who you leave public office and people who you want to remain in friendship with and in conversation with, and all of you are in that category for me. I've enjoyed working and interacting with each and every one of you in different capacities.

[01:04:21] Tammy in Franconia District, when I was Franconia's supervisor, we were commenting in the back about some of those early days. Karen Corbett Sanders and our neighboring Mount Vernon District and just a proud, close family friend, Megan, and all the work that we did in school sports over the years.

[01:04:40] Karen Keyes-Gamara, the work on John Lewis and so many other One Fairfax initiatives. And, of course, Elaine, your advocacy on the environment in particular has a lasting legacy for all of us in Fairfax County.

[01:04:57] so thank you all for your your dedicated service in the past um and i know what will be dedicated service in other ways in the future congratulations thank you mr chairman other discussion a supervisor faust thank you madam chair i i want to say how much i've enjoyed uh serving with elaine four years four difficult years i mean it for the entire school board i felt so bad i guess you had eight new members and two and a half months into their that term covet and i can't imagine how you

[01:05:33] made it through and made it through so well i mean in the end uh you all did a great job but uh for lane and uh the newbies wow what a what a welcome uh to the school board but it's been great working with you i also want to point out that anybody who knows me knows i love my hometown johnson pennsylvania very small town hasn't hasn't been all that uh uh well treated as a result of the closing of the steel mills and stuff however he did create some leaders and uh tammy is from my

[01:06:08] hometown you know a little town in pennsylvania and we both ended up down here uh tammy running a school board or a school system with hundreds of thousands of students and me on the board of supervisors so really proud of that truly is a small world supervisor let's go supervisor smith supervisor stork and then supervisor walk and shop i i want to thank you all for your service as everybody said it has been a more difficult job over these last few years and i know you know all

[01:06:45] of you somewhat but I did serve with Tammy and Megan and you know that effort to do good things for kids and our changing community and you know I'll never forget Tammy you know meeting with you when you first got elected and your passion for preschool right and we still have a lot of work to do but we've accomplished a lot of that and you know Megan I think it was a big deal that you were able to get turf fields I was skeptical at first you know we got to watch our money but it's made a difference for our youth sports through the community and so I thank you

[01:07:19] all for your service and I wish you the best supervisor stork thank you madam chair and and I deeply respect and appreciate not only the love that you obviously have for our community and you've shown that in so many ways not only the she's the thousands maybe in this case the school board's case the tens of thousands of hours that you all have spent not only with each other but also with our community to try to find and navigate our way through the last four years but but I also want to highlight the fact that your leadership

[01:07:56] started long before that I know Karen and I go way back and your advocacy for advanced academics and really you're carrying commission your committedness to our less if you will unless academically able students and most importantly folks who need our kind of our effort our support are helping them walk through and navigate through the community your involvement with schools must be Tomek High School and your PTA leadership I mean it goes way back and I know that I'm identifying Karen but I know each one of you has similar kinds

[01:08:32] of stories I remember my one of my conversations with Megan before she got on the school board and a hallway conversation outside the boardroom where Megan for those of you who may not know Megan she could be fairly passionate about certain things and you know be very very clear about what you should do and what you shouldn't do and and that kind of passion I know is with each of you Tammy I you know you're in my work together you know on the school board as well as you know in the community it's huge Elaine I work with Jet and the environment and you're continuing work and passion with that Karen your

[01:09:08] work with with our neediest kids in the court system and I let them work I mean as a parent of kid who has major challenges I know the criticality of your support and your advocacy so what you bring individually and then collectively brought to the school board of last four years and some cases eight years is you can't it's invaluable and and there is really no no thanks that would adequate for that effort so again I know I'll be seen and talking and working with all of you over the next many years as well but i just wanted to at least publicly acknowledge and thank you for that

[01:09:47] service thank you supervisor historic supervisor walkinshaw thank you madam chair and i'm risking exceeding my word limit for the morning i'm going to try to do better but but i do want to just add on and thank all of you for your your service under the most difficult of circumstances especially the last four years and uh megan thank you for your partnership in the braddock district and Some of your accomplishments were mentioned, but, you know, advocating for later start times, turf fields, bathrooms, high school stadium bathrooms.

[01:10:21] And we're still working on and made a lot of progress thanks to your advocacy for that. And most recently, something that didn't get a lot of attention, I think it didn't get a lot of attention because of the way that you handled it and the grace with which you handled it, which is the name change of W.T. Woodson High School to Carter G. Woodson High School in recognition of the father of black history, and that's part of your legacy.

[01:10:47] So thank you for, among other things, making that happen. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw. I did not realize there was a word limit. All these times on this board, and I did not know that. Seeing and hearing, no further discussion. All those in favor, please say aye.

[01:11:05] Any opposed say nay. Any abstentions? That motion carries, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Vice Chairman Gross and Elaine. Welcome. The floor is yours. Thank you. So, good morning. I am just the current chair of the Fairfax County School Board.

[01:11:21] I'm surrounded by other previous chairs here and very important colleagues. But we thank you for this honor, marking the service of our retiring members of the Fairfax County School Board. We've all enjoyed working with you, the Board of Supervisors, across the years.

[01:11:39] We've been through a lot together these past four years, as people have said, and for some of my colleagues, eight, 12 years. We've seen a global pandemic, changing budgets, remember that 2020 year with multiple budgets, and increased needs by our Fairfax County families in dealing with culture wars and unprecedented attacks on public education.

[01:12:03] We've weathered it all, and I'm proud of the work we have accomplished. We stood firm, and we are protecting and enhancing the lives of our most precious resource, our children. Public education is a foundation of our country's democracy, and we are happy to be here together to make our Fairfax County School District not just a successful one, but one that is looked at as a standard across the world.

[01:12:31] The strong relationship between the school board, FCPS, our community, and the board of supervisors has led us to be solution-oriented and collaborative as we jointly work to support our constituents. For those of you staying on the board of supervisors, please continue your support of our Fairfax County Public Schools and our school board.

[01:12:54] They have important work to continue. Until we meet again, happy holidays and best of luck to you. Our special thanks and congratulations to Supervisor Faust and Supervisor Gross, as they also take on new challenges.

[01:13:10] Thanks again from all of us. Thank you again, and thank you all for being here to be recognized this morning. And I can tell you we will continue this strong collaboration and are looking forward to seeing the ways in which all of you will continue to be involved in the community in a different capacity.

[01:13:31] And we look forward to continuing that work with you, whether on the school board or not, as we advance the kids in our community together. So congratulations to all of you. And I think we're ready for a photo. Thank you.

[01:14:31] And finally, before we recognize our own board members, I do have a resolution and I'm going to read it and ask that we vote on it for our retiring members of the Virginia State Senate.

[01:15:55] None are with us this morning, but retiring is Senator Janet Howell, Senator Dick Sasselaw, Senator George Barker, and Senator Chet Peterson. I'm going to turn the gavel to Vice Chair Gross. Whereas the work of an elected official is to be a public servant dedicated to making a difference in the lives of their constituents, and whereas elected officials must hold themselves to the highest ethics standards to ensure public trust,

[01:16:18] And whereas Senator Richard Dick Saslaw has served in the Virginia General Assembly for more than 45 years, first in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1976 until 1980, when he moved to the Senate and has been a leader there ever since, serving under 13 governors, although not Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, as he often jokes to us and constituents.

[01:16:44] And whereas Senator Dick Saslaw is known in Fairfax County and across Virginia, not only as an engaging and thoughtful storyteller, but as a consummate bipartisan legislator who has reached across the aisle throughout his career to forge compromises that led to positive changes in the lives of countless Virginia families.

[01:17:02] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, on behalf of all Fairfax County residents, does hereby thank Senator Dick Saslaw, Senator Janet Howell, Senator George Barker, and Senator Chad Peterson for their distinguished service to the residents of our county, region, and state, and wishes them all well in their future endeavors.

[01:17:23] I'd be happy to second that, along with a number of members of the board. Is there discussion, or should we just go for a vote? I will just say that we thank all four of these great state senators who have served our county for many, many years. We all see them, interact with them on a regular basis, and I know have shared a lot of good stories about so many of their successes.

[01:17:46] We did think it was important to make sure we passed a resolution as an entire board, honoring each one of them individually, and we'll make sure that they get these resolutions. Thank you. And when you think about the years of service, we understand why we are lamenting the loss of leadership in the General Assembly by our Northern Virginia delegation.

[01:18:06] All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Any abstentions? That motion carries. Thank you, Vice Chairman Gross. And now the fun part. And now I think I have to go to the ladies' room. As everyone is aware, we do have two members of our board who did not seek re-election and therefore will not be returning for the next term.

[01:18:32] And, of course, those are Supervisor Faust and Supervisor Gross. And I have a resolution for Supervisor Faust. I have a resolution first for Supervisor Faust.

[01:18:48] I'm going to read the resolution. We're going to discuss it. We're going to have a video. that has been made that we're going to play and then if you feel inclined you can vote for it. And the resolution for Supervisor Faust is whereas John W. Faust was elected to represent the Drainsville District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2007, having served on many local associations and committees after moving to McLean two decades earlier and whereas John W. Faust has honorably served the residents of the Drainsville District for four terms on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, during which he chaired the

[01:19:28] Board's Housing Committee and Economic Advisory Commission and served as Vice Chair of the Budget, Health and Human Services and Transportation Committees, as well as representing Fairfax County on numerous regional boards and commissions. And whereas during his tenure as Drainsville District Supervisor, John W. Faust has helped move Fairfax County forward on numerous issues from transportation and economic development to education, the environment, and affordable housing. And whereas among his many accomplishments, John played a key role in expanding full-day kindergarten funding, significant teacher pay

[01:20:05] increases, obtaining funds to widen Route 7, constructing numerous road and pedestrian improvements in Drainsville, along with three new fire stations and two renovated and expanded libraries providing sound walls along major roadways to protect established neighborhoods delivering a new senior center and 82 units of affordable housing for seniors in his district and improving and expanding park and recreational facilities now therefore be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on behalf of all Fairfax County residents does hereby

[01:20:41] congratulate and thank Supervisor John W. Faust for his distinguished and extraordinary service as a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Is there discussion?

[01:21:02] There is discussion. We just saw an exhibit of one of the things we're going to miss the most, Which is John's, just his sense of humor that I think lightens the load here for all of us.

[01:21:20] But in seriousness, I do want to honor John. We came on the board at the same time, the same year. But as I mentioned before, I first met John back in the 1990s when we were going through the Sorenson Institute for Political Leadership together.

[01:21:36] And, you know, when you get elected to public office, you never forget, especially on a board like this, those who got elected the same time you did. And, John, I've enjoyed working with you every day that we've been here, and I've enjoyed the way in which you approach the work here with passion, with drive, with a can-do attitude.

[01:22:00] Not always dwelling on the challenges, but trying to find a path forward to solve them. And you've done that in a remarkable way. Happy to count you as a friend. I had an opportunity recently at a charity event to kind of roast John a little bit.

[01:22:18] And so I'm not going to do that here today other than to point out a few funny things. One, John has managed not only to get reelected in Drainsville District, which is not an easy thing to do as a supervisor, But it is a whole lot harder to do if you're an unapologetic Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

[01:22:37] And John has been able to do that remarkably. I'm not really sure how. But he also has tried to suggest to all of us that if you live a diet on wine and bacon, you can lose a lot of weight. But in all seriousness, it's John's sense of humor here that I think I'm going to miss the most.

[01:23:00] And, you know, wherever I've gone in Drainsville District over the last four years, I've met people who have nothing but respect for John, the way he has been a supervisor, and for his staff. I know his staff is here as well, and the work that they do in the Drainsville community has made a huge difference.

[01:23:20] And so, John, I know you reluctantly might continue to stay involved in some of our affairs. going to force you to uh because i know you're a phone call away for advice um and and i'm i'm hoping that you will allow for us to continue to do that uh with you in the years to come because you've done a remarkable job here um and i'm proud to count you as a friend and we're really going to miss you other discussion we're going to start over on this side supervisor al corn thank you thank you for calling me first by the way this may take a little while john sorry

[01:23:58] But I just want to point out a couple things, John. The resolution touched on a lot of things, and, Mr. Chairman, your comments as well. But you haven't just had an impact in Drainsville. You've had a countywide impact on a number of things. And, you know, I'll just point out a couple.

[01:24:15] One, you know, later today we're going to vote on the next tranche of pedestrian and bicycle improvements, a commitment, $100 million or $50 million that we're doing. Basically, we got 25 today, rather. 25 is what we're looking at.

[01:24:31] That would not have happened, most likely, if you hadn't taken it up and charged with it and figured out a way, like the chairman said, to make something happen. Because we just, we were not getting, we did not have the resources to do improvements like that.

[01:24:47] So, you know, on behalf of constituents at Hunter Mill, thank you. I mean, we're going to have crosswalks all over Fairfax County. We're going to have these improvements that really need to be done, and that is a countywide impact. The other thing that I'll mention, during the toughest days of COVID, you know, we had a lot of businesses in Fairfax County that were really struggling.

[01:25:11] You know, our restaurants were virtually shut down, a lot of other retail establishments. And you jumped into that, John. You basically, you know, you basically said, we've got to do something about this. And your leadership on the EAC and as committee chair, you really stepped up and made sure that as a county, we made sure that our businesses would continue through that terribly tough time.

[01:25:37] And again, that wasn't just in Drainsville. That was countywide. But I'll just say, you know, personally, John, also one of the things, in addition to the humor that the chairman mentioned, you also have an amazing way of, I call it a BS meter.

[01:25:56] You have an amazing BS meter, and you have the ability to call that out like no other public official I've ever seen. So thank you for everything you've done, and I also really enjoyed serving with you. Supervisor Wackenshaw.

[01:26:14] Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with everything that's been said. Talk about going out on top. I mean, I think what you have accomplished in the last four years in terms of housing and your leadership on the housing committee and investments in affordable housing, record-breaking, probably never will be matched, a unique moment in time.

[01:26:38] And you led us in taking advantage of that, the pedestrian safety improvements that Supervisor Alcorn mentioned, just an amazing legacy. I also appreciate your humor, as has been said. I also appreciate, and you mentioned your hometown in Pennsylvania and Johnstown, the working-class perspective that you bring to this work.

[01:27:01] And I think, you know, when you grow up in a family and you see your parents come home from work, you know, With dirt and sweat and sore knees and a sore back, it gives you a different perspective on some of the work that we do.

[01:27:19] And I appreciate, despite the fact that you have been enormously successful as an attorney and as an elected leader, you never lost that perspective in thinking about folks who are in that situation today. So thank you for that. Supervisor Stork.

[01:27:36] Well, thank you, Madam Chair. There's a number of things I've been saying. I agree with all of them so far, but the smile that's on my face is what most of the public can't see is some of our closed session discussions, and particularly with our county attorney and some of the interactions that you've had over the years and your insistence on particular perspectives legally that we should all be aware of.

[01:28:04] And frankly, something I deeply value because as not being an attorney, I'm always looking for other perspectives, and you've absolutely brought that day in and day out. And not always, you know, easily to any of us, I mean, because your perspective usually is pretty grounded in your own experiences.

[01:28:24] The other thing I want to make sure gets highlighted is your own accounting background and the work that you did And your degree in reworking finance and accounting and that kind of focus and really digging into the books and digging into the county processes.

[01:28:42] Your work on the audit committee, which I was privileged to be part of for at least my first term. And those are all key parts of it. But the broader thing is what you've done, in my mind, economically, development-wise. You have really refocused our efforts on the entrepreneur, the startups, you know, the key elements of how do we get Fairfax County to become a true national leader in those areas.

[01:29:11] And we know that it is about the money, it is about the talent, it is about bringing all those pieces together, and those have been foundational parts of what your leadership has been in the Economic Development Committee. And as the vice chair, I deeply appreciate that.

[01:29:27] But more importantly, the county has really benefited from that leadership. So thank you. And a lot of other ways, but I'll let others speak to some of those other ones. Thank you. Supervisor Smith. So I appreciate all the big topics you've worked on because affordable housing is dear to me.

[01:29:45] But I appreciate all the time you spent talking with me when we had tough issues in front of the board. When I had tough issues, I was trying to get accomplished on this board. I learned a lot talking with you, John, and giving me a different perspective.

[01:30:04] How do we look at things differently? How do we come together? I really value that. We spend a lot of time talking through those tough issues, and I think you've helped me become a better board member, and I will definitely miss all that work.

[01:30:19] Thank you. Supervisor Lusk. Thank you very much, Madam Vice Chairman. Let me maybe just talk about it from a personal perspective. So after my first year here on the board, people would ask me about how it was going and how I was interacting with my colleagues and, like, what was the surprise, like, what was the surprise through my first year?

[01:30:51] And I said to them pretty consistently, I came on the board, I knew of John Faust, but I did not know John Faust. And the type of person that he is, and my colleagues have summed it up, but his passion, his commitment, his dedication to his work is unparalleled.

[01:31:16] And the thing I appreciate the most about John is that he's a very, very good listener, and he cares so deeply. And I remember calling him about two years ago and asking him if he would come to my district to talk with me.

[01:31:37] And he said when and where, and he spent almost half a day with me, and it meant a lot. So kind of going back to the point that some of my colleagues have raised is that he is one who wants to help whenever he can.

[01:31:52] And I just admire some of the points that were made by Supervisor Walkinshaw as well because I see it. Here's a person who has lived through some experiences and he has not forgotten.

[01:32:10] And he is committed to doing what he can to improve the lives of others and to be there when things are not so easy and not so stable and not so clear. And that says a lot about the character and it says a lot about the man.

[01:32:30] And I'm just delighted to have been able to serve on this board for the past four years. I'm very delighted that I was placed here close to John. So I've had the opportunity to sometimes hear on occasion some things that John has shared with me on some of the items.

[01:32:51] And I just appreciate his insight. He's got some insights. And, again, thank you so very much, John, for your commitment. Thank you for the example. that you've set, and thank you for being the person that you are. I'm going to skip over, Supervisor Faust.

[01:33:09] You don't want to talk about yourself. Are you sure he seconded his own motion? He should be able to talk to it. He may have an opportunity to rebut. There you go. Supervisor Herity.

[01:33:25] Yeah, thank you. We were both elected at the same time. It's been 16 years. Public service isn't easy. It's something to, and you've done it honorably and with style and character, which is always important.

[01:33:44] A lot's been said already about the different things, but, you know, your work on the EAC is probably the one that's nearest and dearest to me and trying to create those places for us to really attract people back to Fairfax County and keep our young folks here, you know, the Sports Tourism Task Force work that went through the EAC.

[01:34:06] but uh appreciate the work and and hopefully we will be seeing you uh seeing you around supervisor patrick thank you um trying to not repeat anything that was said but luckily but we have enough stories about john that i think we've got enough to go around but um well first of all on the policy level uh i absolutely want to thank you number one when i served on the school board knowing your unfaltering commitment to our schools and to our kids and to education and knowing that that's what makes us a great county and also what gives the best opportunities for all of the kids in our county

[01:34:45] and ensuring that we continue to be focused there and to collaborate there as one Fairfax absolutely continues to be your legacy. In addition to that, your commitment to our pedestrians in our county, our affordable housing that we need to, I hope, supervisor Rockenshaw is wrong and that we'll go even past that because we know it's needed more than ever and that that continues to be a challenge um and on the economic development as the daughter of two small business owners who made ends meet as immigrants here i really truly appreciate that you made sure that our funding program for small

[01:35:23] businesses during the pandemic went far enough um and to that i think at the dais people see that you're someone who likes a good fight. And as someone who is the peacemaker in my family, I appreciate, as Supervisor Smith has said, learning from you and understanding when it's important to have that big fight, whether it's at the dais or behind the scenes and when it's appropriate to find negotiations and to be able to get there. On the personal level, I don't know

[01:35:58] how many know that you've inspired many women to enter elected office to run for office and that you truly are one of those uh great men behind many great women who now serve us at the general assembly i want to thank maryland for helping make sure that you do a good job on that but knowing that we have a state delegate a state senator and that you were the first candidate Ivor knocked doors for and helped me realize that serving in office is someone something for people who truly care and maybe would never have imagined doing this in their life but that you do believe

[01:36:36] in people you listen to people and you really do encourage those who care and have a passion for civic service and for our public to serve and I hope that as you don't retire as you don't run the servant public service again that you will continue to help inspire those who are maybe thinking considering um or would be make excellent public servants that you will inspire future generations as well so thank you john thank you supervisor patrick um john um you

[01:37:12] were the third drainsville supervisor that i served with in the first the first three terms there were two, and then you. And it was like, you know, there was a turn, if you will, in Drainsville. And so I remember it was a little tenuous, perhaps the first year after you got elected, because it was, you know, people were gunning for you. Because here we, you changed, you switched. Drainsville had been electing Republicans, and you were the first Democrat

[01:37:49] after a while. And so it was a little tenuous, I remember, because people were gunning for you that first term. But we sat next to each other for some time, and I remember trying to figure out what made you tick. And one day, and Supervisor Walkinshaw, I think, had mentioned that one day we got into a conversation about your background in what you had mentioned, Johnstown, and the steel mills. And I had no idea that this was the background that you had. And when you told me

[01:38:28] about working in the steel mills and being from a blue-collar union family, and I remember you also talked about the Johnstown floods and what happened to your family's house and so forth, then I thought, oh, now I get it. I could understand where you were coming from because you really do have to go back and figure out what those basics are and so from your your background and I identified somewhat with that because I grew up in an agricultural area college town yes but

[01:39:00] a lot of a lot of challenges back then so it was it was it's been a delight to serve with you and I think you have provided a really firm foundation for the Drainfield District for the future. Um, and, um, I think we will, people will miss your sense of humor, your passion for so many issues, but it has been a delight to serve with you. We haven't always agreed absolutely on everything. Um, most people think if you're the same party, you're going to agree on everything.

[01:39:34] That is not the case. Um, but, um, I almost every time I would call you and say, I've got something that, you know, it's coming up. I need to talk to you about it. You were always available. I don't think i i remember maybe one time when i called john's office that they said well he's not here right now he'll have to get back to you otherwise always got through so um you've been a great colleague a great team player thank you john mr chairman i'm going to turn it back over to you um yeah because before if john does want to have rebuttal um i i before we vote i do have

[01:40:12] additional evidence to put on the table, which is a great video that our friends at Channel 16 have put together. If we could roll the video.

[01:40:48] So help me God. So help me God. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I am John Faust, and I represent the Drainsville District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

[01:41:04] Hey! Hey! This day's been a long time coming. I was thinking this morning that I've been on the Board of Supervisors for 15 years. Hey! And this project has been under construction in my district for 14 of those 15 years.

[01:41:26] So I'm going to miss it. I think I speak for all of us in saying how much we certainly will miss you and thanking you for your leaderships and things that you have been able to accomplish on this board. And, you know, we talked earlier about legacy, certainly what you've done with economic initiatives and affordable housing, particularly over the last two and a half years during some of the toughest times to govern that I think any of us can ever imagine have been remarkable.

[01:41:58] We all share a vision of communities that provide homes for individuals and families across the income spectrum. Doing nothing in McLean is not an option. Either we revitalize the business district or it will continue to deteriorate and provide fewer and fewer community amenities.

[01:42:21] See it year after year. What I am most excited about is that we now have an awesome, multi-generational campus right here in McClain. A campus that's going to bring seniors together with children in a caring, safe, and very attractive environment.

[01:42:39] So thank you for your outstanding dedication to the people of Drainsville District and the entire county and how you've made Drainsville District a much better place to live thanks to your leadership. So we will certainly miss you. You know, it has been an absolute honor to serve on this board for the past 15 years, particularly with the current board.

[01:43:01] I mean, I just love it.

[01:43:12] In favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Any abstentions? That motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Vice Chairman Grosson.

[01:43:29] We cheated and didn't let John rebut before we voted, in case any of us changed our minds. But no, in all seriousness, John, please share some thoughts with us. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can't use my prepared remarks because I didn't realize how wonderful this was going to be.

[01:43:48] I was prepared to fight back, make my case. Yeah, so I'm going to just as a result, I'll probably end up rambling a little bit, but I do want to thank everyone here for this recognition and the extraordinarily kind words that I've heard.

[01:44:10] It's especially meaningful because of the way I feel about you, each and every one of you. This has been a board that I have so enjoyed working with. I think it's probably obvious to you, but if it's not, let me tell you, it has been an absolute delight.

[01:44:28] I've enjoyed all 16 years. There's no question it's a great job. But the last four especially have been meaningful to me. And I think we, over the last four years, I think we've accomplished some amazing things, given the fact we were handed the COVID challenge, and we didn't let that get in our way.

[01:44:50] We've got a lot done environmentally and climate-wise and housing and pedestrian and transit. It just, it's, we're hitting on all cylinders, and I think you should be very proud of your service. You know, I do want to thank them.

[01:45:10] I could sit here all day and thank people, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to try to summarize a little bit. I do want to start, though, by thanking my family. Every one of us knows how difficult it is on the family, and it's not obvious unless you live it.

[01:45:29] But it is, you know, people ask, is it a full-time job, and I always say no. It's way more than that. It is a seven-day-a-week, and family things don't always get the priority they should get. So I want to thank my wife Marilyn, who's also, she says she's retiring.

[01:45:49] I say I'm rewiring as of December 31st. And my sons, Matthew and Patrick, and, you know, I have two grandsons now who make this decision so much easier.

[01:46:05] It was a tough decision, but being around them and knowing I'll have more time to spend with them is just really meaningful. I want to thank all the great staff I've had, although there hadn't been that many. My staff has stayed with me.

[01:46:21] It's been awesome. I do have a former staffer who's a state senator running for Congress at this time and others. But, you know, a supervisor's popularity is a reflection of the constituent services provided by his or her staff.

[01:46:40] That's the bottom line. And, you know, currently my staff is here, Jenny Phipps, Ben Wiles, Patty Dinkelmeyer, Camila Alfonso Meza. And my amazing chief of staff, Jane Edmondson, has been with me for the entire 16 years, which is phenomenal.

[01:46:58] Most of my staff, 10 or more years, which is unusual in a supervisor's office for a variety of reasons. So I want to thank county staff.

[01:47:16] I have so much respect for our county staff, and I have so much enjoyed working with them. It's not a normal working relationship, obviously. it's so intense and you develop really close relationships and you develop tremendous amount of respect and it's going to be hard uh that's that's going to be a really hard part about leaving this job is not being able to work that way with them on a daily basis uh nothing we accomplished could have happened without an amazing county staff uh i want i can't name

[01:47:54] them all but i do want to name the uh three county executives that i served with which was Tony Griffin, Ed Long, and then my buddy, Brian Hill, who is doing wonderful work, in my opinion.

[01:48:09] All three of them were just exceptional leaders. So, you know, I want to thank my constituents. I was the first Democrat to win a two-way race in Drainesville, and then I was the first ever to get reelected.

[01:48:27] And a former Republican supervisor tells me I'm the first to have more than two terms. ever going back 100 years so that's you know thank you constituents uh you know you uh i appreciate the the support you've given me and finally uh you know again i want to thank my fellow board members and i see sharon boulevard's out there she she was wow she was so good she kept she ran a tight ship and it was a good ship and it was yeah little or no controversy but everything

[01:49:03] always seem to be moving in the right direction so thank you for 11 years of my service sharing you were the chair thank you very much the other one year was jerry and i learned a lot from jerry and one year he was a great leader too so anyway i uh i'm just gonna uh i'm gonna leave it at that most of the things that i wanted to that i thought i would have to mention to defend myself have been said already uh in closing i would just say you know it's been a real it's been an honor but it's

[01:49:42] been a pleasure i mean i have enjoyed this job so much and i don't anticipate that i'll just disappear but uh you know it'll be a different uh different reality for me but uh i know you guys and gals will carry on and the two new members of the board i think are going to be pretty awesome So, you know, if you ever need anything, let me know.

[01:50:08] Thank you very much, John. I know we're all going to miss you a lot, but we look forward to continuing to engage in other ways with you. And your commitment to the county is unwavering, and we all have benefited from that.

[01:50:24] So congratulations to you on 16 great years. With that, I think we're ready for a photo. And you mentioned Chairman Boulava is here, who you served with as chairman, if she could come on down for the photo, as well as Elaine Tolan, our Drainsville District School Board member, if you can join John and I as well.

[01:51:37] And we have one more resolution, and that is to recognize Supervisor Penny Gross.

[01:52:38] And I am going to hand the gavel to her so that I can read the following resolution. Nothing awkward about that at all. Whereas Penelope Penny A. Gross was elected in 1995 to represent the Mason District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, having served on many local associations and committees after moving to the Mason District, and whereas Penny Gross has honorably served the residents of the Mason District for seven terms on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, during which she served as vice chair of the board, chaired the personnel committee,

[01:53:14] And whereas Penny Gross has served on many regional, state, and national bodies, including as chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and Northern Virginia Regional Commission and president of the Virginia Association of Counties and National Association of Regional Councils.

[01:53:33] And whereas during her tenure, Penny Gross has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Virginia Association of Counties, prestigious Jefferson Cup, the organization's highest award, the Department of the Army Public Service Commendation Medal, the Elizabeth and David Skull Metropolitan Public Service Award, and the Fran Flanagan Environmental Leadership Award from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, to name a few.

[01:54:00] And whereas Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross has played a key role in initiatives too numerous to mention to help move Fairfax County and our entire region forward. Kept residents informed with her regular Penny for Your Thoughts columns and provided irreplaceable leadership and guidance to her colleagues and her constituents.

[01:54:20] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, on behalf of all Fairfax County residents, does hereby congratulate and thank Supervisor Penelope A. Gross. Thank you. I've been moved and multiply seconded.

[01:54:38] Is there discussion on the motion? There sure is. There sure is. There might be a video, too. Now, I, you know, in all seriousness, Penny, it has been an honor to serve with you and to have you as vice chair for the last four years in particular.

[01:54:58] You know, share a few thoughts, but one that just hit me just last week, every four years we reorganize the board and point board members to committees and regional groups. And there's a responsibility of the chairman to put that together.

[01:55:15] And as I was putting it together this year, I kept looking at who was serving Fairfax County in so many capacities, and Penny's name just kept popping up. And when I was trying to sort through who was going to fill all of these roles, I needed more than 10 supervisors in the next four years.

[01:55:33] I mean, honestly, Penny has served in so many ways. We can say people have made differences countywide, statewide, regionwide, and a lot of my colleagues have certainly done that. No one has made a bigger difference regionwide and statewide from this board than Supervisor Gross has.

[01:55:54] And I mentioned in the resolution some of the many committees, boards, authorities, commissions that Penny has served on, and it barely scratches the surface of the things that she has done at a regional level.

[01:56:10] And you can talk to any elected official anywhere in this region, and they know of Penny Gross and what she has contributed. And it's not just on one issue. Environmentalism, certainly a passion of Penny's, but when you talk to people about military relationships, the arts, so many different things, it really doesn't matter the topic.

[01:56:32] People in this region know her. People in this region respect her. And I think here locally on the board, what I've most loved about Penny is her candor, her straightforwardness, her tough love at times when it is needed.

[01:56:51] You know, not every conversation around this dais is always easy. And Penny has stood firm. Her ground on the things that are important to her, advanced those, And has done so in a profound way over many, many different boards and multiple chairs of this board over many years.

[01:57:11] And, you know, I know this year has been particularly tough for Penny because separating from something that you love, which she does, is not the easiest thing in the world. But I know I've had to clear my calendar many times over the last couple of months as every organization has wanted to honor Penny for something.

[01:57:32] And she's out of shelf space, honestly, with the amount of awards and certificates and other recognitions that she's gotten over the past couple months since announcing she was not going to run again. And some of those groups, you forget the difference that Penny made because she's been at this for so long.

[01:57:51] You forget some of the earlier work that she has done. And just the number of people who have wanted to stop everything they're doing for a moment and honor Penny's legacy extends so far beyond this building and this county.

[01:58:07] And I think that's a tribute to all the work that you have done, Penny. From a personal standpoint, Penny, like we mentioned with John earlier, always a phone call away, always willing to provide advice, always willing to put county first, even if it means it's putting her own interest second.

[01:58:30] She has always been someone who has thought about what's in the best interest, not just of the district residents in Mason District, but what's in the best interest of the county as an entity. What is in the best interest of our brand that our constituents rely on?

[01:58:46] And when we think about good governance, it's hard to think about anyone who has done a better job than Penny has for as long as she has done it. Getting elected in 1995, I came on board staff member's office in 1996.

[01:59:02] And so I feel like in a weird kind of way, I've been with Penny since day one because I've been able to watch her through the lens of staff. but also be able to sit with her as a colleague. And I personally have learned so much from you, Penny, over all these years and lessons that I will never forget, advice that I was given that I will never forget.

[01:59:27] And you have dedicated so much of your life, as has your family, to your public service. And we in Fairfax County can't begin to understand how we can best thank you for that other than to just simply say thank you and know that you'll continue to be engaged in our work and a presence in our community for a long, long time.

[01:59:48] So congratulations, Penny. Thank you. Other discussion? May I start to run this side, Walter? I don't know if it's easier to go first or last, but I will be brief because I know so many of my colleagues had the opportunity to serve many more years with you than I've had.

[02:00:09] But I think, for me, what really stands out, number one, is that you're a real person. And you really, truly show, whether through personal stories, community stories, or lived experiences, just how important it is to bring those and why so many different perspectives are important, especially in the board.

[02:00:32] Beyond that, I think your connection with our region and ensuring as we are doing more and more, as we're more and more connected through our transportation, our needs in housing, our needs in education and the workforce, that we really have to work as a region.

[02:00:51] And seeing that now in our economic development, as well as our regional commissions, I know you've done so much to that. But I think most importantly for me, and very sad to see that there will only be two of us women serving on this board starting next year, whether in sports or in politics, I very truly appreciate not only you personally, the work that you've done, and I see to our former chair women who are here today, if they're not still here, is that I know you

[02:01:29] help remind me and us not to take that for granted, to remember the battles that you and so many other women have fought, not just for the vote, but then to have that seat at the table. And I do hope, as I mentioned to Supervisor Faust and your non-retirements, that you help ensure that we bring a next generation of women to serve in office, not to take it for granted how important it is to be here knowing that it takes a great sacrifice for your families for balancing what

[02:02:08] feels like can never be balanced and for knowing that it's critical especially in areas where we still don't see women being able to do everything they want to do they need to do and they're able to do to do that here and then finally personally I want to thank you I know you have a lot of experience and knowledge but I know you spent the last four years listening and keeping an open mind whether it's about shopping carts or what it means for our

[02:02:46] families and our immigrant families to be able to not just survive but to thrive here in the county and to ensure their kids have that bright future so thank you for leading in those ways and I know it's hard as hard as it is to start this job I've heard it's even harder to stop and so as the chairman mentioned we are here with you we're part of our family and I'm very much excited to continuing to have maybe more informal time together as we go into a board a very new board next year so thank you thank you Supervisor Palachuk Supervisor

[02:03:22] Harity yeah just it's been a real honor and privilege to to work with you over the last 16 years um while we come from different political backgrounds we've found areas to work together and accomplish things for our uh for our our citizens i'm certainly going to miss your vast institutional knowledge and perspective that's something this i guess jeff and i are the senior guys on the board now but uh that only goes back 16 years although we've lived here our whole lives but uh that will be missed your sense of fairness always keeping the citizens first and you know

[02:03:59] It's kind of just recently I've learned how big of an impact you really have had on the region, the state, and here locally I've known. But it's going to be a big loss for the region and the state. But I hope you stay around and look forward to keeping in touch.

[02:04:20] Supervisor Faust. Thank you, Madam Chair. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving with you. It's been 16 years. I mean, that's such a long time, but that's calendar years.

[02:04:37] In terms of intensity, it's been 100 years. We've been together 100 years. And, you know, I had the pleasure of serving with you and Chairman Bulova on COG for 12 years, which it made no sense for me to drive down to Washington, D.C.

[02:04:59] because the two of you were running the organization. And didn't need me, but I learned a lot just by being there, and I'm glad I had the opportunity. But, you know, over the years, you've taken on some of the hardest challenges that any board could possibly face, and that's involving personnel.

[02:05:21] I mean, you're dealing with people who are dedicated to working for the county, but you're dealing with their lives and, you know, their incomes and their retirements. I mean, it almost is thankless, but you are so persistent and so knowledgeable.

[02:05:41] I mean, you had it down cold, and I think you've done an excellent job in that regard. I think we're in really good shape. On the environment, you were always chair of the environment committee, I think, until the last four years.

[02:05:58] And I really feel that this board is off and running as far as our, and Supervisor Storks done an amazing job of leading the Environment Committee today. But the transition where we really became sensitive to what was happening in our world occurred when you started the process of rethinking the, or restating the board's environmental division statement.

[02:06:26] And it just, like, the community got behind us. The board members really got behind it. And since that time, I think, you know, we're doing a pretty good job. And the energy program also played big into that.

[02:06:45] So, you know, on big critical issues, you've provided this board great leadership, personnel, the environment. But, you know, everybody's going to comment on your leadership across not only the county, the state, country.

[02:07:03] So not too many people can look back on a track record like the one you have. So congratulations. Thank you, John. Supervisor Lusk. And again, this is weird. Jeff, I'm not sure I'm going to forgive you for this.

[02:07:21] Thank you, Madam Vice Chairman. Let me start by saying I have enjoyed also sitting beside you here at this dais. And you've been helpful in my transition as a member here on this board. So thank you for guidance and support through the last four years.

[02:07:42] When I think of you, Penny, I think about the institutional memory and knowledge of this board for the years that you've served. You're so thoughtful about reminding us of the things that we've done, the things that we've experienced, and to help us use that to inform our decision-making.

[02:08:05] And I think that's critically important. I also appreciate serving with you COG and on NVRC, and I think I've committed to you that there are some things I will continue through the service that I've started with you over the last four years as we go into the future.

[02:08:27] And I just want to thank you for the example that you've set. You have shown how to really truly embrace regionalism. It's not something that you just talk about. You demonstrate it in the things that you advocate for and the ways that you approach the work for those bodies.

[02:08:49] And it's not lost on a member like myself. And I just know that you've made some personal sacrifices over the last few years. In particular, Penny and I just want you to know that I appreciate that as well and know how hard that's been.

[02:09:10] And please don't be a stranger. We look forward to seeing and interacting with you in the future. And thank you for everything. Thank you, Rodney. Supervisor Smith. It has been a joy to serve with you, to learn from you, and to learn that we're not alone as a county, right?

[02:09:32] We're part of a state, we're part of a region. And the piece of that is that you really value learning from people that are in different parts of the state or the region. But I think I found something to say nobody else brought up. Your work serving as nominating committee chairs, that when people want to move up in an organization, they come to you, they ask advice, How can I do this?

[02:09:57] And I think that's an important part of this work is sharing your knowledge base and bringing up the next people to do this work. And so that's really important because it's hard work. And people need somebody that can have their back and explain it to them and help them learn to move forward.

[02:10:15] So we need to stay in touch. And I just value all the things you've done for this community. Thank you, Kathy. Supervisor Stork. Thank you. Don't you dare do this to anybody.

[02:10:35] At least this way, I keep back the tears. This is really messing with one of her remarkable skills, too. It's her sense of decorum. It's really messing with that. I've been thinking here as we've been talking, there's really five C's involved with this.

[02:10:51] Obviously, your family is a key part of that, but you go with community. Clearly, that's been your passion, your commitment for more than 30 years by far. Clearly, there's the county and all the work and effort that you've done here, and there's a lot of things around that.

[02:11:08] I say COG to represent regional government, but clearly that's a key part of what you've contributed, and people have talked about all that we need to now be doing more to step up and try to fill some of those roles. the commonwealth um vaco but beyond vaco all the different boards and committees that you've served on for decades um and your vaco leadership i mean ties into all this in so many many ways and then country of course uh not only country coming from oregon to this part of the country

[02:11:42] and your service in the senate and really at so many other levels uh have been key parts of that to me personally it's you are you're the heart of the board um you you you are you're the beating heart of this board and and and you're not i would think about this too you're not a professor and i say that you're not something who's pontificating about all this you're a teacher you're an instructor you're somebody who's in kind of in the weeds in the in the effort and getting things to move along and and to work the way they should work to me that's somebody i

[02:12:18] something I particularly appreciate value environment what you've done especially on water quality but also cool County I mean there's the list is long and distinguished and I'm not going to try to cover it and the last one I want to I want to particularly talk to because it's particularly near and dear to me is the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote and the event that we had at the workhouse and your core key role in that and your role with with Supervisor Palchuk and really the importance of women and women's rights and making sure

[02:12:58] that honor, respect, but more importantly, bring forward to an audience that's less aware, less knowledgeable. As an aside, Supervisor Smith and I were talking about who's old enough on the board to really appreciate when Title IX didn't exist, and I'm one of them, but I'm kind of on the male side, and obviously she's on the other, and we absolutely need to keep instructing our kids our students stuff doesn't change just because you know something's wrong it changes because people stood up and said enough's enough and has to we have to do different and we all are

[02:13:35] building on the legacy of of the folks who came before us to make sure that we do you the right thing and that our perfect union has a ways to go but we're going to keep perfecting it so again My deep thanks to you and all your work. Supervisor Rockinshaw.

[02:13:52] Thank you, Madam Chair. Echo everything that's been said. I think just two additional points that I'll make on a personal note. I really appreciate the efforts you've made to mentor and support the new board members over this last four years.

[02:14:08] I know you had a lot of priorities and things you wanted to accomplish in this term, but that was one of them. You made a commitment to that, and that has helped me immensely become a better board member. So thank you for that.

[02:14:25] You do sometimes say that you have shoes older than I am, but I want to know what kind of shoes those are because those are good shoes. But the other thing, you know, I think about Supervisor Gross that really defines her not just as a member of this board but as a person, that you are an institution builder. You're somebody who believes in the importance and the power of institutions and we've gone through the alphabet soup of everything that you have chaired. We didn't talk about the Senate credit

[02:15:04] union board and boards related to your alma mater. That is clearly something that really imbues you a commitment to those institutions and and you are the person who not just chairs the board right it's not hard to find someone who's willing to be the chair of the cog board right plenty of people are willing to be the face of it and and get the attention that comes with it but sometimes it's hard to find someone to chair the ceo evaluation committee or the nominations committee or the really tough behind the scenes work that needs

[02:15:40] to get done so the institution and organization can thrive and be strong and move forward and you are the person who has done that, not just on this board, but at VAGO and regional organizations, and that should be a lesson to all of us, that we have to now share the load to continue to do those unsung responsibilities that you have done so ably for many years.

[02:16:06] So thank you for, among other things, that. Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. So I'll try not to repeat too much, but both Supervisor Smith and Walkinshaw mentioned your mentoring.

[02:16:23] And I think it's worth mentioning this again. None of us do this forever. And we really are all building on what our predecessors have done. And in this case, it's not just our predecessors, but for me, it's a colleague.

[02:16:42] And for you to pass these things along, you know, the institutional knowledge that's been mentioned several times, but it's so valuable. It's been so valuable to me, and thank you. Thank you for doing that.

[02:16:57] Just a couple of other things. I think the chairman mentioned good government. That's really something, to me, you are part of the long tradition in Fairfax County of good government.

[02:17:14] and we don't talk about that very much anymore but you know we shouldn't be taking that for granted it should be business as usual in terms of good government but you really have maintained that tradition none of us were around in the 1960s with all the craziness that happened there but your service has taught me that this is not a short-term thing this is a long-term thing and it's something that we all we all should keep going and the other thing that you've really

[02:17:48] taught me is it's it's not about any of us individually it's it's about the community and it's about the institutions and the county so thank you for your service to the county thank you supervisor alcorn um there's no more discussion um there is additional uh there is additional things, one of which is a video from our friends at Channel 16. If we could roll the video.

[02:18:23] I, Penelope A. Gross, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia according to the best of my ability, So help me God.

[02:18:45] So help me God. When I first moved to the National Capital Region, the Byrds had a hit recording that emulated Ecclesiastes, to everything there is a season, more popularly known as Turn, Turn, Turn.

[02:19:03] To a young hill staffer, the song was more a peace anthem than a life plan, but over time I have come to learn and accept that indeed there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. Some of the times noted in the song are especially appropriate for those of us who are privileged to be elected officials, a time to plant and a time to reap, a time to build up, a time to speak, and sometimes a time to keep silent. In our positions as elected officials, we have additional seasons that require our attention and participation. Snow season,

[02:19:38] budget season, campaign season, for example. Mindful that the campaign season is nearly upon us, I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election in 2023 and will retire when this term is completed on december 31st 2023 purveyors of hate see something sinister in america and sadly that sense has intensified during these past two decades but i see something wonderful reflected in the faces of so many mason district residents a belief in freedom and democracy a

[02:20:17] desire for peace and equality and for protecting our environment a willingness to stand up for our country and for the American flag that flies over us all. What our parks bring to us? Green Spring brings some fabulous things that some other parks may not bring, but they soften the hard edges of life. You've been an outstanding and continue to be an outstanding vice chair to me as chairman and leader for the county and for the residents of Mason District and how proud I am of the legacy that you feel for others and the leadership attributes that you brought to the

[02:20:55] table in an always reasonable well-organized respectful uh well-thought-out way there is lots more to do but there always will be lots more to do i love my job i appreciate and respect my colleagues and treasure all of mason district and i didn't think i was gonna cry i'm sorry and the residents who have placed their trust and confidence in me for the past 27 years the mason matters television show began nearly 28 years ago and we have produced almost 300 programs during

[02:21:30] these many years i want to thank the staff of channel 16 for their professional and expert assistance in making these shows a reality and now for the final time i'm mason district supervisor penny gross urging you to get involved with your civic association neighborhood watch pta and other

[02:21:48] community and civic organizations because Mason matters. Give Penny a moment because I know she

[02:22:30] wants to to share some thoughts with us but we have not voted yet but the reason why we haven't voted yet is I did in lifting you up and making you laugh about something I was reading the resolution here in front of me and the one thing that wasn't mentioned about Penny that I should started with, is if you ever give her a document with a typo in it, you will have it corrected.

[02:22:55] I see at least two in this resolution. So we're going to vote on the resolution amended to be grammatically correct, and I'm going to fix these things with staff. Before we present the real one to Penny, I have a resolution that is a prop, and in a moment of sweet justice, has a couple typos in it i've caught them uh you will probably catch two or three more after i give this to you um but with that being said uh all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye any opposed

[02:23:27] any abstentions and that motion carries and penny the floor is yours thank you john had prepared remarks all nicely outlined i took notes i i wasn't quite sure how we were doing this today so I did not prepare anything, but I've been extremely fortunate in my life. I have served

[02:23:58] in elective, I have served in elective politics since, almost since the day I got my degree in political science from the University of Oregon. I came to Washington in the summer of 1965 and I had the great privilege of getting a job with my home state senator, Senator Wayne Morse.

[02:24:25] I didn't realize until recently that it has been my entire life in elected politics, either working for elected officials, working for as a consultant to the Democratic National Committee, working for state elected officials, and then becoming an elected official myself.

[02:24:47] It is a privilege and it is a calling. And a lot of people today would say, oh, my God, you've been in politics all your life. How can you possibly stand it? And granted, it has become more difficult over time, although I will say I got my grounding during the lead-up to the Vietnam War with an anti-war senator.

[02:25:14] So, you know, you jump right in with both feet. But you learn so much about people and about issues and about constituent service. And constituent service is the same at any level. It's the issues that are different.

[02:25:30] People need to be able to talk to somebody who at least will listen, usually try to understand, and then find a way to help. I've always told my constituents, you know, the difference between being on the Hill and being a local elected official is I can't help you with your Social Security and I don't declare war.

[02:25:56] but if you've got a garbage problem you've got a trash a street light out a pothole we can help you with the everyday aggravations of life and most constituents just want somebody to listen to them and that's what we do a lot of our job is listening and as we listen we expand our horizons

[02:26:19] The same thing goes for why I'm so, I push so hard to let my colleagues know about the importance of serving and looking at the regional perspective, at the statewide perspective.

[02:26:38] You know, Fairfax County is this great big dog up here, and Wythe County is way over here. And is there much that we have in common? There really is, as a local elected official, the scale may be different, but a lot of things that we do, you know, it's all very foundational. And also at the national level. I found my work at the National Association of Counties to be really expansive. Because if you're sitting there

[02:27:12] in the Environment, Energy, and Land Use Committee, and talking about, as I did, about subsidence and sea level rise on the coasts of Virginia, and you have somebody in Wyoming who looks at you and says, huh? And doesn't really believe that there is such a thing as land subsidence. You have to really understand where they're coming from too, because they don't have a coastline. They don't have a lot of things we have. But as you figure it all out, you can see why different parts of the country are the way they are. And you also try and bring a little

[02:27:50] more understanding that I may have a water issue, you may have a non-water issue, but it's all something we have to resolve at the local level. John had mentioned the time frame, that it's, no, it's not a full-time job, it's more than that. And I remember in, I think it was my 2007 campaign for re-election, my opponent, this was toward the end of the campaign, my opponent said, you know,

[02:28:23] the Board of Supervisors is really overpaid. It only takes 16 to 20 hours a month. She was looking only at Tuesdays. I grabbed the microphone and I said 16 to 20 hours a month. I thought it was 16 to 20 hours a day. Got a laugh from folks and I also got reelected. John had also mentioned staff, both our personal staffs and our county staff you know working on a wide variety of issues

[02:29:01] you you develop a niche for some things but I remember one day somebody shadowing me in my office and at the end of the day they said boy you really have to be a generalist don't you and yes you do it appears that you know a lot about everything when actually you know about this much about everything. And it's so expansive. You have the great fortune to meet people that you never would have met if you hadn't been in elected office, to work on issues that you never would

[02:29:39] have imagined. And we take that out to other people too now as elected officials trying to explain, yes, we understand this is this situation, this is that situation. And part of what our job is, is to explain to people who don't understand the issue or don't believe the issue. It's really, as somebody said, it's an education. I have served, I like to think that I'm a workhorse, not a show horse. And it shows in, I think, what people have said about me today, which is very,

[02:30:15] very nice. Yes, I've written over a thousand columns for the fostered news press. I never who would have believed I had that many words? But it is the most disciplined thing I do because I have a deadline every week. 300 television shows. I never wanted to do television. Ever. It was bad enough that we had these shows on, these board meetings on television, but to actually be on television, the only person there to talk to somebody else? No way. My staff convinced me otherwise and we've done 27 years of shows and it's been because channel 16 is so wonderful to

[02:30:55] work with i've served under four chairs three of which are here in the room today five county executives i fired the first one um but but only only two county attorneys interestingly enough And also, only three people have served on the board 28 years or more.

[02:31:23] I am privileged to be the fourth. I really can't believe that happened. I don't know where the time went. But in 28 years, only 22 other people have served on this board. Only 22.

[02:31:40] You think about 1.2 million people in Fairfax County over a period of 20. Only 22 have served on this board. So it is a very high privilege to hold such a position of trust. I carry with me what is now called the Wayne Morse Integrity Pledge.

[02:32:02] Senator Morse introduced me to my husband, and he was my first mentor, even though we didn't call him mentors in those days. And to have a U.S. senator mentor a young woman who just came out from Oregon, that's sort of peculiar, and I don't know that it happens today anymore, but I've had the great good fortune to work for two remarkable U.S. senators, Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon and Senator Frank Church of Idaho, and I'm actually on boards now for both of those institutes,

[02:32:35] which is interesting. But Wayne Morse had what we call the Integrity Pledge, and I want to leave you with this thought, his pledge, which I carry with me. I will exercise an independence of judgment based on the evidence of each issue. I will weigh the views of my constituents and party, but cast my vote free of political pressure and unmoved by threats of loss of political support.

[02:33:04] That has been a standard in my life. I would encourage it to be a standard in all of your lives, too. Thank you. Thank you very much, Penny. So well-spoken, as always.

[02:33:20] I think we're sitting here in awe of all that you've accomplished, and we congratulate you again. With that, I think we're ready for a photo. And I'm going to invite Chairman Bulova, Chairman Hanley to come down and join us for the picture as well.

[02:33:35] All right. Next on our agenda is the presentation by Kate Hanley, chairman of the Electoral Board regarding the election of 2023.

[02:36:26] And for those of you who follow us closely, you know that after the election, we always get some good stats and figures, an opportunity to ask Ms. Hanley any questions. But before we do that, I want to thank her and all the folks who worked in this last election.

[02:36:45] As you're getting ready to hear, a very complicated election, a lot of moving parts. But having seen firsthand the work being done in this building and across the county to make sure that we have free and fair elections, I want to begin by thanking literally the hundreds and hundreds of people it takes to run an election in Fairfax County.

[02:37:05] I'm going to tell you exactly how many hundreds. I know you're going to. With that, I am going to turn the floor over to Kate Hanley. Welcome. Well, we have said goodbye to a lot of people this morning, and now we're going to talk about how we're going to say hello to new ones.

[02:37:23] Coming around for you, by the way, right now is a copy that I'd like for you to look at. This is our book of sample ballots. That's how many different ballots we had for the election this year. many of you can be found in there. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members, or at least some members of the board. Thank you for having me come this morning to make this presentation. The slide person this morning is Todd Strelow, who has been sitting here through all of this and is no doubt

[02:37:58] fascinated, who's our Deputy Machine Manager. And I'm going to start with telling you about complications. We knew that this year was going to be complicated. We just didn't realize how complicated it was going to be. Yes, the voters were still confused by redistricting because this was the first year for local and state officials to be running in their new districts established last year in 2022. But all our mailings and the yellow sample ballot that you see on your screen

[02:38:34] sent out to all voters in late September helped voters find their polling places people brought them with them to the polls these sample ballots help voters who have limited ways to access information to find out about various election deadlines where to go on election day or what the options are to vote early for those who can't leave work on election day these yellow sample ballots also let people know in advance what offices and bond issues are on the ballot Those returned undeliverable help us maintain accurate lists.

[02:39:10] However, the official sample ballots do not have party affiliation by any candidate's name except for State Senate and House of Delegates. That's Virginia law. There are no R's and D's by all the candidates' names was the most frequent lament heard by election officers.

[02:39:28] Thank you to both political parties who are handing out sample ballots for their nominated or endorsed candidates outside the 40-foot distance line, of course. This year, the off-off year, was more complicated than your 2019 election or any other in my memory.

[02:39:47] It was also the longest ballot. Literally, it was on 19-inch paper. We've never done that before. This year, there were a total of 117 candidates running for 61 offices.

[02:40:03] Four years ago, there were only 94 candidates. And since the data is now reported by Precinct, 265 ballot designs, and that's the ballot book now that we have coming around of all the sample ballots. Again, this year, there were a total of 16 early voting locations, and we have a new map showing that.

[02:40:25] Three open for 45 days before the election, and an additional 13 open for 10 straight days from Thursday, October 26th through Saturday, November 4th, including Sunday, October 29th. Although this process is new to many jurisdictions, Fairfax has had satellites in some form since 1977.

[02:40:46] As you can see, outside of the three 45-day sites, West Springfield was the busiest again, as we know from watching the parking lot, Supervisor Herity, it was busy, closely followed by McLean. Burke Center Library is a newcomer to the top three, and the Lorton Community Center slash library has recently returned to action after years of renovation and construction.

[02:41:12] Look for it to rise to the top next year. Absentee voting by mail began on September 22nd with the office mailing an additional 59,561 ballots, the vast majority of which were on the permanent absentee voter list, which now exists.

[02:41:33] And now you look at this chart, shows the total number of absentee ballots cast both by mail and in person and voting on election day for a total of 323,816 total votes cast.

[02:41:50] The turnout was 41%. Early voters, as you can see from this chart, prefer voting in person at the satellites to absentee by mail. The drop box total returns from requests for ballots by mail. They really are returns from requests for ballots by mail.

[02:42:09] But the voter brings the ballot to a satellite instead of mailing it in. On voter turnout, this is my very favorite chart. This orange line is the story of our life. It's jagged. There are several things to take away from this slide.

[02:42:27] Clearly having a different type of election every year complicates looking at the previous year to predict the next one. The presidential years have the most voters, but the next year, the local only year, has the most candidates and the fewest voters.

[02:42:43] The years of U.S. Congress and Senate are the next to lowest, followed by the gubernatorial and statewide elections, which are the next to highest. So looking back doesn't help us. We have to look back four years. But, as you can see from this, over the last few years, both the lows and the highs are getting higher.

[02:43:05] So voter participation numbers are trending upwards. The number of registered voters, the blue line, has essentially been the same, up a little, down a little, the same as the population in general. For SDRs, as we call them, same-day registration, it's a mountain that we have to climb.

[02:43:27] That kind of looks like the Blue Ridge. The office improved the new same-day registration process that began last year. We've improved it both at the precinct and in the processing in the office after Election Day. However, those improvements required additional staffing at the polls and in post-election processing.

[02:43:46] Same-day registration is increasing the number of provisional voters, although it's also making it easier for people who have moved to vote at the polls. So far in this report, it seems you can see the increasing complexity of the election process, but it seems familiar and only slightly more complicated.

[02:44:10] What was really unusual was the number of write-in ballots. The code requires that if more than 10% of ballots cast in a specific contest are by write-in votes, those ballots must be transcribed and tabulated and counted and a typed list reported to the State Board of Elections.

[02:44:32] The Fairfax Office of Elections transcribed and counted about 68,000 write-in ballots, a little over 65,000 in the countywide, all 265 precincts, Commonwealth's Attorneys Contest, and the rest in the Vienna Town Council and the Clifton Town Council and Mayor Contest.

[02:44:55] By the way, just to add to the complication, this was the first year the Vienna and Clifton Town Offices appeared on the November ballot. It took 18 teams of two people two days to transcribe the write-in names.

[02:45:11] Then the members of the electoral board reviewed those that were difficult to decipher. You have no idea how many different ways names can be spelled. To determine the intent of the voter in order for those ballots to count. All this activity took an amazing number of people to get the work done.

[02:45:29] And I think we're going to see that. There they are. All the numbers of people. So the answer to the question, how many people does it take to conduct a successful election, this year it was 3,477. And you see there the pre-election things, the election day activities, and the post-election activity.

[02:45:52] The process for holding an election does not start the week before that first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nor does it end on election day. By current law, the office must report all final tallies by midnight, the Tuesday of the following week, and otherwise, in other words, seven days later, or the state board can, and I quote, dispatch a law enforcement officer to get those statistics according to Virginia Code.

[02:46:25] Mail ballots must be postmarked no later than election day itself, but do not have to be in the office until noon on the Friday after election day. If November 11th, Veterans Day, falls on that Friday or Saturday, a federal holiday occurs on that Friday, so mail doesn't come in until the following Monday.

[02:46:44] Leaving one and a half days to add those votes, finish the tallies, and submit the data to the state before the law enforcement officials come after us. That sequence occurred this year. All those processes took a long time to count, tabulate, adjudicate, and report 265 individual precincts.

[02:47:07] Data entry was a particular problem because it had to be done name by name, precinct by precinct, one at a time. Extending the final reporting deadline to Friday, 10 days after the election, would certainly solve this problem.

[02:47:23] And I notice your legislative program is on the agenda, maybe even next. And I want to thank you for including support for correcting this problem in your legislative package. We really need that to be done. The Elections Office teamed the impossible with lots of help from other agencies.

[02:47:43] Thanks to the county for providing the necessary additional space in the government center and for the new warehouse space where election equipment can be stored safely and securely. Thanks to the security in this building, which is much appreciated, and of the support from emergency management, as well as the Fairfax County Police on Election Day.

[02:48:04] We do have to tell if there's disruption at the polls outside the 40 feet. We have to tell the election chiefs if they can't solve it. They need to call the police. Our satellites could not exist without the use of rooms in the district government centers, and many of you have those. Thank you.

[02:48:23] Community centers and libraries. In addition, rec centers and other county facilities are used on Election Day. And DPMM makes sure voting machines gets to all those facilities. Special thanks to Fairfax County Public Schools. There are 167 precincts, or 72% of the total, are located in our schools on Election Day.

[02:48:46] The cooperation and assistance from FCPS is critical to a successful election. FCPS delivers the voting machines to the schools, makes sure the schools are open, and provides guidance to the local staff and building usage.

[02:49:02] By definition, mail-in ballots come back by mail. Daryl Brown in the Government Center mail room gets it all first, and then they get it to us. Thank you. Brian Worthy in the Office of Public Affairs get the calls first, and then they bring the request to us.

[02:49:20] Thank you for the coordination and help. is crucial to accurate and secure elections thanks to kim sather white and her mary band for all the coordination with our it team and our leader court white house from the county attorney's office marty desjardins along with john dorsey were kept busy with all kinds of legal issues thanks to them now to save you and me time when it comes to the budget hearings next spring

[02:49:52] let me take a moment to make our pitch now this year we had two elections the democratic primary in june and the general election in november next year there will be three the presidential primary on march 5th which by the way starts something like january 16th the regular primary in june and of course the general election the presidential election in november the changes that achieve increased accessibility to voting require more resources in order to serve our voting public

[02:50:25] efficiently and securely. Next year in the presidential year, with the highest turn out numbers of all our various times of election, requests for mail-in ballots will increase. Postage has, and will again, increase. Most voters, more voters, will register. The cost of paper is up.

[02:50:47] Therefore, the cost of ballots increases. You understand this, so you know that the cost of elections will be greater next year. It always is in a presidential year. This board has been exemplary in funding elections, recognizing that the voters of Fairfax County benefit from safe, secure, accessible, accurate elections.

[02:51:12] Please keep a good thing going. I'll answer questions if I can. you ask any let me introduce the registrar of fairfax county eric eric spicer and the clerk to the electoral board beth meth vessel i can actually say that and then would everybody from the elections office who's here stand up they did good work questions uh indeed they did uh do good

[02:51:47] work and and i was curious how many it took and now we know 3 477 to be exact uh we're happy to Give or take. Give or take. Let me do say to that, that some of those are really the tasks that it takes.

[02:52:03] Some people could do some of the beginning and some of the after, so it might not be different people, but you'd have to have somebody doing it. So we stuck with 3477. Yes. And I just, you know, I do want to acknowledge that, you know, the work that all of you do is hard, but it is so important to democracy.

[02:52:26] What is a takeaway from this presentation, if you look at it, in local elections, the last two local elections compared to the two before that, you had an increase in 100,000 people vote in this county. That matters. That is a big deal.

[02:52:41] And that is largely because of changes that have been made in Richmond and that our board and others have advocated for to make voting easier for people, to allow people to vote early. the numbers are staggering, to allow same-day registrations and basic fundamental rights to people so that their voice can be heard is not lost on us that that comes with a price tag and is a lot of extra work for the people in this auditorium and the 3,400 plus or minus that are included but not sitting in this auditorium today who played a role in making sure that happened. But as aggravating as that is, and as costly as that might be, it's the cost of

[02:53:21] democracy. And to have 100,000 more people vote in their local elections consistently over the last two local elections speaks to the importance of making vote easy for people, making it accessible, making sure that every person in this county who is eligible to vote, we want them to be heard and we want them to participate in our democracy. And so it's just, it should not be lost on any of us, and it's one of the reasons why we have so strongly advocated for these changes so that people are not disenfranchised and that the process is easy, and so we thank

[02:53:59] you, Kate, and the entire team that's here, and let me see if any of my colleagues have any questions for you, any questions, and we have received your budget testimony here this morning. Supervisor Stork has a question. First off, thank you and amazing staff.

[02:54:20] their work and and the mount vernon government center is a hub still and we know it's coming back to be a hub in just a matter really about a month so and we i we definitely enjoy and we appreciate the opportunity one of the things that we've traditionally done over now more than five or ten years definitely in the last eight years we've always offered up like coffee or tea or soft drinks and in one case actually we bake cookies and hand them but we we aren't sure that that's possible to do that we got some feedback and so i wanted to ask you is there any kind of limitation or that kind of hospitality is there any kind of

[02:54:59] concern that we should have about offering that to election limitations on hospitality is a hard question to answer let me let me look up the specific uh we haven't had complaints but let me look up the specific rules because i know you want to be hospitable at the same time to be legal That's a concept that we advocate.

[02:55:21] So let me look those up and get to you. But if you have an extra cookie, I'll be glad to have it. I'm losing my voice. All right. Seeing and hearing no other questions, I will say Kate is among the most accessible people in Fairfax County.

[02:55:40] And so any of us, if we have any follow-up questions, we know where to find you and how to find you. Let me say as a moment of personal privilege before we have everybody come down and have a picture. Penny, thank you. I was, well, let me put it this way.

[02:55:56] You were the last person on any boards on which I served. And who will know the source of things like the scrunch motion and how and the comment as the board will remember. Those go back a long time. She knows them.

[02:56:12] Have her find out the source of those before she goes. But thank you very much for your service. It is exemplary, and you have really been steadfast in serving this public. Thank you very much. Okay, guys, come on down.

[02:56:29] I feel like Bob Barker. Come on. He's dead, I think.

[02:56:34] Okay, next on our agenda is board adoption of the 2024 legislative program for the Virginia General Assembly,

[02:59:06] approval of the county's 118th congressional federal legislative strategy and principles and as i see miss arco is here and our legislative staff is on their way down at this time i am going to turn to the chair of our legislative committee supervisor walkinshaw thank you mr chairman and i'm gonna i'm gonna condense this a lot of it are the things that we've heard before mr chairman today the board is adopting our state and federal legislative agendas for 2024. For state legislation, we're adopting our 2024 legislative program, and for federal legislation, we are adopting recommended strategies and principles for the 118th Congress.

[02:59:45] All of these items were discussed at this fall's legislative committee meetings, most recently on November 28th. As we've discussed at those meetings, our fundamental priorities have not changed. Our program features state support for education as a top priority and urges the state to fully meet its responsibility to adequately fund K-12 education.

[03:00:09] As we know, this year the General Assembly's own JLARC study demonstrated that the Commonwealth of Virginia is underfunding education, shortchanging our students by $3.5 billion and lagging behind neighboring states like West Virginia and Kentucky in state funding for education.

[03:00:30] Our transportation funding priority statement encourages the General Assembly to build upon the successful enactment of significant transportation revenues passed by the 2013 and 2020 General Assemblies to ensure sufficient funding for transportation needs, including new projects, state road maintenance, and continued state assistance for local and regional transit systems.

[03:00:55] As we've discussed, the most significant economic development challenge facing the Commonwealth of Virginia is the funding crisis at WMATA. We have three initiatives included in our program this year.

[03:01:11] The first initiative seeks budget action to restore funding for the salaries of local finance directors through the Commonwealth of Virginia's Compensation Board. The second initiative, as we just heard, seeks legislation to change the deadline for local electoral boards to certify elections and submit abstracts from seven days following the election to 10 days following the election.

[03:01:36] And finally, our third initiative seeks legislation to clarify that counties that do not maintain their own roads, like Fairfax County, are authorized to reduce speed limits to less than 25 miles per hour, but not less than 15 miles per hour on highways within boundaries, within business or residential districts, as is currently allowed for localities that do maintain their own roads.

[03:02:06] Next, the board will be adopting our federal legislative strategy for the 118th Congress. As my colleagues are aware, the political and fiscal landscape in Congress has been volatile over the past several years and we're likely to see continued uncertainty in the future.

[03:02:25] Fairfax County pursues a strategic approach to federal funding opportunities with a focus on economic development, transportation, and protecting our social safety net. We will continue to advocate for the relocation of federal facilities to the county, including the FBI headquarters.

[03:02:42] We'll also be actively working to protect existing federal investments in the county, particularly our military installations, our civilian federal workforce, and federal contractors, which are so vital to our local economy. We've moved language from existing sections and added new language to create a new affordable housing position this year.

[03:03:05] This position stresses our support for federal funding and actions to increase the availability of affordable housing, provide emergency rental assistance, and prevent homelessness. It also highlights the county's support for extending the moving-to-work status of designated public housing authorities, including that of the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

[03:03:28] Finally, Mr. Chairman, I want to just take the opportunity to thank our incredible legislative staff who are here with us today. Claudia Arco, Jennifer Van E, Ariel McAloon, Noel Dominguez, Chris Ziegler, Kristen Kanasky, and Jessica Love.

[03:03:46] And I really want to thank staff across the county government. This is really a whole of government effort to produce the program this year. And a lot of folks participate and contribute. But our legislative staff is getting ready to do the really hard work of taking this down to Richmond and advocating on our behalf throughout the session.

[03:04:07] I also want to thank all of my colleagues for their active participation, suggestions, and ideas throughout the process. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I move that the board adopt the 2024 legislative program and further move that the board adopt the recommended strategies and principles for the 118th Congress.

[03:04:26] And I'm happy to second those along with Supervisor Palchuk. Discussion on the motion? Discussion on the motion? I'll just briefly say, reiterate what you said, thanking the folks involved in this. This is an effort of the whole in the county, and we often get asked why it's important for us to do this, and I think it's clear the stakes in this particular session are so high.

[03:04:49] This morning we honored a lot of retiring legislators, And I think it's dawned on all of us in profound ways what a different General Assembly we're going to be facing in Richmond and the challenges ahead. For me, I am going to be laser focused, as no surprise to anyone in the auditorium, on public education funding.

[03:05:11] As I mentioned last week at our joint budget meeting with our colleagues on the school board, to have the state's own JLARC study point out that the state is nearly $2,000 behind on per-pupil spending and that Virginia ranks behind all of our neighboring states, including West Virginia and Kentucky, in public education funding should be not lost on any of us.

[03:05:36] And when we set the tax rate and make the hard decision about generating revenue through real estate taxes, a huge share of that revenue is being generated to support public schools and to fill a gigantic, embarrassing hole in public education funding that is created at the state level.

[03:05:54] And so we know how important our schools are to our economy, to job growth, to our citizens. That's why we do that. and we have an opportunity here with this study on the table to fight for more public education funding and maybe, maybe, just maybe, move Virginia ahead on public education funding of states like Kentucky and West Virginia right now that are beating us when it comes to public education funding.

[03:06:18] We would have a profoundly different public school system in Fairfax County if we relied upon the state to fund such a system. Thankfully, we don't. That doesn't mean that there can't be tremendous help. hopefully this legislative session to move that needle forward.

[03:06:34] And we had a lot of discussion about this last week with our colleagues from the school board. I hope it is something that we all stay focused on during this session. Supervisor Walkinshaw. Well said. Agree 100%. You know, this is a generational opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the case for the state to fulfill its commitment.

[03:06:55] I don't think any of us think a $3.5 billion hole is going to be closed in one year. But if they don't get onto the path this year of closing that gap, that will be a serious disservice, not just to our schools and kids here in Fairfax County, but to kids across the Commonwealth.

[03:07:12] A few housekeeping items that I know Ms. Arco will want me to mention. As a reminder, our work session with the General Assembly will be held next week, December 12th, 3.30 p.m. in Conference Room 9 and 10. The 2024 General Assembly session begins on Wednesday, January 10th, and our first legislative committee meeting of 2024, and I know that Supervisors Faust and Gross will be glued to their TVs to watch, will be Friday, January 19th at 4 p.m. in Conference Room 11.

[03:07:47] Thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw, and you've heard the motion and the multiple seconds on our legislative package. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Tarity nay. Any abstentions? And that motion passes nine to one. With that, we are going to move on to board matters. And just as a reminder, the clerk has collected these electronically and provided these to board members. And we will go in order by district name, following myself and Vice Chairman Gross. I have only one board matter, and that is a presentation request without

[03:08:24] objection uh to be presented inside or outside of the boardroom to recognize john lovas for his 26 years as the market manager of the reston farmers market which he founded that's it that's it without objection so ordered and next up is supervisor gross no board matters no board matters supervisor walkenshaw thank you mr chairman i have uh just one board matter but it's a pretty important one it's a joint board matter with you and with supervisor lusk to accept the findings report of the task force on the future of lake akatink and we have the the chair of our task force chairman

[03:09:00] boulevard who's here and i asked the board's indulgence after i wrap up here to give her a couple minutes to share with us uh the task force's work summary of their work mr chairman on may 23rd the board unanimously approved my motion to create a task force on the future of lake akatink chairman mckay and supervisor lusk were co-sponsors of the motion lake akatink park is one of fairfax County's most beloved resources, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to its trails, picnic areas, and waterfront activities. Lake Akatink is a man-made reservoir originally built

[03:09:37] by the United States Army, and it's a key feature of the park. However, it has required regular dredging to remove sediment and prevent it from returning to something like its natural state. Detailed analysis led Fairfax County staff to recommend that Lake Akatink not be dredged because of the significant cost and challenges in processing and disposing of the sediment.

[03:10:00] Instead, staff's recommendation was to restart the park's master planning process with an emphasis on developing a sustainable vision for the lake and the park. The task force was established to review and develop findings on the previous dredging studies to ensure that all options have been considered to preserve Lake Akatink in the most sustainable, equitable, and cost-effective manner, identify information needs and questions that should be addressed should the board proceed with studying a managed wetland or hybrid option, and to consider the impacts to the environment surrounding communities, recreational uses of the park, and financing, including ongoing maintenance.

[03:10:40] The task force was chaired by former Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Boliva, included 30-plus members of the community, environmental and nonprofit organization, and other parts of the county, including former Braddock District Supervisor John Cook. Their work was supported by a new team of expert consultants from WSP Limnotech.

[03:11:01] Three subcommittees of the task force were created to explore topics in more detail. Those groups were the subcommittee on the value of Lake Akatink to Lake Akatink Park and to the county, the subcommittee on impacts of and issues with the county staff recommendation to not dredge, and the subcommittee on options to consider other than traditional full dredging.

[03:11:24] The subcommittees met separately to analyze, review, and discuss their topics and provided their reports, which are included in the findings report. The full task force met nine times, most recently last night, over the past five months, and the subcommittees met 21 times.

[03:11:42] The findings report is available on the Lake Akatink Task Force website, which has been updated throughout the process, and board members have copies of the executive summary at the dais. With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll go ahead and move that the Board of Supervisors accept the findings report of the task force on the future of Lake Akatink and request that these findings be referred to the December 12th meeting of the Environmental Committee for discussion.

[03:12:09] I'm happy to second that, along with Supervisor Lusk. Any further discussion on the motion? Supervisor Walkinshaw. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And maybe during the discussion it would be appropriate to ask Chairman Bulba to come down and share a few remarks with us. I'll just say, I really, and I said this last night to them when I joined their meeting, I want to thank all the members of the task force.

[03:12:32] And let me just ask, we have some who are here with us today. Please stand up. If you're a member of the task force, please stand up. Let's give them a round of applause. And their colleagues who couldn't be with us today.

[03:12:49] I want to thank Chairman Bouliva. I've said it a couple of times. I spent the first three years of my term with the Sharon Bouliva card in my pocket. I left it in there until I really needed it, and I pulled it out for this, which is one of the most challenging issues I think we've faced in a long time.

[03:13:07] And she has done an incredible job. My colleagues know her skill in managing a group, a committee, and a meeting. I want to thank Supervisor Cook. I think he's out of town on business and couldn't be here today, but will be with us next week for bringing his detailed knowledge, his passion for Lake Akatink and his skill set to the table as well.

[03:13:31] Our county staff from Public Works, especially Charles Smith and Chris Harrington, have done an amazing job under difficult circumstances, have answered a lot of hard questions, a lot of detailed questions. And I always say, you know, that work is on top of the work that they're already doing in the course of their responsibilities.

[03:13:54] and they have just gone above and beyond to make sure the task force had what it needed uh the cable and consumer services in channel 16 uh staff who have made sure that all of the meetings have been recorded and televised and they're also working to produce a short video summary of the task force's work that we'll see some of at our december 12th meeting i really appreciate them and then staff in the braddock district office who have handled a lot of the logistics and nuts and bolts for this, including a lot of the FOIA compliance issues that are a challenge with any entity like this.

[03:14:33] Everyone in my office has chipped in in some way, but Marcia Pape especially has put in an enormous amount of time and effort, including, I think, until she was here until 1.30 or 2 in the morning last night as they were making some edits to the findings.

[03:14:51] So I really appreciate her work and everyone's work. And, you know, I'll just clarify, and my colleagues understand this process. We're accepting the findings. It's not the board's endorsement of any particular element of the findings. We're accepting them.

[03:15:06] I happen to think they are going to be really valuable for us as we move forward into the next phase of this process. And we tasked the task force with developing findings rather than a recommendation or recommendations.

[03:15:23] And I think that's important to point out what you see in the report are their findings, not necessarily a recommendation, especially not a recommendation as to a particular path forward. But they've given us some really valuable insight into ways we can improve the process moving forward.

[03:15:42] And I think, as we'll discuss in more detail next week, a potential path forward to further explore. So with that, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to turn it over to Chairman Bulova to share a little bit with us. Please welcome Chairman Bulova. Thank you so much.

[03:16:00] And I'll be brief. This is a long day for board members. And let me just add my thanks to Supervisor Gross and to Supervisor Faust for their years of service to the county.

[03:16:16] They will be missed, but this is what happens after you retire from the Board of Supervisors, so be careful. I would just like to thank the board for giving the community the opportunity to respond to staff's recommendation. It was a difficult recommendation for the community to hear and it was met with anger, with frustration, disappointment, but I have to say that when

[03:16:54] When I chaired our first meeting, and I thank Supervisor Walkinshaw and the board for suggesting the task force, the room was filled not with angry people, but with individuals from the community and from organizations and nonprofits throughout the county who were willing and ready to roll up their sleeves and dig in to the recommendations and look for options

[03:17:27] other than the full dredging, although the full dredging is still on the table and one of the findings is that that should be re-evaluated. So again, I just wanted to thank the board.

[03:17:42] underestimate the value of community engagement even with difficult subject matter people are willing and want to participate and want to have a seat at the table you've seen folks who are here and let me just very very briefly we have gail niddle with springfield springfield civic Association Shep Shepard, who is author of an addendum that I hope everyone will have a chance to read. You know, it's sort of an out-of-the-box look at how do we deal with dredge material and

[03:18:22] where do we dry it and where can we take it. And I really appreciate him for reaching out to the Washington Post or the Robinson Terminal and Norfolk Southern to look for some answers and solutions there. Ann Ball, as I speak, is still editing the final version of the findings document.

[03:18:44] She's from the Sierra Club. Ken Balbuena from North Springfield Civic Association. Karen Camblin with the NAACP. Evelyn Spain with the Planning Commission. We had also Mary Cortina, who's not here, with the Planning Commission.

[03:19:02] David Kepley with Faith Alliance for Climate Change, Larry Zaragoza, and let's see, did I get everyone? I think I did. And let me just lastly add my thanks to especially Charles Smith with the Department of Planning of Public Works and Environmental Management.

[03:19:23] Not an easy place to be. They made a recommendation. community was disturbed by it and yet they worked collaboratively with us to get documentation information and and technical assistance for you know for the task force and and we loved Limno Tech and we hope that you bring them back they were a wonderful consultant and we enjoyed having them at the table with us

[03:19:54] So with that, I am just going to read one little sentence, and this is the end of the subcommittee chaired by John Cook looking at options. And he said, the subcommittee finds that the county must move forward quickly in its decision-making process before further sedimentation in the lake negatively affects the feasibility of these options.

[03:20:24] The subcommittee hopes the county will continue to involve the community in its ongoing assessment of the future of the lake. And with that, again, thank you so much. I really enjoyed chairing this committee. It was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful group of people.

[03:20:43] And with that, thank you very much. Thank you very much, Chairman Bulova. As Supervisor Walkinshaw said, for your leadership and for the task force's engagement, you know the tougher the issue I find the more important the engagement is and so this is a tough issue and it's one that we're going to grapple with and it's one that as the board matter says and what we have hopefully will approve is that this will be coming to the environmental committee for much thorough discussion of the task force findings on December 12th which is a week from

[03:21:19] today. So that gives board members a week to review the findings report of the task force and to be prepared to have a presentation and further discussion on December 12th, which will engage deeper into this issue. But again, thank you and to the task force members for your work and for being here today. And I'm sure that we will see a lot of you as well next week when we dive into this a little bit deeper. Thank you very much, Chairman Bulova. And with that, I am going to suspend the rest of the board matters. I'm sorry, we need to vote on that. We need

[03:21:58] to vote on that. But I do want to announce, because I saw a couple of county staff folks leaving, after this board matter, we're going to suspend the rest of the board matters and go to the county executive's agenda items. And then we will return back to board matters if we have time. I do want to make the board aware the cafeteria closes in one hour. And And so hopefully that will be a motivator.

[03:22:20] But with that being said, is there any further discussion on the motion that was made by Supervisor Walkinshaw? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries 10 to 0.

[03:22:36] And with that, we are going to suspend board matters and go into the county executive's agenda items. And let me ask if we have a motion to approve admin items 1 through 9, Supervisor Gross. So moved, Mr. Chairman.

[03:22:52] You've heard the motion. I'm happy to second the motion. Are there any items that board members would like to ask questions on or to have pulled for a separate vote? Supervisor Harris. Just a short comment on 7. A short comment on admin item number 7, which is?

[03:23:09] The bus rats. Let's see. I need to read it, though. Approval of Supplemental Appropriation Resolution AS-24093 for the Department of Transportation to accept grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Community Project funding requests included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022 and to execute a standard project agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation in the Braddock, Franconia, Mason, and Mount Vernon District.

[03:23:38] Supervisor Herity, your question. Also, in the Springfield, it's not a question, it was just a comment that Bus Route 610 isn't included in there, and it's adding the stop at the Kate Hanley Shelter in that section of 29, which we've been working on for a very long time. So I just want to thank staff for that.

[03:23:54] Excellent. Excellent. Any other discussion on any of the admin items? You've heard the motion to approve admin items 1 through 9, which I seconded. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions?

[03:24:09] that motion carries. Action item number one is resolution to apply for a waiver to administer Pioneer and Garfield precincts in the Franconia district and the Penderbrook and Burke number two precincts in the Springfield district as split precincts pursuant to Virginia code section 24.2-307 in the Franconia and in the Springfield districts. Do we have a motion?

[03:24:35] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll go quickly. I move approval of the county executive's recommendation for action one to permit the split precincts for Pioneer and Garfield in the County District and the Penderbrook and Burke in the Springfield District. Second. You've heard the motion. It's been seconded by Supervisor Herity. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Action item number two is sale of general obligation, public improvement bonds,

[03:25:12] and public improvement refunding bonds. Do we have a motion, Supervisor Gross? Move the county executive's recommendation. I'm happy to second that. Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor of action two, please say aye.

[03:25:29] Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Action item number three is approval of the director of the Department of Cable and Consumer Services recommendation on the number of taxicab certificates to be authorized in 2023 uh let me ask supervisor gross if she has a motion i would move the county executive's recommendation second the motion it's been seconded by supervisor lusk any further discussion seeing and hearing none all those in favor of action item three please say aye aye any opposed

[03:26:04] any abstentions that motion carries action item number four is approval of the county fairfax counties fy 2023 to fy 2033 transit strategic plan supervisor alcorn thank you mr chairman i move approval of a4 as recommended by the county executive heard the motion it's been multiply seconded uh any discussions just supervisor alcorn just very quickly i want to thank county staff they did a fantastic job excellent job pulling this together it's it is very comprehensive uh for anybody who's interested in knowing anything about our transit systems this is a great place to start

[03:26:40] And just very quickly, I think it underscores, in reading through it, I did know it underscores how challenging our overall doing transit in a community like Fairfax County that's as big as we are and where our distribution of housing and jobs is as widely distributed as this is a challenging place to do this.

[03:27:05] So, again, my compliments to county staff. And the other point that I'd note is really with the pandemic, we're still recovering transit-wise from the pandemic. But what we're not actually recovering from is we still see costs continuing to increase.

[03:27:23] So this is a tough time. This is a really good time to be doing this transit strategic plan. But I would also just note, and I think we all know this, this is, even though the plan is the plan, the system evolves.

[03:27:39] And it is a dynamic system in that we adjust whenever we need to as circumstances change, as resources become available, and as we respond to the needs of our community. So, again, thank you, staff, and I look forward to having this completed.

[03:27:57] Thank you very much. Supervisor Alcorn, if there's no further discussion, all those in favor of action four, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Action item number five is endorsement of projects for submission to the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board Long Range Transportation Plan Visualize 2050. Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move approval of A5 as recommended by the county executive. You've heard the motion. It's been multiply seconded.

[03:28:28] Any discussion, Supervisor Alcorn? Just very quickly, again, I want to thank staff on this effort. This is a really comprehensive effort to make sure that our long-range plan squared with a lot of our other plans. I think it's a very responsible recommendation.

[03:28:45] I appreciate staff working with each board member on all the different possible projects, both in the plan and maybe where the plan needs to be updated. would just note uh you know i think this is a balanced approach uh we end up with uh some additional uh projects going into the proposed plan including some very important transit uh projects and um i'd note we we also are showing five uh road projects coming out of the plan that

[03:29:18] i think are pretty clear uh that really are are are no longer appropriate for the long-term plan so great job uh and thank you for all your work on this further discussion uh supervisor smith on the note of projects that are removed two projects are removed in sully the new braddock road constructed widening string follow road widening i think that was a good decision to remove this thank you okay any further discussion supervisor valchek thank you on the same vein really want to thank the staff especially who worked with us to review that there would not be

[03:29:53] any negative consequences to removing widening projects that we feel are no longer necessary in order to help support those that are more multimodal focus that are needed for our priorities including bus rapid transit and other multimodal projects so agree that excellent work by the staff on this Thank You Malcolm and the whole team and I think this is a another good step balance approach forward in making sure that we're moving people safely and appropriately through our roads. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Palchuk. Seeing and hearing no one

[03:30:28] else, all those in favor of action item number six, please say aye. I'm sorry. Yes, action item number five. I'm sorry, action item number five, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Action item number six is approval of a memorandum of agreement MOA between the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the County of Fairfax regarding coordination of technical analysis and funding for phase four through four dash one of the envision route seven bus rapid transit project in the drainsville hunter mill mason and providence districts

[03:31:03] supervisor alcorn thank you mr chairman i move approval of a sec a six as recommended by the county executive you heard the motion and it's been seconded by a lot of folks uh discussion on the motion supervisor faust thank you mr john i'm going to support the motion but i i do have concerns about mvtc which i think is a great organization managing a project like this i'm not sure that they have done it before uh i sit on mvtc and i don't have a comfort level yet that

[03:31:38] they're they have their hands wrapped around this but i constantly am asking for schedules what what is when are we when is this going to happen you know and they never provide them uh so i would think you know i'll support it but i would ask that in the mvtc staff or the kind of staff get back to us with you know this is the segment we just agreed to move forward with these are the additional segments this is when the project would be completed if everything goes as anticipated

[03:32:11] that would be very helpful i think and evaluating each step as we go forward you know what's the long-range plan um and i i wholeheartedly support that the number one question i've had about this is what has been taking so long to get to this point and what does the future look like what we do know is this will be a long-term project but we need to have a reasonable understanding of what that means in terms of years we're not looking for specific dates here but we are looking for milestones and frankly I think direction of the board is to ask staff for a as much as they can

[03:32:49] provide a detailed timeline working with NVTC and a memo back to the board giving us what that looks like. I don't know if you wanted to comment on here, otherwise we're happy to accept it in the form of a memo, but I think a schedule at a minimum with a, you know, some milestones in it is appropriate. I'll say good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Greg Steverson, acting director of FCDOT. That's something that we can provide you. We'll work together with the folks in NVTC to get you sort of an idea of where this thing is going throughout the course of the time

[03:33:23] that's needed to get it done and if we could include in that the the date and by which this began because we're sitting here today at a milestone but some of us have been talking about and working on on this for years already we have years behind us to get to this point so if we could get the timeline in totality from when this effort began to when we think it's going to be completed as best we know it working with nvtc that would be helpful uh additional conversations supervisor Poucher if I may mr. Chairman, thank you and thank you to the staff. I think will be helpful to include in there is

[03:33:56] The funding that's been provided and where it's been provided along the way part of this and VTC has recently hired the manager Large part things to the federal your mark I know it's not the official name But understanding where the funding has come in and the roles of the jurisdictions. I think that's a little bit tricky and important for us to understand that may impact whatever timeline we come back with.

[03:34:22] Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other questions? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of action item number six, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Parity, nay. Any abstentions? And that motion carries nine to one. Action item number seven, authorization for the county executive or designee to negotiate and execute an agreement with Virginia Electric and Power Company Dominion for the crediting of electricity generated by the I-95 landfill solar project to certain Fairfax County metered accounts, Supervisor Stork.

[03:34:56] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move the county executive's recommendation. I'm happy to second that. Discussion on the motion, Supervisor Stork, then Supervisor Gross. Just wanted to kind of give a little bit of background. This is, we're authorizing the county executive to negotiate and execute an agreement with Dominion to frankly create certain credits for the county's electoral bill based upon the interconnect agreement that we'll have with our landfill solar farm, if you will.

[03:35:28] This is one of the final pieces of something that we actually started. In the fall of 2022, Sun Tribe Solar was awarded this agreement to build this solar facility at the I-95 landfill. Our expectation is that the energy production will begin in late 2024. And speaking of things that have taken a long time, this is one of those that we seem like we're in the final year of this process, and hopefully we can bring this home in 2024.

[03:35:58] Agreed. Thank you, Supervisor Stork. Supervisor Gross. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, the board item talks about in 2019, the county solicited bids on this, but it actually goes back a lot longer than that. I remember I was chairman of the Environment Committee and staff brought forward several things that they would like to do on renewables on the landfill. And this was one of them. Wind turbines was another. But this one,

[03:36:32] so the fact that it says 2019 and then 2022, it actually goes back a lot farther than that. We had to get General Assembly legislation passed so that we could move forward. So this is a real win but golly it took a long time yes absolutely supervisor harry just a quick question how are we going to determine which accounts get the credit and is that going to come back to the board good morning John moral acting director of office of environmental and energy coordination we are selecting essentially

[03:37:12] the the accounts that have relatively high electricity prices because that we get uh the reduction from dominion uh the higher the better um there was not the intent to bring them to the board but i defer to the county attorney's office supervisor harridy joanna falch from the county attorney's office i believe that the board will be updated through either environmental committee or through a nip about the accounts themselves yes but this first step

[03:37:47] is the predicate that's required under the enabling statute for the board to direct staff to negotiate with Dominion. Thank you. Okay. Any further discussion? Supervisor Walkinshaw. Yeah, I just want to thank Supervisor Stork and so many others for their long advocacy for this.

[03:38:05] I mean, this is exciting. This is a great deal for the taxpayers. It's a great deal for our local environment and air quality throughout Northern Virginia and Fairfax County. And I'll just note, you know, one of the things that have been holding us up was we needed enabling authority from Richmond. And one of our big legislative priorities in the 2020 session, feels like a long time ago now, was the solar freedom bill.

[03:38:28] Actually, I was looking back to confirm it was Delegate Mark Keene who carried that on our behalf, one of his many accomplishments during his time in the General Assembly. So really excited to see this moving forward. And I personally, I'd be very happy with just an update as to which accounts will be offset with the energy that's generated.

[03:38:48] Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Walkinshaw. And I remember going to Richmond to testify to support this bill in a committee that Delegate Keem was addressing. And it would have passed three years earlier if three legislators hadn't gotten up and walked out to avoid voting on it.

[03:39:06] So just the ways of Richmond, unfortunately, but we would have been benefiting from this revenue three years earlier if we had been given permission by the General Assembly to do with our own property what our general public wants to do and what makes environmental sense. And so one of those mind-numbing moments that we deal with at local government. So with that, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries and moves us to action item number eight, which is approval of a, let me make sure I have this right, action

[03:39:43] item number eight, approval of funding, approval of funding allocations for pedestrian and bicycle improvement projects and maintenance, Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move approval of A-8 as recommended by the county executive with the amendment circulated by Supervisor Stork.

[03:40:02] And I'm happy to second that motion as amended. Discussion on the motion. Any discussion on the motion? Okay, guys. Supervisor Smith. Just briefly, I want to correct attachment three, the Park Authority maintenance projects.

[03:40:20] Rocky Run Stream Valley is listed as Springfield and Sully, and that is only Springfield. And further down on that list, Rocky Run Stream Valley and Greenbrier is listed as Sully, and that is Springfield. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Smith. Supervisor Herity. I'm just going to make a quick comment.

[03:40:36] I'm glad to see maintenance is included as a big piece of this. Instead of just building new stuff, we've got to take care of what we've got. I'm glad to see that's a big piece of this. Supervisor Palachick. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One, I believe, correction and a couple of questions. On attachment three, I believe not a way is listed as in our mail, but should be Providence District.

[03:40:57] This refers to the park. If it's not, happy to hear that. Otherwise, my other question, I'm very happy. Well, comment first. very happy to see that for this round we are also including support for the support with prioritization and scoping I know you've done a heck of a job with very limited resources I appreciated the outreach and the survey do you think we could do a better job next round and how we engage the community and are able to better use that input but I appreciate the efforts and I do think additional

[03:41:35] support with that will be helpful. My question in this is for DPW and the Park Authority maintenance projects. We understand the process for the DOT active transportation. Is there a process and did that include equity studies for the DPW and the Park Authority maintenance projects? For the DPWS projects we have the select our project based on assessment that was completed back in 2013 and then we get complaints and we also respond to complaints we're currently doing a full-blown assessment of all trails within the

[03:42:14] county we have two districts completed by doing a third district that's how we select our projects to perform maintenance work on them hi i'm michael greener chief of the capital project section with fairfax county department of transportation we have partnered with fairfax county park authority as well they've informed us that they do a needs assessment as well and they rate projects and their project selection is based on that it'll be helpful i think getting more understanding moving forward of the way those are done especially i know it's a small amount

[03:42:50] in comparison but the dpw projects definitely see a disparity in where they're going geographically in the county so i think it would be helpful for us and for our constituents to get a better sense of what that process is and that prioritization as well for the future thank you thank you supervisor Paucek. Any additional questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor of action eight, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Action number nine. Action item number nine is resolution specifying the Board of Supervisors' good faith commitment to

[03:43:26] appropriate funding necessary for the county to meet its obligations under the tentative agreement with Southern States Police Benevolent Association as set forth in Department of Management, and Budgets Fiscal Impact Study, Supervisor Gross.

[03:43:42] Mr. Chairman, I move approval of the resolution. We've heard the motion. I'm happy to second that motion along with Supervisor Palchuk, Supervisor Gross. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In my 28 years as personnel chair, we've done drop, compensation plans, retirement plans, But I think the heaviest lift we've ever done was a collective bargaining agreement.

[03:44:13] We started talking about, I mean, there was discussion of collective bargaining and I wish we could, I wish we could, back when I started. It took seven terms to get us there and a change in the General Assembly's makeup.

[03:44:35] But I am very pleased that we are here where we are. If you have plenty of time, you can read every word of both of these resolutions and the agreements. I had to look up some of the terminology because I did not know what some of those things were.

[03:44:54] But I think we are now in a place where we will be able to move forward for our employees, especially for our public safety and firefighters. And this is a nice note to go out on. Thank you.

[03:45:11] Thank you, Supervisor Gross. Supervisor Palczyk. Mr. Chairman, thank you. And a historic moment today, both the retirement of two of our long-serving members, but also the first time we are approving to collect the bargaining agreements.

[03:45:28] In addition to the many financial aspects that are incorporated, I want to thank everyone who worked on these. I personally want to point out in both of them, I believe it's Article 54 in both, the mental health and wellness services that we know are so critical and we've heard from many of our staff.

[03:45:45] We talked today about the impact on our families for our service. I very much appreciate that this addresses the impact to our public safety employees and their families for their service and the need for us to continue to invest not just in salaries, which are critical, and so many other on-site work improvements, But definitely the need for mental health, physical health, and wellness, both for those who serve and for their families and those who have died in line of duty.

[03:46:21] So just appreciate everyone's efforts on both of these. I won't speak again, but I know that from our county staff to our employees to our board, so much has gone into this and a few things still to continue to be worked out.

[03:46:36] But I think for the first time in so many decades, it went rather smoothly for being such a heavy lift. So thank you, and thank you to our county leadership for your leadership on this. Thank you, Supervisor Palachuk, Supervisor Herity. Yeah, I've shared my concerns about public sector collective bargaining in the past, so I'm going to just try to be brief.

[03:46:55] I mean, my biggest issues here, and there was obviously some very good things in this agreement. There's probably some very bad things in this agreement. But I just don't like the fact the board really had no input into the objectives of the agreement. Recruiting and retention, mental health and public safety are obviously critical.

[03:47:16] But we didn't share with our staff what our objectives were in this. We've had no briefings on what objectives were accomplished, what things our employees wanted that we weren't able to give them in this agreement.

[03:47:33] At least I haven't. I don't know whether anybody else on this board has, but I don't know that that's a good way to manage to turn it over to staff and let them hammer it out with our public safety officials without board input or report back to the board on what's in here and what's not.

[03:47:49] So it's very difficult for me to sit here other than reading. And, oh, by the way, we've been told we can't talk to them on this agreement. So for those reasons and many others, I'm not going to be supporting this. But although I support many of the things that are in there, I certainly support compensation.

[03:48:06] I led the effort on public safety compensation, and I'm going to continue to. We will lead the effort to fund public safety compensation, as this board has done as well. Supervisor Harity. Supervisor Waltershaw has the floor.

[03:48:23] Some of us have supported it and voted for it. I'll just say, one, on that point, I recall Supervisor Harity once saying that this is a board. We aren't 10 many county executives running around making every decision.

[03:48:40] I appreciate the work that our negotiating team has done and our staff has done. And, you know, as we went through and Supervisor Gross and I worked through the working group to establish the ordinance, one of my priorities that I felt was a huge opportunity for us as a county is to give our employees, in this case are public safety employees, a real voice because they have some of the best ideas about how to improve some of the things Supervisor Herdy just talked about.

[03:49:12] And I won't go through everything that I do like about the agreement. One thing that jumped out at me in this agreement actually was the foreign language stipend because I've spent some time in ride-alongs with our officers in the West Springfield District and parts of the district where if you don't have Spanish language skills, it is really hard to do the job and i've asked officers about it and they have said it's difficult to take extra time to go through the classes and the certification to get those foreign language skills and the stipend would help and because of collective bargaining they got to sit down at the

[03:49:48] table i presume and make that argument straight out of their mouths not mine or the chiefs or the county executives and and that is a real value of this process the other thing i'll just point out and I appreciate the fiscal impact. I think it's important to note that even without collective bargaining, right, we would likely, I'm sure, be looking at compensation increases as we typically do. So when it says that the year one impact is $33 million, I don't want anyone to go out and say collective bargaining is costing us $33 million. Because if we didn't have collective bargaining,

[03:50:27] we would have done what we did last year and the year before and the year before and the year before and look at our pay plan the mra pay studies all of the other elements of it and maybe it would have come out the same or slightly different but it's not collective bargaining is costing us 33 million dollars because we would have incurred a lot of those costs with or without it but but i appreciate all the work you know i think looking at some other jurisdictions i said this before in our region and the challenges that they have had in their process i think it demonstrates that we set up a good process and credit goes to to our team on the county side but

[03:51:02] also the employee groups for the professionalism that everyone brought to it thank you thank you supervisor walkenshaw seeing no further discussion let me just reiterate the point that was just made because i do think is important we spent a lot of time talking about recruitment and retention and we see what's happening across the region and i i do want to reiterate that many of the commitments that are in this that we're expecting the county executive to include in his budget proposal to us are things we likely would have had to do anyway in this particular market. And so I think Supervisor Herity missed the point of collective bargaining because the point was

[03:51:41] to get the public safety folks at the table to hear from them and not the politicians try to speak for them, which unfortunately happens on this dais and most of the time it's not right. So to hear from them, the employee groups, and to be able to work together with them on an agreement that respects the very specialized work that we do and makes them feel like they have a voice is the point of collective bargaining.

[03:52:06] It's not for us to speak for them. And I think that's maybe a huge fundamental disagreement in process. But in this particular instance, I do want to thank all the groups for working collectively on an agreement that is before us today to consider.

[03:52:24] And most importantly, as Supervisor Walkinshaw mentioned, this stands in stark contrast to the performance of this process in other parts of Virginia and certainly other parts of the country where we did not have to, because of the hard work of staff and employee groups, bring in a third-party arbitrator to resolve major differences.

[03:52:45] And we're hoping that not only are we hoping that we can fund and support this in the budget, but we're also hoping that that spirit of collaboration continues as we move forward because we have seen where that hasn't worked, and the outcome of those conversations in most cases don't benefit anyone, at least in the short term.

[03:53:04] But here we have folks who have come together, worked together in a very professional way, And Supervisor Gross mentioned how long we've been working on this. I can remember the early days of working on this. But if you think about how quickly we've gotten to where we are to be here today, I think is a remarkable testament to the hard work of a lot of people who are in this auditorium and some people who aren't in this auditorium and to all the public safety workers who are working right now to benefit them and their families.

[03:53:37] And just to be clear, this is a collective bargaining agreement in this particular case that we're talking about police officers. But collectively, we have another item in a moment for fire and rescue. Collectively, we're talking about the firefighters, police officers, and public safety communicators who serve this county every single day.

[03:53:57] And so with that, all those in favor of action item number nine, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? And that motion carries 9 to 1. Action item number 10 is a resolution specifying the Board of Supervisors' good faith commitment to appropriate necessary funding for the county to meet its obligations under the tentative agreement with International Association of Firefighters Local 2068 as set forth in Department of Management and Budget's final impact study.

[03:54:28] Supervisor Gross. I'm tempted to say ditto, but I moved the county executive's recommendation and would just note that it was the Firefighters Local 2068 who first started talking to me about this, I think, in 1996.

[03:54:44] And I'm happy to second that motion. Discussion on the motion. Supervisor Stork. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And this, my comments are really regarding both agreements and our efforts. And I think much of that's already been said, but I want to reinforce the fact that it is, it's far more than just a wage or a particular dollar amount. It's about really ability to engage and involve and frankly make a difference in things that you as a public safety person, police officer, firefighter, EMT, et cetera, experience every single day that I don't experience, that I don't have that knowledge, that insight, that if you will,

[03:55:24] that democratization of the process I think is hugely powerful for all of us the other point I wanted to make is a challenge that we have and based on some conversations I've had there's a number of changes in kind of our administrative procedures and rules and processes that will go into effect almost immediately and those will frankly have a huge impact on the day the life if you will, the daily routine that our officers and firefighters have.

[03:55:53] And I know that a neighboring jurisdiction went through that process and things weren't ready and weren't implemented right at the start, and it created issues. And I'm hoping that our county and our staff, our county executive, others are ready, willing, and frankly on top of those kinds of implementations so that on day one, this agreement gets implemented the way that it was negotiated and understood that it would be implemented.

[03:56:20] So, again, my thanks to county staff, the huge effort, the heavy lift that this had, and our public safety employees and the representation that they had that we got here, and we got an agreement, I think, that will serve us all very, very well. So, thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Stork.

[03:56:36] Let me also thank the folks who were involved, including 2068. I was going to say what Supervisor Gross said, which is they've been talking about this issue for longer than anybody else in this county has been and so we've finally gotten to this milestone point in large part due to your constant advocacy and work not just on your members but on behalf of county employees in general but if it wasn't for 2068 we would not be where we are today it's clear to say that your work in richmond and with this board and i think that's worth noting and celebrating With that, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

[03:57:13] Aye. Any opposed? 30 nay. Any abstentions? And that motion, too, carries 9 to 1. And that brings us to action. Let's see. That's the end of our action item. Yes. We have one information item today, which the board does not vote.

[03:57:30] And this item is the presentation of the Fiscal Year FY 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, ACFR, and Popular Annual Financial Report, PAFCR. Are there any questions of staff on our information item?

[03:57:47] Any questions of staff? I think I'm not seeing or hearing anyone due to the excellent work of staff, and so thank you for that information item. And at this time, I am going to turn to Supervisor Gross for a motion to take us into closed session.

[03:58:04] Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors is going to recess and go into closed session for discussion and consideration of matters enumerated in Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 and listed in the attached agenda for this meeting. And in addition, one, as permitted by Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711A7 and 8, legal analysis regarding the following.

[03:58:26] LaFave et al. v. Fairfax County et al. Case number 123CV1605 U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Shao v. Chainbridge Woods, Inc., Fairfax County Circuit Court case number 2023, CL-15160, and insulin pricing multi-district litigation.

[03:58:51] And two, as permitted by the Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A1, annual evaluations of the county executive and the county attorney. And I'm happy to second that motion. Before we vote on it, let me ask the county attorney how long we need in closed session.

[03:59:08] Mr. Chairman, I estimate approximately one hour and 15 minutes. One hour and 15 minutes. So that puts us in closed session at 2.15. It is 1.33. The cafeteria closes at 2. So if this motion carries, we will report in closed session at 2.15.

[03:59:27] All those in favor of them? Yes, Supervisor Alcorn. We always will finish board matters. The way the board has always done this is after the public hearings now. Okay. So they will be at the end of the day. We will follow these calendar for public hearings because they've been noticed starting at 3.30.

[03:59:46] If for some reason we get ahead of schedule, we can slip one or two in, but the goal is to do them at the end of public comment today, and we will be starting in Drainsville District. We left off at the end of Braddock District. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

[04:00:01] Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. The board will get lunch and report into closed session at 2.15.

[04:00:10] Welcome back. The board is coming out of closed session of our board meeting on December 5th, 2023.

[04:14:47] And at this time, I'm going to turn to Supervisor Gross for a motion. Mr. Chairman, for the final time, I move that the Board of Supervisors certify that to the best of each member's knowledge. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements by virtue of Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711.

[04:15:06] Generally, such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which closed session was convened were heard, discussed, or considered by the Board of Supervisors during the closed session. Second that, along with Supervisor Luss, presumably not for the final times. Discussion on the motion.

[04:15:25] Any discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Motion's coming out of closed session. Supervisor, let me start with Supervisor Faust.

[04:15:41] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors authorize the county attorney to intervene in the court case styled James Sheo et al. versus Cambridge Woods, Inc. et al.

[04:15:57] Case number CL-2023-15160. A case pending in the Fairfax County Circuit Court. And take whatever steps are necessary to protect the county's interests as outlined by the county attorney in closed session.

[04:16:15] So moved. I've heard the motion. It's been seconded by Supervisor Lusk. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Supervisor Gross. Mr. Chairman, the board has completed its annual evaluations of the county executive and the county attorney and will make salary adjustments subject to the terms discussed in closed session, and they will be effective January 1st of 2024.

[04:16:47] And I'd be happy to second that motion. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries, and I believe that is all from closed session.

[04:17:02] Let me just verify. Okay. That being said, we will now move on to our public hearings. And I will announce that at the end of our public hearings today, we have public comment. At the end of that, we will go back and complete board matters that were suspended earlier this morning for the public who might be watching.

[04:17:22] If you're here for a public hearing, you could provide testimony in a number of different ways. You can testify here in person, or you may have provided testimony by phone or by YouTube video. At the designated point in the public hearing, I'll call for any speakers from the speakers list.

[04:17:37] they will either come forward or their video will be shown or they will be connected by telephone if they have requested that. There will then be an opportunity for anyone else who would like to speak to the application to come down to the podium or to call in on a number that will be provided on the screen. Speakers testifying via video must sign up and submit their video no later than 9 a.m. on the day prior to the hearing. For all testimony you're given three minutes to speak as an individual. If you're a spokesperson for a group, you are given five minutes. With that being said, I am going to call our first public hearing, which is a public hearing on a proposed amendment

[04:18:13] to Chapter 122, Tree Conservation Ordinance of the Code of the County of Fairfax, Virginia, County Code Regarding Tree Commission Charter. And at this time, we'll turn to staff for a staff presentation. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. For the record, my name is john friedman representing the department of land development services chris harrington director of the department of public works and environmental services and mark gory with the county attorney's office are with me this afternoon to respond to any questions you may have for your consideration

[04:18:48] this afternoon is an update to the tree commission charter the proposed changes to the charter formalize the tree commission's ongoing participation in activities related to the board's natural landscaping policy the fairfax county tree action plan and the community of practice which is identified in the tree action plan that maintains and manages the urban forest the proposed changes to the charter would also allow the tree commission to review and comment at its discretion on select actions being considered by the planning commission

[04:19:24] other public bodies and agencies that may impact the urban forest finally of note the proposed changes remove a barrier to broader citizen participation by eliminating the requirement for citizen members to have some knowledge and experience in the field of abhoriculture or related fields representatives from participating agencies provided the necessary technical expertise for the commission to fulfill its mission these changes have been requested by the tree commission and were initiated by the board with a board matter on march 23rd 2023 the proposed amendment

[04:20:03] has been recommended for approval by the planning commission that concludes my presentation thank you very much are there any questions of staff any questions of staff seeing and hearing none oh i'm sorry supervisor pal check thank you quick question um i believe it's in there i'm looking at the proposed amendments to the commission and the reporting annually on the results of the community of practice as identified in the Fairfax County tree action plan could you remind us does that include equity impacts or analyses

[04:20:39] that are related to equity across the county Chris Harrington director of Public Works and Environmental Services that may be a good question to ask of chair Spies who's going to testify later it's not an explicit component but it is inherent in all of our tree protection work that equity is a central factor okay I appreciate that that was my assumption but since it's not specifically stated here that's a great recommendation thank you okay other questions supervisor Harity I noticed on the item that fiscal impact was zero but to me it looks like there's a bunch of additional staff work that's going to

[04:21:16] be needed to support the group no sir in conversation with Brian Kately our urban forest management division director and our staff liaison to the tree Commission we do not anticipate any different impact because of these code amendments and in terms of the amount of time staff spend supporting the tree Commission okay so they're gonna spend the same amount of time even though they're doing all this additional work it's already being done this is just basically adjusting the Charter to current practice with some of the additional amendments that mr. Freeman mentioned so they're already doing this much of this work yes absolutely there are some tweaks to update the Charter to

[04:21:51] clarify kind of their connection back to see cap in coordination with equac ensuring that they do have the ability, when necessary and at their discretion, to have some insight into development cases to perfect their knowledge of the tree conservation ordinance. Thank you. Yes, sir.

[04:22:07] Okay. This is a public hearing, and I have two speakers who have signed up in advance to testify. Speaker number one is Megan McGinty, who has submitted video testimony. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

[04:22:26] My name is Megan McGinty. I am a botanist and ecologist. I have my Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York City. I am a Great Falls resident. I've been in Fairfax County for over 10 years. My takeaway message today is that cutting down forest trees has huge devastating impacts on our clean water and clean air.

[04:22:50] It's easy to underestimate the impact of removing a few trees. It may appear as simple as removing 20 trunks and then planting 20 trees somewhere else. It is understandable that it may appear that simple. However, in nature's seeming simplicity, it's actually rather complex.

[04:23:08] That group of trees is far more than a cluster of trunks. In fact, most of the living organisms in a forest are not visible to us just by looking at it. Mosses, microbes, worms, and beetles, they all work together in a synergistic combination of effects to provide us humans with the ecological functions upon which we rely.

[04:23:30] Clean water, clean air, and healthy soil. One may wonder, if trees were planted in another area, could they provide the same ecosystem functions as the forest that was removed? The short answer is no. The damage has been done. Not only have the forest trees and all of the associated organisms been removed from the area, but it has now also opened up the area to invasive plants by creating forest edges.

[04:23:57] Research has demonstrated three key relevant correlations. The first one is that forest edges see a decrease in native species diversity and continue to lose native species over time. Secondly, those forest edges do see an increase in abundance but of invasive species that take advantage of the sunshine that's created by forest canopy fragmentation. And lastly and importantly, a new plantation of young trees lacks the structural diversity that results in the ecosystem functions that forests provide through layered vegetation

[04:24:35] and forest floor organic matter no new plantation of trees even native trees can replace the ecosystem functions that are lost in forestry removal and forest fragmentation the charter revisions to the tree commission are essential for future clean water and air of fairfax county residents specifically it is urgent that the tree commission preserve forest trees before they are cut down. I highly recommend that the Tree Commission have the power and authority to develop ordinances and policies, in addition to having priority in reviewing and commenting

[04:25:11] on development plans. Thank you for your attention and consideration. Thank you very much. Speaker number two is Cindy Spees, who I know is here and is the chair of the Tree Commission and has five minutes to testify. Welcome. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman McKay and members of the Board of Supervisors. My name is Cindy Spies, and I am chair of the Fairfax County Tree Commission.

[04:25:38] I'm here to speak for the Commission in favor of the matter before you today to amend its charter found in Chapter 122 of the County Ordinances, the Tree Conservation Code. Many thanks to John Friedman and Chris Harrington for presenting the amendment to you and answering your questions.

[04:25:55] As you know, this year is the Tree Commission's 50 years of service to Fairfax County. And since 1973, there have been no substantive changes to the charter. The revisions we're talking about today will bring it in line with the environmental policies and plans that the Board of Supervisors have enacted over the years, specifically the 2019 Tree Action Plan. This says that the county will work to preserve, protect, and expand its urban forest, and with the TAP, or Tree Action Plan,

[04:26:30] And firmly in mind, the CCAP and resilient Fairfax plans included trees as one of several natural resource goals. To increase the tree canopy measurement as we measured it in 2017 at 57%, to increase that to 60% by 2030, and to promote tree equity in vulnerable neighborhoods by achieving at least a 40% tree canopy in every magisterial district, also by 2030.

[04:27:02] There are several specific reasons for revising the charter. The first is to allow the Tree Commission to better advise you by reviewing and commenting on selected county actions that affect trees. Until now, the Commission has only offered comments to other agencies on specific requests.

[04:27:23] With a revised charter, it would now be able to comment at its discretion. Please note that this would not insert the commission into the regulatory process as staff would not be required to notify it on all potential tree activity. The words at its discretion were added for clarity to show that it could choose what topics it will consider.

[04:27:44] A second reason is to remove the term technical, which you've heard, in both the nominations and in the purpose section. since a technical background is not currently used as a requirement for commissioner appointment, and tree expertise is readily supplied by organizational representatives as well as staff.

[04:28:04] A third reason is to focus on using data to guide advice and recommendations on the effectiveness of current county policies impacting the urban forest. Note that data would not be required to be submitted to the Tree Commission. Instead, these revisions would bolster and expand the current cooperative relationships the tree commission has with agencies who participate in the tree community of practice.

[04:28:30] That is the tree action plans by annual collaborative, and it is where data and best management practices are readily shared with the tree commission to put in its annual report. A fourth reason to revise the charter is to generalize and broaden its powers, duties, and reporting requirements so that they do not need to be updated with every new board policy ordinance.

[04:28:55] There have been some questions about whether certain policies would be exempt from review and comment since they're not all enumerated, but we feel that the broader language gives the tree commission the choice of commenting on whether whatever current policy affects trees, which is the clear intention of the revisions.

[04:29:14] One specific concern from staff early in this process was whether the charter revisions might overlap with the EQUAC charter. EQUAC agrees with the Tree Commission's more extensive review of tree canopy issues and sees no direct conflict with its own mission.

[04:29:29] We want to thank EQUAC, as well as the Soil and Water Conservation District, for their letters of endorsement of the draft revisions. We're pleased that staff recognizes the Tree Commission's commitment to following our One Fairfax policy.

[04:29:45] The staff report notes that the code changes address improving the quality of life in all our communities, particularly those where there is low tree equity. In summary, we are pleased that the staff report and the Planning Commission have recommended that you adopt the proposed amendment to Chapter 122 of the county ordinance.

[04:30:04] Therefore, the Tree Commission also respectfully asks that you approve these changes to its charter, and we thank you for your consideration. Thank you very much, Cindy, and thank you to the Tree Commission. uh for their input um this is a public hearing that is the end of my listed speakers who have signed up in advance to testify is there anyone else present who would like to speak on this matter this is a public hearing seeing and hearing no one let me ask the clerk if anyone has called in no one has called in uh closing comments and a recommendation from county staff

[04:30:37] staff recommends that the board approve the changes to the tree commission charter as well as the planning commission did um that's it okay thank you uh any questions from board members seeing and hearing none i will now close the public hearing and recognize supervisor gross for a motion thank you mr chairman uh coincidentally last week i chaired a work group

[04:31:10] at cog uh that's looking at issuing the tree canopy report which has been underway for about three years and i think we're finally getting it off the dime so to speak and hopefully we'll be before the cog board in april so i'm really very pleased to see what we're doing here in fairfax county because i think that the tree canopy report will actually enhance what we're about to do here mr chairman i move approval of the proposed amendments to chapter 122 of the tree conservation

[04:31:46] ordinance i'm happy to second that along with several other supervisors discussion on the motion any discussion on the motion seeing and hearing none all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions and that motion is approved nine to zero supervisor herity not being in the auditorium our next public hearing is a public hearing on entering into an agreement with the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District for fund administration.

[04:32:21] And as soon as staff is ready, I would recognize county staff for presentation. Good afternoon, Chairman McKay and members of the board.

[04:32:43] I'm Joni Kombacher with the Stormwater Planning Division, Department of Public Works and Environmental Services. Also with me are Ellie Cotting and Jack Merritt, also with the Department of Public Works, Mark Gorey with the County Attorney's Office, and Jerry Peters, Chairman of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors. For your consideration this afternoon is for the county to enter into an agreement with Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District to implement grant funds under the Stormwater Management Fund. The Stormwater Management Fund is identified in Appendix O of the Code of the County of Fairfax, Virginia,

[04:33:23] as amended on September the 13th of this year. Through the agreement, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District will administer the local stormwater assistance program to include the private stormwater management facility and flood mitigation assistance grant programs.

[04:33:40] These programs will allow the county to grant financial assistance to an owner of a private property or a common interest community for stormwater management and erosion prevention on previously developed lands under the authority of section 15.2-2114.01 of the Code of Virginia.

[04:34:04] Grants from the fund may be used only for the construction improvement or repair of a stormwater management facility, erosion and sediment control, or flood mitigation and protection measures that are part of a comprehensive flood mitigation and protection plan adopted by the county.

[04:34:23] This concludes my presentation. Thank you. Thank you very much. Let me ask if there are any questions of staff. Seeing and hearing none, this is a public hearing. I have no one who has signed up in advance to testify on this matter.

[04:34:41] Is there anyone present in the auditorium that would like to speak on this matter? This is a public hearing. Is there anyone present who would like to testify? Mr. Chairman, if it pleases the Chairman. I'm Jerry Peters with the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District.

[04:34:59] I'm the current chair for another three weeks. And I just want to say that this is another in a chain of cooperative agreements we've had with Fairfax County. And the district and the county, I think, both have profited from this partnership and very pleased to see.

[04:35:18] The whole board and the staff are pleased to see that we're continuing that relationship and finding ways that we can help each other, you know, serve the citizens of Fairfax County. Thank you very much. Excellent. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Let me ask the clerk if anyone has called in.

[04:35:36] No one has called in. Closing comments and a recommendation from county staff? Staff recommends the board approve entering into the agreement. Thank you very much. Any questions from board members? Last call. Seeing and hearing none, I will now close the public hearing and recognize Supervisor Gross for a motion.

[04:35:55] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When I joined this board, stormwater was not the huge focus it is today. What stormwater management there was tended to be very large ponds or large, ugly concrete structures.

[04:36:11] We have come a very long way in refining what we do, in making it look prettier, and also in educating our community about the need to address stormwater management. And I think this goes and takes another step in the right direction.

[04:36:29] I'm happy to move the county executive's recommendation. I've heard the motion. It's been seconded by Supervisor Luss, Supervisor Palachuk. Discussion on the motion? Any discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor, please say aye.

[04:36:45] Aye. Any opposed, please say nay. Any abstentions? And that motion carries as well. Nine to zero. Supervisor Herity being absent. And we are going to move on to our next public hearing, which is a public hearing to consider an ordinance to amend and readopt Fairfax County Code Section 7-2-13 and relocate the polling place for the Greenspring Precinct in the Franconia District.

[04:37:12] And at this time, as staff is making their way down, I would turn to them for a staff presentation. Staff and Caden. I'm going to turn it over to council.

[04:37:33] All right. I suppose on this one, I will do that for you, Ms. Henley. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the board. This is a request by the Office of Elections that the board consider relocating one precinct in the Springfield District, specifically the Greenspring, I'm sorry, not one precinct, one polling place in the precinct.

[04:37:54] In the Franconia. And in the Franconia district. I'm getting there. Never mind. Let's restart. All right. So relocating one polling place in the Franconia district in the Greenspring precinct in that district, it's relocating it within the boundaries of the precinct, which is permitted under Virginia law.

[04:38:23] It's relocating it from a conference center in Greenspring to Village Square, a similar facility. The ordinance also recommends that this be presented to the Attorney General for review because it is a polling place relocation, which is a change that must be reviewed by the Attorney General or go through a public review process. The reason for it, to my understanding from staff, that the current polling place is closed due to reconstruction and will be through at least the summer of 2024. You may get some questions about this

[04:38:59] because it's essentially within the same place it just has a different address as it's moved to the building but the emergency provision has run out and since it needs to stay over there we need to do all this. So assure your constituents of Supervisor Lusk that it's not moving far or it's staying where it is right now actually as a matter of fact Supervisor Lusk thank you Mr. Chairman as a matter of fact the voters actually know that as we both know because they've actually voted at that center in that location and it's not too far down the road from the conference center so thank you very much

[04:39:39] is that the end of staff's presentation I gather okay are there any questions of staff I would just say I appreciate the explanation this is sensitive for those of us who worked on getting them a precinct to begin with and having them be routinely the highest turnout precinct in Fairfax County this is an important one to make sure we have right. So if there are no questions of staff this is a public hearing and I have no speakers who have signed up in advance to testify on this matter. Is there anyone present today who would like to speak on this subject? Anyone present who

[04:40:18] like to testify seeing and hearing no one let me ask the clerk if anyone has called in no one has called in at this time closing comments or further recommendations from staff no closing comments recommend approval no further questions from board members i will then close the public hearing and recognize supervisor lusk for a motion thank you mr chairman and again this one is pretty straightforward and i appreciate the item item being brought here today so with that i will make a quick motion I move the county executive's recommendation to adopt an

[04:40:51] ordinance to amend and readopt Fairfax County code section 7 - 2 - 13 relating to election precincts and polling places to move the polling place for the green spring precinct so moved happy to second that motion is there any discussion on the motion any discussion on the motion seeing and hearing on all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions and that motion carries thank you very much thank you we next have a public hearing to vacate and convey property at the Fairfax County Government Center to the Fairfax County

[04:41:31] Redevelopment and Housing Authority in the Braddock District and I see our staff is making their way down and as soon as you're ready we would welcome a

[04:42:02] staff presentation good afternoon mr. chairman Tom Fleetwood with the Department of Housing and Community Development. The item before you is with respect to the validation of the conveyance related to the parking lot here at the Government Center property for the purpose of affordable housing. We're happy to answer any immediate questions you may have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. Are there any questions of

[04:42:37] staff? Any questions of staff? Seeing and hearing none. This is a public hearing. There are no speakers who have signed up in advance to testify on this matter is there anyone here present who would like to speak on this subject anyone present who would like to testify on this subject seeing and hearing no one let me ask the clerk if anyone has called in there are no calls closing comments and any further recommendations from staff you recommend approval mr chairman we recommend approval thank you very much last call questions for board members seeing and hearing none, I will now close the public hearing and recognize Supervisor Walkinshaw for a motion.

[04:43:16] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the board approve the resolution as attached to the item and authorize county staff to prepare and execute all documentation necessary to convey the property at the Fairfax County Government Center and generally identify it as parking lots G and H on tax map parcel number 56-1 double circle 15, parcel 14B to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority. If the FCRHA no longer pursues the project, the FCRHA will transfer ownership of the property back to the board. So moved. You've heard the motion. It's been

[04:43:53] multiply seconded. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Parity nay. Any abstentions? And that motion carries by a nine to one vote. Our next public hearing, which I understand is being deferred, is a public hearing to validate and convey property at the Franconia Governmental Center to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority in the Franconia District. Supervisor Lusk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move to defer the public hearing to validate and convey property at the Franconia

[04:44:31] Governmental Center to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority to a date and time certain of January 23rd, 2024, at 4.30 p.m. So moved. You've heard the motion and the second. Is there further discussion on the motion?

[04:44:48] Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. We next have public comment. And before we go to public comment, just a reminder on some of the rules for public comment.

[04:45:06] The board will hear public comment on any issue except issues under litigation, issues that have been scheduled for a public hearing before the board, and personnel matters and or comments regarding specific individuals. Speakers must register in advance, and each speaker is given three minutes for his or her remarks.

[04:45:25] A maximum of 10 speakers may address the board during any public comment period, and speakers may address the board once during a six-month period. I have signed up in advance today four speakers, and our first speaker, and all four of these speakers are in person.

[04:45:44] Our first speaker is Steve Monahan, to be followed by Kathy Pruknall, Sarah Paisley, and Siobhan Chase. If you all are here, if you could come down close so that when it's your time to testify, we are ready to hear you.

[04:45:59] Speaker number one is Stephen Monahan. Welcome. Supervisors, as most of you know, my name is Steve Monahan, and I'm the president of the Fairfax County chapter of the SSPBA. Before I start, I'd like to say congratulations on your retirement, Supervisor Gross and Supervisor Faust.

[04:46:18] I would like the board for approving our agreement today. I wasn't sure if I was going to have a chance to speak earlier, so I'm glad I get to see you all again. But we do appreciate you all approving the contract today. I am here to, I do believe that this contract is going to help boost morale, decrease retention, and immensely help with our recruitment.

[04:46:40] And I'm happy to meet with anyone on the board who has just discussed this further if you have questions. With that being said, there is one unresolved matter which could not be rectified through the agreement that I wanted to talk to you about today. This matter is about the sworn status of our Animal Protection Police.

[04:46:58] We all know the topic of animal protection. Police is not unfamiliar with this board, so I will be turning over the rest of my time here shortly to Siobhan Chase for further context. The next two speakers who are also SSPBA members is Kathy Personnel and Sarah Paisley have also told me that they have chosen to yield their time as well.

[04:47:17] The last thing that I'm going to say before I end my time is just that just like in 2015, the SSPBA, again, is committed to support our animal protection police officers and the current structure that the county has in place to serve the community members, their pets, and wildlife in Fairfax County.

[04:47:38] We firmly believe that the current APP model is the best model for Fairfax County, and like many other Fairfax County services, this model is a gold standard in the state, if not in the country. I'll now turn it over to our Vice President, Siobhan Chase, to explain why. Thank you.

[04:47:56] Thank you very much. Appreciate your testimony, and Siobhan, you are Speaker No. 4, but you are speaking on behalf of Speakers 2 and 3 as well. Okay, welcome. Thank you. Good afternoon or evening, Chairman McKay, Board of Supervisors. As many of you know, my name is Siobhan Chase, and I'm the Vice President of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association.

[04:48:19] Before I begin, I would like to extend my appreciation to Supervisor Faust and Supervisor Gross for all their work on the board over the years. I know we have had many meetings regarding Animal Protection Police, and I always appreciate your time. Supervisor Gross, I do have a great appreciation for the valuable conversations we have had over the last few years, and I know your guidance and insight will be missed on this board.

[04:48:41] We hope that you both enjoy your retirement, and you've certainly earned it. On behalf of the SSPVA, I would like to express our gratitude for approving our collective bargaining agreement. This agreement reflects over a year's worth of hard work and collaboration between the SSPVA and the county, and it was only possible due to the efforts of this board who successfully drafted and approved the CBO in 2021. This ordinance sets a standard that other jurisdictions in Virginia should aim to emulate due to its comprehensive and robust content, which was crucial in the implementation of this agreement. This ordinance embodies the Board's commitment to

[04:49:17] providing the county employees with a voice and acknowledges the importance of their contribution to county operations and the services that are provided to this community. It establishes a precedent of excellence, and we were enthused in 2021 when extra effort was taken by this Board to include animal protection police officers in the police bargaining unit. This small detail may seem insignificant, but it made our officers feel recognized and valued as integral members of the Fairfax County team. As you may know, Desiree Pitts, who is the secretary for our chapter, and I have been actively involved in the SSPBA since 2014. Our primary goal was to advocate for

[04:49:54] our profession and our colleagues in animal protection by providing them with a voice within the police department and within the county. In 2016, our efforts were even recognized by this board when we were granted with the Don Smith Award. As a result, the SSPBA board now holds quite a few APPOs who are all active participants in our chapter. Throughout the years, we have extended our advocacy to support all Fairfax County officers and employees through the SSPBA.

[04:50:20] Though we have alternate roles and our paths in law enforcement may appear different, we recognize that we are all part of the same team, and mutual support is essential for our collective success and public safety. This has been a monumental day for employer-employee relations in Fairfax County but it is vital that we address the elephant in the room and who better to address wildlife in a county facility. The county's current proposal to dissolve the animal protection police officer positions, particularly given that this announcement came in the midst of our collective bargaining negotiations, is clearly one that we oppose. Despite the initial sense of despair, we remain

[04:50:57] steadfast in our commitment to animal protection police and the rest of the police department through this collective bargaining process in order to produce the best possible agreement that we could. While we respect the LRA's decision that the elimination of the APPO positions is within the county's management rights, we knew that this ruling was not the end of our efforts.

[04:51:16] It was clear to us that this proposal was not a board initiative, and we recognize that the board still retains the final authority over the ultimate outcome regarding the animal protection police officers. The topic of animal control officers versus animal protection police officers is certainly not new to many of you.

[04:51:32] It is likely that you have attended more meetings and are more educated on this particular subject than any other elected officials in Virginia. We've already met with most of the board on this matter, and we look forward to meeting with the rest soon. Additionally, we will be presenting, especially the two newest members of the board.

[04:51:51] We will additionally be presenting at the Animal Services Advisory Committee meeting on December 14th at the new Lorton Facility, so I'll refrain from overwhelming you with information at this time. What I will emphasize to this board is that our Animal Services Division and FCPD is comprised of a group of officers who have chosen to serve Fairfax County because of their passion for both law enforcement and animal protection.

[04:52:13] These officers are some of the most dedicated, hardworking, and passionate staff that Fairfax County can pride itself on employing, especially considering the makeup of our division closely mirrors the community that we serve. This is essential to ensure that we deliver services that are sensitive to our community's needs.

[04:52:30] Our team consists of tenured subject matter experts in the field of animal welfare who have diverse educational and experiential backgrounds. An excellent reputation has been built by our officers and our wildlife biologist, Dr. Catherine Edwards, and her staff, on a state, national, and even international level.

[04:52:47] But most importantly, this reputation is recognized and appreciated by the community members of Fairfax County. It remains unclear where Dr. Edwards and her staff will fit within this new proposal or how wildlife in Fairfax County will be affected. I highly encourage this board to reach out to Dr. Edwards regarding the impacts this proposal will have on wildlife.

[04:53:09] One of the last things I will end with is I will challenge you to find another group of employees who are as committed to serving this community and this county to the fullest extent their positions will allow as your Fairfax County Animal Protection Police officers. Even with the uncertainty in their careers and the perception that their work is undervalued and misunderstood, our officers continue to come to work every day and perform exceptionally because that is how we conduct ourselves in Fairfax County.

[04:53:43] While evaluating this proposal, we encourage the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to reflect on the spirit in which this collective bargaining ordinance was passed by giving employees a voice. We are asking you to hear the voice of our Animal Protection Police officers.

[04:53:59] Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. siobhan for your testimony and that brings us to the end of public comment before we end our meeting we do need to go backwards and finish our board matters from this morning we did board matters mine supervisor gross and supervisor walkinshaw so next up on board matters is supervisor john faust

[04:54:25] thank you mr chairman mr chairman my first board matter uh deals with the for sale workforce dwelling unit policy and program revisions mr chairman our board established the workforce dwelling unit for sale policy task force to examine challenges and potential improvements to the wdu for sale program the task force represented a diverse set of stakeholders from the affordable housing advocacy community including the development industry the plan

[04:55:03] Commission and the Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Departments of Housing and Community Development and Planning and Development. The group evaluated several topics relating to our workforce development policies and procedures, including income levels served, the number of units produced and sold, sales prices of those units, financial impact on shifts to affordability ranges, resale best practices, term controls, geographic applicability, and ways to streamline

[04:55:38] the process. The task force reached consensus in October of 2023 on several recommended policy changes that would require board approval, including shifting the affordability level of the program from a range of up to 80 percent to 120 percent AMI to a range of up to 70 percent to 100 percent AMI. Expanding guidance on proportionality of bedroom counts between the WDU and market rate units with flexibility for family-sized units and extending the geographic

[04:56:16] applicability to certain properties outside of development centers. In addition, the task force recommended changes to the WDU pricing model and resale formula that can be made administratively with approval from the county executive. The recommendations aim to maximize the potential of the for sale WDU program to serve low and moderate income families, maintain project feasibility, and increase predictability in the development process. These recommendations were discussed at the Board's November 20th Housing Committee meeting. The next step is for these

[04:56:55] proposed changes to be considered for incorporation into the Comprehensive Plan. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors direct staff to prepare a proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment based on the task force recommendations for the Board's consideration.

[04:57:15] Consistency between the for sale and the rental programs should be considered, as well as an additional focus on the effectiveness of the 100% AMI tier. The proposed amendment should include options and ranges as appropriate for board's consideration. In drafting the proposed amendment, staff should engage a diverse group of stakeholders for input. Finally, I move that staff prepare for public hearing proposed revisions to the countywide and Tyson's Urban Center WDU administrative

[04:57:53] policy guidelines for consideration in line with the proposed plan amendment so moved you've heard the motion it's been multiply seconded uh any discussion on the motion any discussion on the motion we have discussed this extensively uh to get to this point uh all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions and that motion carries Supervisor Faust. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my next board matter is in recognition of Kimberly Dorgan. Mr. Chairman, Kimberly Dorgan has been a longtime advocate for the revitalization

[04:58:31] of the downtown McLean area. She has served on the McLean Revitalization Corporation Board since 2016 and has been president of the organization since January 2021. In May 2018, I appointed her as chair of the McLean Community Business Center Task Force, 20-member group of residents representing various stakeholders including neighborhood and community organizations landowners and businesses purpose of the task force was to work closely with the community and county staff to discuss evaluate and refine proposed changes to the comprehensive plan for downtown mclean using

[04:59:06] the vision plan developed by the community task force met on almost every month for over two and a half years for a total of 29 public meetings the group debated levels of development where it should be located and what form it should take they also spent considerable time analyzing the impact of development and mitigation measures related to public facilities such as schools parks and roads the board of supervisors approved comprehensive plan on june 22 2021 the first significant revision to that plan in over 20 years in her time on the mrc and

[04:59:41] task force ms dorgan has worked on numerous revitalization efforts in mclean and has been an effective leader who was able to achieve consensus among people with very different opinions ms dorgan has announced that she is stepping down from her role as president of the mrc at the end of this year but will remain on the board therefore mr chairman without objection i ask the divorce supervisors direct staff to prepare a proclamation and recognition of ms dorgan's significant contributions to the mcclain community to be presented at an mrc event to be

[05:00:15] held in mclean on december 8th 2023 and without objection that is so ordered supervisor faust thank you mr chairman uh my final uh board matter uh involves the high pressure gas lines it is a joint board matter with uh you mr chairman uh supervisor paul chick and supervisor smith mr chairman presidents have expressed concern regarding the potential installation of high pressure gas lines underneath local residential streets.

[05:00:51] High pressure gas lines are a component of an overall system, but do not directly provide gas service to the adjacent residences. Residents have questioned the safety and need for this type of line to be located under a local residential street, citing concerns about a higher risk for gas leaks and related hazards in the event of rupture due to construction activities within proximity of the line.

[05:01:19] With regard to utility facilities located in a street right-of-way, Zoning Ordinance Subsection 4102.4.x3, close print, currently exempts from regulation wires, cables, conduits, laterals, pipes, mains, valves, or other similar equipment for the distribution to consumers of electricity, gas, or water, or the collection of sewage or surface water operated or maintained by a government entity or a public utility, whether any such facility is located underground or above ground, end quote.

[05:02:00] While underground pipes, mains, and conduits can be located both above and below ground throughout the county and are critical to the provision of necessary utilities to residents and businesses in Fairfax County, high-pressure gas lines could have a greater potential for damage to life and property in the event of a rupture than other types of utilities, such as water, sewage, or electricity.

[05:02:23] Therefore, Mr. Chairman, we move that the Board directed the Department of Planning and Development and other appropriate staff, including the county attorney, to evaluate, one, options to allow for board evaluation of or possible prohibition of high-pressure gas lines within local street rights-of-way based on factors including location size and type of pipe as well as other operational characteristics and two industry best practices related to the safety installation and location of such high

[05:02:58] pressure gas lines we further move as staff return to the board in March 2024 to present their findings and recommendations to the board's land use policy committee so moved you've heard the motion it's been multiply seconded by many of us including supervisor Palchuk supervisor Smith and I who co-sponsored the board matter is there any discussion on the motion any discussion on the motion seeing and hearing none all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions that motion carries

[05:03:35] Supervisor Faust. That was my last board meeting. Make sure we give you that opportunity. Next up is Supervisor Lusk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a joint matter with Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross.

[05:03:54] Mr. Chairman, with board approval, Supervisor Gross and I are requesting a waiver of the application fees for permits associated with the flea markets conducted by the Springfield-Franconia host Lions Club, Springfield Global Lions Club, and Alexandria Asian American Lions Club.

[05:04:11] The board has approved waiver requests for the Lions Club annually since 1994, and these three clubs have collaborated again to submit a joint fee waiver request for 2024. The flea markets will be held at the Backlick Road VRE station lot on Saturdays and Sundays from March to November in 2024.

[05:04:34] correction 2024. All net proceeds generated by the flea markets are returned to the community. The Lions Club provides a portion of the funds generated by the flea markets to charitable organizations, including Koinonia, Echo, Second Story, Juvenile Diabetes, and the others. They also work to provide community members in need with eyeglasses, exams, hearing aids through direct contributions and by partnering with Northern Virginia Eyeglass Recycling Center and my eye doctor the Springfield Franconia host Lions Club Springfield

[05:05:10] Global Lions Club and Alexandria Asian American Lions Club respectfully request the board support their fee waiver applications for 2024 and have shared their appreciation for our continued support clubs want to note that the use the vre back lake station may be impacted the vre begins weekend service in the summer of 2024 they're continuing to monitor developments and any potential impacts to flea market use of the backup station parking lot and search for a suitable alternative location if necessary so with that mr chairman supervisor gross and i move that the board waive the application fees

[05:05:49] for permits associated with the springfield franconia host lines club springfield global lines club and alexandria asian american lines club 2024 flea markets as held in the dates included in this chart shared uh here with this board matter so moved i'm happy to second that motion uh discussion um let me just clarify one thing so we don't have a problem later i've never seen a calendar like this so if something changes in this calendar a day changes or two days change Why don't we just approve the flea markets for 2024 and attach this calendar as advisory,

[05:06:27] but we're not voting on this calendar in case there's a downstream date change. Okay, so that's an understanding of what the board is doing. Okay, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Supervisor Lusk.

[05:06:43] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The next board matter, I'm pretty excited about this one. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I would like to recognize Alexandra Zandi Wong, a class of 2020 Hayfield Secondary School graduate and current senior at Johns Hopkins University, majoring in public health studies, for being selected as one of this year's Rhodes Scholars.

[05:07:06] The award is the most prestigious international scholarship for American college graduates. Ms. Wong is one of 32 students to be selected for this year's scholarship. She plans to pursue two masters of science degrees. One, applied digital health, and the other, an evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation.

[05:07:25] Pretty bright. The road to her success hasn't been an easy one. She was born with over 90% hearing loss in her left ear. At the age of 12, she heard birds sing for the first time when she received a bone-anchored hearing aid, or B-A-H-A.

[05:07:42] The technology in the implant is what led her to pursue a science and STEM career. Ms. Wong started at Johns Hopkins during the pandemic and encountered accessibility issues in a new online environment. This led to her advocating for herself and others.

[05:07:59] She then formed NextGen Accessibility Initiative, an organization that partners with Gen Z-led organizations to make their content fully accessible for young audiences. Ms. Wong has helped create accessible educational content for over 200,000 students across 119 countries.

[05:08:18] She plans to attend Oxford in October of 2024 and then plans to go to medical school to become an academic physician. Zandi Wong's parents want to thank the Fairfax County Public School System for providing a solid academic foundation and nurturing environment for their children, Megan, Hannah, Zandi, and Sydney Kai.

[05:08:40] They would like to recognize the individual schools and the support provided by the Individualized Education Program, IEP, that helped her in speech and language, starting with her early childhood programs through the 10th grade. So she was at the Franconia Rec Center.

[05:08:55] She was at Hayfield Elementary, then on to Twain Middle School, and then ultimately at Hayfield Secondary, where she graduated in 2020. So with this background, Mr. Chairman, I move that a proclamation be prepared in acknowledgement of Alexandra Zandi Wang for her, excuse me, Wong, for her being selected as a 2024 Rhodes Scholar to be presented at a future board meeting where her family and friends can be present to celebrate her outstanding accomplishments.

[05:09:26] You've heard the motion. I'm happy to second that motion. Is there any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye aye any opposed any abstentions that motion carries supervisor lusk okay thank you mr chairman i have one last motion i'll probably bridge this a little bit so let me start um mr chairman uh tomorrow december 6 will be the 70th anniversary of saint mark's lutheran church located in springfield virginia saint mark's has a rich

[05:09:58] and impressive history founded in 1953 near the crossroads of northern Virginia in an old farmhouse on Backlick Road before the Beltway even existed. 52 adults and 45 children became the original members of the church with the first programming consisting of worship services and Sunday school.

[05:10:18] Amidst these humble beginnings initiated by the Board of American Missions of the Augustana Lutheran Church and Reverend Clarence T. Nelson, St. Marks set the stage for its commitment to community, fellowship, and communion. And I'll skip down to in the fall of 1967, St. Marks broke ground on a new educational wing and expanded their physical presence along with a commitment to emphasizing visual art as part of their religious experience. They commissioned Una Hanbury, a sculptor to create three impressive pieces that would represent the shared spiritual

[05:10:56] and community values of the growing congregation. Mrs. Hansby created the statue at the entrance of the church entitled Family and two relief sculptures located in the lounge and the entrance to the education wing. So now under the current leadership, Pastor Albert Triolo and Pastor Saul Cardona lead worship services in English and Spanish to over 200 parishioners worshiping each week the church offered visual excuse me the church offered virtual services even before covet 19 pandemic began and have continued with the church's commitment to addressing food insecurity

[05:11:33] by holding a weekly food distribution pastor triolo's is leading the latest building renovation and expansion which will allow for a larger education wing and school as well as a more usable courtyard and additional handicapped parking so mr chairman with that the fellow board members in honor of st mark's lutheran's church's 70th anniversary and its extraordinary accomplishments and support to the community i move that a proclamation be prepared to be presented to pastor triolo at st mark's church at a future date and time so happy to second that

[05:12:10] motion is there discussion on the motion yeah the only thing i would add supervisor lusk thank you Mr. Chairman is that St. Mark's Church actually helped in the original formation of ECHO and many of us are beneficiaries of that work that they do which is a non-profit service servicing the Springfield area providing residents with food clothing and other important materials so I just wanted to acknowledge that history as well with St. Mark's. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That

[05:12:48] motion carries. Supervisor Lusk. That concludes my motions, and thank you very much. And so, thank you. Supervisor Gross, this will be the last time for that motion that we've done so many times, so it's been a pleasure to do that, so thank you very much. Supervisor Alcorn. Thank you, mr. chairman two board matters in one announcement first one's a little long so for the first one I have two motions related to the comprehensive plan amendment work program my first motion will be to direct staff to evaluate a potential change to the comprehensive plan guidance for parcels located along

[05:13:24] Roger Bacon Drive in Reston within the wheelie TOD north district of the wheelie rest in East transit station area approximately a half mile from the metro station the comprehensive plan recommendations for this district to envision a pedestrian-oriented environment with mid- and high-rise buildings with a mix of uses and ground-level retail of up to 1.5 FAR.

[05:13:48] The parcels along Roger Bacon Drive are developed with two mid-rise office buildings, a commercial condo building with 23 units, and three free-standing restaurants, and are all served with surface parking. To better achieve the vision for this area and to create additional opportunities for housing within walking distance to the Wheely Resonitz Metro Station, the WNOD Trail, and other reasons, there's an opportunity to evaluate the plan and consider residential mixed use for the parcel located at 11260 Roger Bacon Drive. This parcel is developed with a five-story office building constructed in 1980 with surface parking, and this plan amendment would consider a

[05:14:28] residential mixed-use building with approximately 275 units and 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail. This evaluation should also include parcels to the east and south along Roger Bacon Drive and Michael Faraday Court for a coordinated analysis of potential impacts and to achieve an interconnected street network linking Roger Bacon Drive, Michael Faraday Court, and potentially Lake Fairfax Business Park. The addition of this plan amendment to the work program was coordinated with staff and it did not raise issues with staff resources supervisor gross my second motion is

[05:15:06] related to the brookfield plan amendment sspa 2023-3-7 up that was authorized by the board on april 11 2023 as a tier three item on the work program my motion will be to remove consideration of this plan amendment from the work program review of this area could be considered during the next site-specific plan amendment nomination period if a nomination is received at that time. So here are my two motions. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors direct staff to consider a comprehensive plan

[05:15:40] amendment to consider residential mixed use of up to 2.5 FAR for tax map 17-4 double circle 15-2. This plan amendment should consider a planned grid of streets linking roger bacon drive michael faraday court and lake fairfax business center and therefore include the following parcels tax map 17-4 double circle 16 1-1 to 1 through 23 17-4

[05:16:09] double circle 15 4 17-4 double circle 15 single circle 5 1 3a 4 and a and one more 18-3 double circle 5, 7, 7A, 8B, and G. Additionally, the analysis of the impacts will be considered in coordination with the proposed plan amendment for the Lake Fairfax Business Center. The proposal should also prioritize increased connectivity to the Wheely-Restin East Metroil Station and the W&OD

[05:16:43] Trail, consider adopted watershed plans, and ensure the preservation of the existing resource protection area adjacent to lake fairfax park this plan amendment should be identified as a tier one priority item on the comprehensive plan amendment work program and my second motion is i move that the board of supervisors remove the brookfield plan amendment sspa 2023-3-7 up from the comprehensive plan amendment work program second you've heard the motion it's been uh multiply seconded uh Discussion on the motion.

[05:17:20] Let me ask staff just one clarifying question, and I think, or Supervisor Alcorn could probably answer this. In the motion regarding the Brookfield plan, it mentions that it could be considered during the next site-specific plan amendment nomination period, and I just wanted to make sure that we had not put a prohibition against a nomination that's under consideration in one cycle from being able to submit for the next.

[05:17:44] I know we used to, we did that for a while with area plans review, but I just want to make sure that this one would not be prohibited from doing that. Leanna O'Donnell with DPD, you're correct. We did used to have prohibitions like that, but we no longer do with our revisions to the process. So if we received a nomination during the next cycle, which we anticipate will begin in early 2025, you know, if it comes through screening and through the PC and to the board, the board could add it at that time if they so choose.

[05:18:10] Okay. Thank you very much for that clarification. Any further discussion? Seeing and hearing none. all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye aye any opposed any abstentions that motion carries supervisor alcorn thank you a much shorter board matter now uh regarding uh uh vienna water following informal conversations in the community and with various town of vienna officials the time and this is by the way co-sponsored with supervisor paul check um and conversations with various town of vienna officials the time has come for a more in-depth discussion between staff from fairfax

[05:18:47] Water and Town of Vienna officials concerning the future of public water service delivery in the Town of Vienna and surrounding areas currently served by Vienna Water. Therefore, I move that relevant county and Fairfax Water staff be authorized to discuss issues related to the future of public water service in the Vienna area and return to the board with an update on those discussions by the summer of 2024.

[05:19:13] You've heard the motion and the second by Supervisor Palczyk. Any discussion? I will just say a simple motion, but not a simple issue. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I should say something. This is beginning the discussion.

[05:19:29] There's a lot of history about water in Fairfax County, and we're going to have the discussion, and we'll see where we go, and the board will be brought back up to date shortly. Fair enough. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

[05:19:45] Any abstentions? That motion carries. Supervisor Alcorn. thank you and then just a brief announcement my office hosted the hunter mill district winter coat closet on saturday november 18th and as you know this is a great event and was started by my predecessor kathy hudgens and the idea is to ensure that our neighbors in need have a warm coat and other winter clothing this year's event was a great success we had more than 1 000 winter coats hats gloves and scarves distributed to hundreds of local families and it's an outstanding effort led by jillian smith on my staff also cornerstones rest in district police officers

[05:20:25] and many many volunteers from area organizations and businesses and i just want to thank everybody in the community that pitched in and helped out and donated coats for this effort so thank you very much mr chairman thank you supervisor alcorn supervisor stork thank you mr chairman There was a matter this morning that I left for everybody at their desk.

[05:20:48] The authorization of comprehensive plan amendment for the Penndell Fire Station Emergency and Affordable Housing. Penndell Fire Station was built in 1967 as a volunteer fire station and is one of the oldest and busiest stations in the county. I'm going to paraphrase some of this. Funding for a new fire station was approved in 2015 bond referendum after several years of searching for a location in 2020.

[05:21:10] The county purchased the former Harbor Valley Nursery site at 2801 Beacon Hill Road. This 3.5-acre site is located near the current site, allows for construction without building a temporary fire station, saving millions of dollars, and is less than a tenth of a mile from Richmond Highway and a future BRT station.

[05:21:27] Funding for a new emergency shelter in South County was approved, along with three other county shelters in the 2016 bond referendum. Following extensive efforts to sustain the Eleanor Kennedy shelter and a prolonged search for alternate sites, county staff considered co-location with the new Hybar Valley Nursery Site.

[05:21:44] There's been very strong board support about the criticality of addressing our human needs for modern emergency responsibilities for all our members as well as for our best-in-class fire and rescue department or folks needing just a healthy home for the night. Our current facilities are not up to these standards and have needed to be replaced for more than a decade.

[05:22:05] The new co-located facility concept is supported by the county's strategic plan and aligns with our housing-first goals and efforts to prevent and end homelessness. As a result, on November 6, 2020, I convened an advisory committee with members from neighboring communities, public safety representatives, faith community, the affordable emergency housing providers, as well as Mount Vernon Council Citizens Association, the Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and representatives for Fort Belvoir.

[05:22:31] The advisory committee members have been an essential part of the communication process with the community, my office, and county staff. Outreach for this has included 17 public committee meetings, six community meetings with two postcard mailer notifications to gather public feedback on topics such as potential sites, public safety, community impacts, outdoor spaces, parking, traffic, building design, noise sustainability, and site design.

[05:22:59] Once the due diligence process for considering other sites was completed, a final decision was made to pursue the Beacon Hill Road site. An extensive design process began and is still underway with community engagement at every point. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors direct staff to initiate a comprehensive plan amendment for board consideration, co-locating the new fire station, community shelter, and affordable housing on tax map partials 93-1, double circle 17, 5, 6, 7, 8, A, and B.

[05:23:32] The plan amendment would be identified as a tier one priority item on the comprehensive plan amendment work program. This motion should not be construed as a federal recommendation on future applications by the board. It does not relieve any applicant from compliance with the provisions of any applicable ordinances, regulations, or adopted standards.

[05:23:50] This action in no way prejudices the substantive review of future applications. I'm happy to second that along with Supervisor Palczyk. Any discussion on the motion? i know that the board is aware of this just in general we've talked about it for some time this is to initiate the conference of plan changes at least have them considered the board obviously the staff will be coming back to us with the recommendations on this and will give us further opportunity to discuss this at a future meeting thus we'll begin the land use process of this component of this effort okay exactly right excellent uh any further discussion seeing and

[05:24:29] hearing none all those in favor of the motion please say aye aye any opposed any abstentions that motion carries uh supervisor stork just two mentions one is i had sent this and put it on everybody's desk last week it's uh our new potomac banks branding uh visit or explore fairfax south i have more copies i'm happy to distribute but i just wanted i didn't have a chance to mention it last time i'm just going to mention it please take a look inside we'll send these down each way and can grab another one but the map inside in particular was something that we're really proud of and and it creates what identifies locations and places that

[05:25:08] people can go and and really highlights the different kinds of tourism sites and there are a large variety and we mentioned one of them this morning with the National Museum in the US Army but take a look and we're very proud of it working with visit Fairfax and many others and there's more to come in terms of this branding process. Additionally, we have our this Thursday, we have our open house inviting the community. So you're absolutely all welcome to join us at the Mount Vernon Government Center this Thursday from 530 to 730 and for food and good conversation. Thank you very

[05:25:44] much. Thank you, Supervisor Stork. Next up is Supervisor Palczyk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have just one board matter jointly with you um and i'm wondering if supervisor faust would like to join one final one as our outgoing economic initiatives chair i'd be happy to include him in this um it's to honor tyson's based uh hilton named as number one the world's best workplace all right you got it one more members of the board the best place to work in the world is right here in Fairfax County. Hilton, headquartered in Tyson's, topped the 2023 World's Best Workplaces

[05:26:24] list compiled by Fortune and Great Place to Work. This recognition also marks the first time a hospitality company has achieved the top honor. Each year, Great Place to Work invites companies to participate in a rigorous database model that quantifies the employee experience to determine the world's best workplaces. The process includes soliciting employee feedback through surveys, collecting data about company culture and workforce, and achieving certification status.

[05:26:53] This year's best workplaces list is based on 6.2 million survey responses from employees around the globe. Hilton made efforts this year to enhance its workplaces and attract talent. Since 2016, Hilton has continued to build its strong culture by creating an inclusive workspace that offers growth opportunities and provides support to its 460,000 employees around the world.

[05:27:17] The survey found that 90% of Hilton employees said the company is a great place to work. 88% said their work has a special meaning to them. And 84% said that management involves people in decisions that affect their jobs or work environment.

[05:27:34] Additionally, Hilton was ranked number 10 in the nation on Military Times annual 2023 Best for Vets ranking and named the best workplace for women in the U.S. To thank Hilton employees for the commitment to expanding talent in the hospitality industry, Hilton launched Hilton Cares, a scholarship and financial assistance program that will provide $500,000 to employees and community members passionate about building and growing careers in hospitality.

[05:28:02] Hilton renewed its lease in Tysons and plans to add 350 jobs over the next five years. Tysons is a great place to work because of companies like Hilton that put their employees first. Therefore, we move without objection that a resolution be prepared and presented to Hilton inside or outside the boardroom to recognize and celebrate its achievement of being named number one, World's Best Workplace.

[05:28:27] You've heard the motion. It's been seconded by Supervisor Faust and myself. Any discussion on the motion? Just want to say, I know we're all— Yes, Supervisor Paust. Thank you. I know so many concerns around workforce and workforce development and office space, And I think it's nice to have some good stories to tell and highlight, even in these difficult times and the great work being done.

[05:28:51] And it wasn't mentioned here, but appreciate the work of the EDA and our county staff in helping ensure that we recruit and retain great companies like Hilton here. Thank you, Supervisor Palchik. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

[05:29:07] Any abstentions? That motion carries. Supervisor Palchik. That is all. Happy safe holidays to all. Thank you very much. Supervisor Palchuk, Supervisor Herity. Yes, because I know Supervisor Gross and Supervisor Faust don't want their meeting to end quite so quickly, their last meeting.

[05:29:25] I've got four board matters. I'm not sure we can survey them about it. Would you like to vote on this? My first one is on tax relief update request for the Virginia Defense Force. The Virginia Defense Force is authorized by the Code of Virginia as the all-volunteer reserve component of the Virginia National Guard and serves as a force multiplier integrated into all guard domestic operations.

[05:29:54] Members of the VDF volunteer their time for training and community support and are only paid when called to state active duty by an authorization from the governor of Virginia. After a meeting with the constituent in 2018, it's brought to my attention that members of the VDF are not included in the county special subclass with the tax rate of .01 per 100 of assessed value. Subclass currently excludes all vehicles owned by auxiliary police officers, auxiliary deputy sheriffs, disabled veterans, volunteer firefighters, and qualifying seniors. The Code

[05:30:27] of Virginia 58-1-3506, Section 44, states that motor vehicles owned or leased by persons who serve as uniform members of the vdf are eligible for the county special subclass 2018 i made a request to estimate the fiscal impact of the vds as a special subclass recently i asked their department of tax administration to provide an update of the estimate of the impact of providing this exemption to all those eligible in fairfax county their rough estimate was 53 430 dollars therefore mr chairman i asked with that objection department of tax administration provide the board

[05:31:05] with a more accurate estimate of the fiscal impact of adding VDF to the list of properties included in Fairfax County's special subclass and report the results to the board by the end of January 2024.

[05:31:21] In addition, this report should include the service requirements of the members of VDF and a list of Virginia jurisdictions that have and have not implemented this policy change. So this is a request for information?

[05:31:37] Yep. We'll just do that without objection. Yep, that's what I said. Okay. Yep. Supervisor Herity. The next one's an expedited processing motion for 11 Valley Road, LLC. 11 Valley Road, LLC is the owner of approximately 3.84 acres located on the south side of Valley Road on property identified among Fairfax County tax assessment records is 46-4, double circle 2, 25.

[05:32:06] the subject property and zoned to the r1 district the applicant proposes a waiver of the minimum minimum lot width requirement in the r1 district to permit a subdivision of the subject property into three lots the density of the proposed subdivision will be less than one dwelling unit per acre which is consistent with the r1 zoning and the lot sizes of the surrounding development special exception application is scheduled for a hearing before the planning commission on february 7th 2024 given the length of time it's taken to find a path forward to develop the subject property applicant would like to proceed to subdivision as soon as possible

[05:32:43] therefore the applicant has asked for consideration of concurrent processing in the scheduling of a hearing before the board of supervisors therefore mr chairman i move the board direct staff to authorize concurrent and simultaneously processing of a site plan subdivision plat architectural drawings and and other drawings this may be necessary in conjunction with se 2003 sp 00016 in addition i move that the board direct staff to schedule a hearing for se 2023 sp 00016 before

[05:33:18] the board on february 20th 2024 as always this motion should not be construed as a favorable recommendation by the board on the proposed application and does not relieve the applicant and from compliance with the provisions of any applicable ordinances, regulations, or adopted standards.

[05:33:34] So moved. You've heard the motion. I'm happy to second the motion. Any discussion? Mr. Chairman? Yes, Supervisor Palchuk. I just want to confirm that those dates were approved by staff, that there was room on the agenda for those. It was drafted by staff, so yes. Okay, just checking.

[05:33:50] Thank you. Okay, thank you for that clarification. Any further discussion? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That motion carries. Supervisor Herity. Yes, Mr. Chairman, the next one is to recognize Antioch Baptist Church on their 35th anniversary.

[05:34:10] Only halfway there to St. Mark's 70th. Mr. Chairman, on January 8th, 1989, Antioch Baptist Church was founded under Pastor John Q. Kibbs, including the first worship service at Salvation Army Chapel on Ox Road.

[05:34:26] In 1995, Pastor Marshall L. Osbury took over and led the church's expansion efforts until his retirement last June. Antioch Baptist Church purchased 3.6 acres of land to build their current facility at 6531 Little Ox Road and added numerous ministries to welcome newcomers.

[05:34:44] As of today, the campus has expanded to 23 acres and a ministry center. As the church grew, so did its community impact. The church sponsors missions in Haiti and other countries, reintegration opportunities for ex-offenders and services for homeless and those that are sick or elderly.

[05:35:02] The church also supports many kids through their Sunday school and Awana club programs, tutoring and financial literacy missions, and providing transition services for military members and veterans. The church continues to support many throughout Fairfax County today by focusing on the importance of faith, community, and love for all people.

[05:35:22] Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I am asked without objection, we prepare a proclamation recognizing Antioch Baptist Church's 35th anniversary and community service to Fairfax County to be presented outside the boardroom. Without objection, that is so ordered. Supervisor Herity.

[05:35:38] And my last one is to recognize January 2024 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Mr. Chairman, human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. Department of Homeland Security defines trafficking as involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor commercial sex act. Each January we recognize National Human Trafficking Awareness Month and the sobering reality that even as we work hard to end this crime, many continue to suffer horrific treatment at the will of traffickers. The instability of the pandemic exacerbated vulnerable conditions for many that made them more susceptible

[05:36:17] to traffickers. As stated by the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, traffickers do not necessarily target people, they target vulnerabilities. Tragically, this is demonstrated by the increase in child trafficking around the world and even here in Fairfax County. Fairfax County staff have reported that they've seen an increase in trafficking victims who are 7 to 10 years old, including more male children than in previous years. In 2022, Fairfax County served 110 trafficking victims, many of whom were seeking assistance for immediate needs and were later identified as being trafficked. Human trafficking

[05:36:54] data is historically incomplete because of underreporting and difficulty identifying victims. Trafficking can take many forms, including sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced labor. In March 2019, I asked the board to form an interdepartmental work group to focus on issues on the issue of over 80 illicit massage businesses operating in Fairfax County businesses that hide in plain sight while the county and our nonprofit partners work tirelessly to support victims and bring traffickers to justice justice residents play a key critical

[05:37:31] role in the fight to end human trafficking all residents should be aware of the indicators of trafficking as well as who to call for help if you're in immediate danger see someone in danger call 911. Residents should never try to confront a trafficker. Sometimes people do not know how to help or unsure if what they are seeing is trafficking. Our domestic and sexual violence services team suggests residents focus less on building certainty that a case is trafficking instead of focusing on helping those around you who are vulnerable. Since trafficking targets the

[05:38:07] most vulnerable, you can prevent trafficking by helping others who have recently been displaced. are experiencing family turmoil or financial insecurity. In addition, residents should be increasingly vigilant about activities online, especially for their children.

[05:38:25] According to the OSHA 2022 annual report, online recruitment is the number one method to lure people into sex trafficking globally. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I ask without objection that the county executive have staff prepare a resolution recognizing January 2024 is Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Fairfax County and recognize the tireless efforts of our staff and county partners who have worked to raise awareness, aid survivors, bring traffickers to justice.

[05:38:56] At the request of DSVS, this resolution should be presented to Safe Spot Advocacy Center at the board's January 23, 2024 meeting. Safe Spot is an organization which provides services to children and families impacted by child abuse.

[05:39:13] They have been a leader in addressing child sexual abuse and exploitation in the past year. You've heard the I can go with a motion whichever you want to do. We'll do it as a motion. The discussion on the motion has been moved and seconded.

[05:39:32] Discussion on the motion. I do have two questions. One, the safe spot was added, right? Because the copy I have doesn't mention that at all. I should have, it was added afterwards. That was at DSVS's request that rather than staff receive it, that they recognize safe spots.

[05:39:49] So I apologize for not pointing out that that was changed. Okay. And the other question I have is in paragraph two, you mentioned what Fairfax County staff reported an increase. Where did you get that from? That's very different than the data I've seen.

[05:40:05] So these are the 2022 numbers where they still haven't pulled together. the 2023 numbers um that's collected through domestic and sexual violence services from community organizations providing legal and social services to victims of human trafficking uh and and data as we all know data like that is underreported uh significantly under reported um okay well why don't we do but it's it's collected by state came from staff it was same numbers as were reported last year so i because i've heard something very different from

[05:40:41] the police department i think it would be helpful for us in context i'm going to ask staff to provide to the board a data update in advance of the january 23rd 2024 meeting because we want to make sure we're we're saying the right thing one instance is too much but frankly you know what i'm hearing is different than what our police department is telling me so i think it's important to get the whole picture in front of us not just part of it but the whole picture so i'm going to ask staff to prepare for us a memo to send in advance of when we'll be recognizing them on

[05:41:16] January 23rd with some statistics and some figures so that we can see the total picture here of what's going on. Make sure we have the accurate data for when they come forward on the 23rd of next year. Okay. You've heard the motion and the second. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye aye aye any opposed any abstentions that motion carries uh supervisors uh herity that was all right uh that's it supervisor smith no board matters supervisor smith gives a gift at the end to our two to supervisor faust and supervisor gross uh so with that if there's

[05:41:55] no additional uh business to come before the board our december 5th 2023 meeting is adjourned

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