Coraggio Consulting
Prince William Board of County Supervisors Meeting, Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Place: Prince William County Board of County Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 2h 18m (video)
Official meeting video (Prince William County, Granicus): https://pwcgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3750
Official Board of County Supervisors page (Prince William County): https://www.pwcva.gov/department/board-county-supervisors

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 2026-10-28. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:12] 2-0-1 on Tuesday, December of 2025. I am now calling this meeting to order, and I would like us to begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. So please stand if you are able.

[00:00:44] Alright, before we get into approval of minutes, I want to acknowledge that Supervisor Andrea Bailey is not here today. She lost her mother. So, you know, I know that's a tough time for everyone. And I'm realizing that I skipped over our moment of silence, so I would like to dedicate this moment of silence to her and her family.

[00:01:21] Alright, thank you. I also want to note that supervisor vega is not here she is attending a conference on behalf of the county so with that let's move on to agenda item number three approval of minutes so move madam chair second it's improperly moved and seconded did anyone have any questions anything they'd like to change all right let's go ahead and take the vote vote unanimous supervisors vega and bailey absent from meeting and all subsequent votes all right we do not have anything for agenda item number four and that's accommodations and proclamations so we are going to move on to the

[00:02:00] consent agenda before i begin does anyone have anything that they would like to pull from the consent agenda seeing nothing i'd like to go ahead and get a motion for 5a through 5c so moved second it's been properly moved and seconded is there any discussion i don't see anything so let's go ahead and take a vote all right we are going to move on now to public comment time do we have

[00:02:38] anyone sign up to speak in person we do not have anyone in person i don't believe we don't have anyone online correct so we do not have anyone who has signed up to speak in person or online so i'm going to go to agenda item number seven and that is the public hearings we have two items 7a and 7b before i open the public hearings does anyone have any questions on the dais about

[00:03:14] anything they want to ever ask of staff i don't see anything so i'm going to go ahead and open the public hearings for 7a and 7b do we have anyone we do not have anyone sign up to speak in person do we have anyone online we do not have anyone signed up to speak online so i'm going to go ahead and close the public hearings for 7a and 7b i would like to get a motion to move forward with 7a and 7b uh supervisor sorry i'll move it all right i'd like to get a second second it's

[00:03:51] been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Supervisor Gordy. Madam Chair, thank you. On item 7a, is this a friendly taking or is this something that we're having to do without the support of the current owner of the land? Supervisor Gordy, it's great to hear things like

[00:04:24] friendly taking. Madam Chair, members of the board, Rick Canazos, your director of transportation. Supervisor Gordy, that's a great question. We are actually doing this just on a more procedural matter. The individuals in this matter are in the middle of some refinancing that they didn't want this to disturb it.

[00:04:43] So we're moving forward with this as a condemnation and coming back to them. Okay. So in a way, the answer to your question is yes. Okay. All right. That's what I need. Thank you. Yes. Does anyone else have any questions?

[00:05:04] Supervisor Gordy. On item 7B, I really want to thank Rick and the team for all the work on this. This is a cut-through road between Rollins Ford Road and Glenkirk. It's a route that I travel quite a bit, and this speed hump is absolutely needed to help slow people down.

[00:05:25] And it's just one big curve is all it is. So it is hard to see through the whole path through there. So thanks, Rick, for all your team's work on all that. All right, thank you so very much. I do not see anyone else in the queue, so let's go ahead.

[00:05:40] I'd like to call for the vote. Unanimous. All right, thank you very much. We are now on to agenda item number eight, and that is county executive time. Mr. Shorter, the floor is yours. All right, thank you very much, Madam Chair, members of the board.

[00:05:59] A few quick announcements. There were no directives issued at our last meeting. There was one directive closed since we met last, and that was an amendment to the MOAs with our towns within the county to incorporate the use of the Mike Pennington Scenario-Based Training Center.

[00:06:20] That directive was closed out in our system. I wanted to take just a minute to recognize and thank our staff at the Department of Social Services, our director, Phyllis Jennings-Holt, and really the entire team. This, as you know, has been a very turbulent time, a lot of changes at the federal and state level, And they have just shown great flexibility as a team, ensuring that vulnerable residents and families in the county still receive the support that they need.

[00:06:50] So I just really wanted to thank them for their continued work. Also wanted to just acknowledge Matt Corneliusen and Dave Sinclair from this morning's meeting at the committee level for the work. This is the first time that we've done this with a new CIP process.

[00:07:09] So I wanted to just acknowledge, really, the CIP Steering Committee as well, just for the work, the innovation, the creativity. And, Madam Chair, that is all for me. Thank you so very much. We are going to move on to agenda item number nine, and this is county attorney time.

[00:07:28] Thank you, Madam Chair. Members of the board, we have no items for closed session this afternoon. All right. Thank you so very much. Mr. Shorter, I'll turn it over to you for agenda item number 10, agency time. All right. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So we have, at this point, had an opportunity to hear from our sheriff and our clerk to the circuit court by way of their individual budget request.

[00:07:54] We have invited and thank our Commonwealth Attorney, Amy Ashworth, for appearing before the board this afternoon to present her budget request. Commonwealth Attorney, thank you for being here, and turn it over to you, and make sure we hit the mic.

[00:08:19] All right, good afternoon, everyone, Chair Jefferson and members of the Board of County Supervisor. As you know, I'm Amy Ashworth, the elected Commonwealth Attorney for Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. I want to thank you for your time today to present our budget requests and also thank all of you for the time I know you have spent getting to know what our office does and the important functions that it served.

[00:08:51] When I last stood before you, we talked a lot about our commitment our office has to our community, our commitment to public safety, to justice, to fairness, and to transparency. And today I want to emphasize for you how deeply we hold that commitment and how dramatically the landscape of criminal justice has continued to change and how urgently our office continues

[00:09:22] to need those additional resources. Today, our office is composed of 61 prosecutors, 28 administrative staff, and 17 victim witness team members. And together, we serve this steadily growing county and two independent cities. Our mission is straightforward, to vigorously enforce the law, pursue the truth, and serve the community with integrity. That mission is very easy to say,

[00:09:58] but extraordinarily complex to carry out. Every day, we staff up to 23 different criminal dockets across three court systems. We handle cases ranging from violent felonies to very simple traffic-related misdemeanors. Even this morning, I was on a Zoom call interviewing a very important

[00:10:29] witness for an upcoming murder trial. We respond to hundreds of discovery requests that have grown exponentially due to digital evidence. We are on call 24-7 for our law enforcement partners, and we represent the Commonwealth in all civil matters, such as expungements, substantial risk petitions, forfeiture cases. Our office's work touches every corner of the criminal justice

[00:11:02] system, and the volume of that work continues to accelerate. And I want to take a moment to talk about how we do that job. And I included in this presentation a quote from Robert Jackson, who was the attorney general at the time, went on to become a Supreme Court justice.

[00:11:23] Because prosecution is not just aggressively pursuing criminal charges, locking people up and throwing away the key as people like to say. It's about pursuing the truth and fighting for justice. We don't always win the cases that we bring but we bring them because we believe in them. There are a lot of cases that never actually make it to the courtroom. Sometimes we look more closely at the evidence and decide we might have charged the wrong person. Sometimes we look at the

[00:11:59] evidence as a whole, and we decide there isn't enough to go forward, that we don't believe we can be successful at trial. And that review and using that discretion takes a lot of attorney time and brain power. Recently, I met with a citizen who was complaining because the police department would not charge his soon-to-be ex-wife, and the story he told was compelling. It took me several

[00:12:32] hours over several days to go over what exactly the evidence was and what evidence would I be able to bring forward to a jury. And then I had to review the relevant code sections to figure out what exactly this bad act fit under, what crime was it. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that we didn't have enough evidence to support charging this person. But again, that took hours to come to that conclusion. It would have been very easy for me to make him happy and direct the charges be

[00:13:12] brought, but that's not the right thing to do. That's not what a prosecutor should do, and I think this quote very aptly makes that clear. I know I have provided this to all of you in the past, except for Supervisor Stewart, which I'm happy to sit down and go over it with you, but as you recall, the National Center for State Courts did a statewide time study that was funded by the General Assembly in 2023 to try to figure out how many prosecutors really were needed across the

[00:13:47] state. It generated staffing standards that the Virginia Compensation Board uses to determine each jurisdiction's need for prosecutors. And as Prince William County continues to expand in population, development, and complexity, with that growth, we've seen a significant and steady increase in the number of criminal cases filed. You may recall this chart that I keep updating

[00:14:20] year after year, but these numbers are unmistakable. They're showing us at least more than a 25% increase in the number of criminal case filings in just two years. And it's important to think about that as this number of filings increases, it means there are more victims to support, more discovery to review and turn over, more evidence, particularly digital evidence, to organize, store, and present, more courtroom hours, more legal research, more motions,

[00:14:56] more trial preparation. It's not simply more work. It's more complex work. So in September of 2025, those time study results were published to all of the prosecutors, and Prince William County's numbers are now 71 prosecutors, 18 paralegals, 36 administrative staff. And I put on this chart what we currently have, which is 61 prosecutors, 8 paralegals, and 20 administrative staff.

[00:15:33] I'm here today asking for 10 attorney positions, the 10 paralegal positions, the 16 administrative positions. We don't have guidance on victim witness positions, and we are estimating our need to be five. I want to talk to you about victim witness program. So the Code of Virginia allowed jurisdictions to create these much-needed offices. Some programs for some victim witnesses

[00:16:13] fall within the police department, some fall within prosecutors' offices, and some are just independent offices. In Prince William County, the victim witness program falls under the Commonwealth Attorney's Office, and we currently have 16 full-time employees, one part-time employee. These individuals play a crucial role in reducing trauma and ensuring victims remain informed, supported, and engaged with the justice system. They make immediate contact with a victim

[00:16:50] of crime or their family members. They're explaining the sometimes complex court procedures that are going to occur. They assist with protective orders, victim impact statements. They appear in court with our victims. They help coordinate any financial assistance that may be available. And they liaise with all the different agencies to try to help people get their needs met. Recently, we came across the police department advertisement for this same position within the

[00:17:28] police department. It has the exact same job description that our victim service advocates put up when we have an opening. However, it has a $20,000 higher starting salary. As you can imagine, that created quite a buzz in my office, and I think many employees applied for this position.

[00:17:51] Chief Newsham and I recently talked about this, and he indicated that the description should not have included going to court. They asked for positions to help support victims where their cases do not go to court. His need for that position is because our office has said, if a case is not going to court, we can't help them, which is unfortunate, but it shows why.

[00:18:29] It demonstrates that we are in need of these positions. We don't have the capacity to handle those cases that aren't going to court. And because of that difference in salary, I don't want to lose my people to this department.

[00:18:53] I'm sure it was an oversight, but we've got to figure out how to fix that. Our biggest need at the Commonwealth Attorney's Office right now, The biggest strain we face is our administrative and paralegal workforce.

[00:19:12] These are the backbone of our office. They manage our case management system, prepare and open the files, close the files, upload and organize evidence, coordinate witness subpoenas, witness appearances, support the attorneys in the courtroom, manage the handling of our electronic and hard file storage.

[00:19:40] Right now, because we don't have enough administrative support, attorneys are doing this work themselves. It is neither efficient nor fiscally responsible to have attorneys whose salaries are significantly higher performing tasks that should be handled by trained administrative staff or paralegals.

[00:20:09] Yet it is the attorneys who face the consequences with the judge if these things are not done. And so the attorneys have to do them. The result of this is burnout by the attorneys, delays, sometimes misinformation, or late discovery production.

[00:20:37] With proper administrative staffing, our prosecutors can do what they were hired to do. Prepare and try the cases, meet with the victims, coordinate with the police, and ensure justice is served. You may be asking yourself, hey Ashworth, I've heard this claim before, yet you somehow seem to manage it.

[00:21:04] And you're right, we do. How have we done that? We have a very robust intern and law clerk program where not only do we get help with administrative tasks, but they get to learn skills and build their career skills.

[00:21:25] We've been using operational need pay for our administrative staff that work above their allotted hours. And we continue to use and improve our case management system and other digital tools. With the positions you provided this office last year, we hired an IT person.

[00:21:47] He developed a program that we input the jail calls, the recorded jail calls into, and using AI, it reviews them and summarizes and transcribes them for the attorney, which has saved hours of time.

[00:22:05] So our official funding requests are as follows. I have worked with county staff to come up with a plan over the next four years to build that administrative staffing.

[00:22:25] We are asking for seven full-time employees, administrative employees this year, following with eight each of the next three years. Our second ask is for those 10 attorneys, but essentially only if the General Assembly and the Compensation Board fund those, partially fund those positions.

[00:22:53] And we won't know what, if that's going to happen until April or May of next year, similar to what happened last year. And finally, we have a budget request for an Axon system that I will explain shortly.

[00:23:11] So with those additional positions, what could we do? This is the fun part of the presentation. This is where I get to think, wouldn't it be great if we had help with subpoena clerks to issue?

[00:23:32] When cases come in, we have a good idea of who we're going to need at trial. But currently, we rely on the police department to request the clerk to issue those subpoenas. Having subpoena clerks in each of the district courts to do that would ease the burden on police and the clerk's office and make sure they get issued timely.

[00:23:58] I've spoken with Clerk Smith about increasing the use of grand juries, which would be a time-saving tool because we could bypass the district court in many cases. Providing administrative support where it's needed most, which is the court's staffing.

[00:24:20] Right now, our attorneys go to court, handle the cases, and then have to update them in the case management system so that they can continue to flow through to the next court date or the next things can be done. To have staff members be in the courtroom updating those cases as it's happening would be a huge support, or even having them update it when court is done.

[00:24:47] We love our specialty dockets in Prince William County. they do a lot of good. But right now, the burden on administering those is on the attorneys. Having a paralegal that would be able to coordinate the early diversion for domestic violence, veteran's docket, recovery court, and hopefully soon behavioral health court would be amazing.

[00:25:13] In short, we could use these positions to really deliver the level of justice that this community expects. And I want to highlight paralegals who are so important to an attorney's job.

[00:25:30] Paralegals are not attorneys, but they do much of the work that an attorney does, including legal research, drafting documents, and helping to prepare cases for trial. The paralegal's work is invaluable, but many of our units share a paralegal. And the bottom line is we need more of these professionals to help the attorneys. I'm working now on a murder case that's getting ready for trial in January. The paralegal was part of our last prep meeting and

[00:26:08] there were five or six documents that we needed to get done. She knocked them all out. I got back to the office on Monday. They were done. That saved me probably two hours of time. Finally, our last budget request, which is the Axon contract. So one of our most pressing logistical challenges involves digital evidence. The volume of digital data in criminal cases has exploded.

[00:26:46] Body-worn cameras, surveillance video, phone video that people capture, phone extractions, social media, content, photographs are all digital. And the police department uses a system provided by Axon to store and transmit this evidence. You're probably aware of the large contract that Axon has with the police department. As part of that contract, that million, multi-million

[00:27:22] dollar contract with the police department, Axon provides us, the prosecutors, with what they call free accounts so that we can access what the police have collected, that evidence. But that free account only covers body-worn camera footage. The police upload much more than just body-worn camera to this Axon system, which makes sense because all of the evidence is in one place.

[00:27:57] However, this means our free account is out of compliance, and they want us, they have been pressuring me for years now, to sign what was an over-a-million-dollar contract.

[00:28:14] It's now gotten down to a $750,000 contract to upgrade to these justice, acts on justice accounts for prosecutors. My staff and I have thoroughly investigated alternatives, and it is simply not feasible for us to store the non-body-worn camera evidence in different locations, separate from the police department.

[00:28:44] If you think of it this way, the police investigate a crime, they gather all of this evidence, and they upload it to the Axon Universe. They then push it over to our side of the system and we review it and then distribute it to the defense.

[00:29:09] That's what that process of discovery is really about. Not everything that is uploaded to that system gets distributed to the defense.

[00:29:27] There are sometimes very sensitive pictures. victims are not always fully clothed when they're dealing with the police there are privacy issues there are there's one body worn camera where an elderly victim was giving her social security and bank accounts to the police we clearly are not going to turn that over to the defense we're going to make it available for them to see but a human has to go through that and determine what

[00:29:59] goes where. And it's important to note that if evidence in a case gets lost or destroyed or there's a delay in turning it over, cases can and will be dismissed by our judges. And that's not a theoretical risk. It has happened. The chief and I have worked very closely each time it has happened

[00:30:34] to make sure this particular glitch didn't happen again. But this is a real operational necessity. Investing in the digital evidence management is investing in the integrity of our prosecutions and the rights of victims and the confidence of the public.

[00:30:57] I always like to bring you good news when I come and visit. And the good news this year is that the behavioral health docket that we talked about last year is moving forward.

[00:31:16] As you recall, this is another specialty docket that focuses on people who are suffering from mental illness who find themselves in the criminal justice system. Right now, the criminal justice system is not well-equipped to deal with that.

[00:31:32] But this specialty docket, which is approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia, is a sanctioned way for us to deal with that population in a way that holds them accountable but still make sure they're getting treatment and are treated fairly.

[00:31:50] And to coincide with the opening of the Crisis Receiving Center is just an amazing time in Prince William County. So far, we've identified our key participants. We have been in touch with other jurisdictions that operate this docket.

[00:32:09] We have scheduled the necessary training. Judge Jarvis, newly to be installed, Judge Jarvis is going to be heading that up. And we are both excited and confident that we can get that up and running this year.

[00:32:25] So I will certainly keep you updated on that. Prince William County also, because of the amazing work of the Prince William County Police Cold Case Unit and several prosecutors in my office, but notably Stephanie Buck, they took a 1987 stranger rape case.

[00:32:52] They reopened that case, got the DNA, had it tested again, and used the DNA, a procedure for comparing DNA that could distinguish between identical twins because the suspect had an identical twin.

[00:33:16] And normally that was the end of the road. For the first time ever, we got that identification method admitted into court. And not only was that case solved, we secured a conviction.

[00:33:36] This victim is close to 90 years old. She'd waited close to 40 years for justice. It was a groundbreaking case. It got international media, all in Prince William County. On the horizon with the General Assembly, it's going to be an interesting year.

[00:34:01] My bipartisan group of prosecutors are going to, again, move forward with our access to justice bill. As you may recall, last year it did not make it out of appropriations because it has a pretty big price tag. But it would fully fund prosecutors and public defenders across the state and take the financial load off of the local jurisdictions.

[00:34:23] I am happy to support this bill. It got group support from the NAACP and the Virginia Association of Police Chiefs. And so it didn't pass last year, but it did, I think, encourage the General Assembly to fund 70 more positions across the state.

[00:34:46] Prince William County was awarded 10 of those positions. So I'm hopeful this year that they will again fund additional prosecutors and that Prince William County will get the benefit of those. And finally, to end on a happy note, we had hired four recent graduates of law school.

[00:35:08] They took the bar in July. They passed in October. We had brought them on board and were training them so they were ready to hit the ground running. Judge Metzler kindly swore them in as official attorneys after our sentencing docket, and they became prosecutors for Prince William County the very next day.

[00:35:30] And that little guy in the corner is Macklin, who is a service dog for one of our attorneys. He did not take the bar, but we appreciate him. I very much appreciate your time and attention today. I appreciate everything you have done for the Commonwealth Attorney's Office to make sure that our fight for justice can continue and that we can work toward a safe and secure community for all of us.

[00:35:59] I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you so very much for coming out here this afternoon and sharing important details. I'm just waiting. Does anyone have any questions? All right. Supervisor Franklin.

[00:36:19] Good afternoon, and thank you for being here. So I've obviously always been supportive of the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, but I've also been vocal about making sure that we push the General Assembly to do more in all areas, including here.

[00:36:38] And so kind of the note at the end with regards to the GA funding 70 prosecutors, I'm assuming that was across the entire Commonwealth. Yes. And can you speak a little bit about why PwC only got 10?

[00:36:53] And I'm assuming, but you can tell me if I'm right or wrong with us being a larger jurisdiction, I'm assuming the assumption was, I'm assuming the assumption was, we could probably fund the rest on our own. But I'm just curious if that's the case or not.

[00:37:09] So as it was explained to us from the compensation board, they look at the need, the percentage of need in each jurisdiction, and they award one position to the office with the highest need. And then they run the formula again and see who comes up with the highest need, and then they give that highest need office a position.

[00:37:30] Interesting, okay. We requested like 30. Whatever the need was, whatever the shortage was, we requested all of them. There's another jurisdiction that has a much higher need than us. And they only requested like three or four.

[00:37:46] So they got like the first four positions because that's what they requested. Prince William just lucked out because, and I give all the credit to Kara Graham, who deals with the compensation board, she requested 30.

[00:38:03] So Prince William just came up as the highest need 10 times. So it sounds like 10 is actually a decent number compared to, I mean, I guess if it's only 70 across the entire Commonwealth, 10 would be helpful. But obviously you need a lot more than that.

[00:38:21] I guess my second question kind of goes to kind of the general need with regards to some of our, compared to some of our neighbors. And so we've heard in the past, you know, Fairfax isn't requesting as much or doesn't have the same need.

[00:38:37] but can you talk a little bit about the difference between Prince William County and some of our regional neighbors? So I brought the document. I'm happy to share it with you. Fairfax currently, I think I added it up, needs 106 prosecutors total.

[00:38:59] I don't know how many they have because this only tells me what the comp board funds for them. They have funded, I believe, 34 positions. in their so whatever their differences if they currently have and i don't know what that is maybe they have 50 60 the difference is funded by their local jurisdiction yeah it'd be it'd be interesting to to see exactly kind of what some of those numbers are um because it may or may not be a fair comparison um and i think regardless we have to kind of look at what our needs are here locally and kind of fund based on that rather than other jurisdiction,

[00:39:39] at least when it comes to our criminal justice system. Thank you. I think the next comparable is Virginia Beach, and their need is 69 prosecutors. Oh, I'm sorry.

[00:39:56] But that staffing standard does look at the type of cases, not just the number. So you have someplace like Norfolk, which has a higher number of homicides. They're going to need more prosecutors because those are really complex cases.

[00:40:12] And so it comes down to the caseload, because I was looking at some notes, and it looks like our criminal filings have increased from 2022 to 2024, with the total, it looks like in 2022, 33,000-ish to 41,000 in 2024.

[00:40:27] So, again, it's not just Fairfax, you know, is similarly sized. It's about the criminal foulings. Right. Okay. Thank you. Right. All right. Thank you so very much. Supervisor Cordy. Thank you, Madam Chair. So kind of continue on that.

[00:40:43] So in terms of trends, kind of looking at trends with where we are, and right now for 2025 through October, it seems we're sort of in a downward trend. And it seemed to me that coming out of COVID, we just had this really challenging environment as it related to criminal and violent behavior in the county.

[00:41:11] Are you seeing, I mean, hopefully, are you seeing this as a trend that maybe we're starting to come out of that and we're starting to see a leveling off of or even a declining of the violent activity, the violent crimes uh in prince william county so i hate to say anything out loud i am uh the chief and i are both very happy with the direction that things are going um and that that would be

[00:41:42] you know what happens is those as as homicides decrease right now you've got manpower that's looking at those cold cases which are even more complex than something that's pending right now for instance we just went through a trial of a 15 year old nobody homicide case that was a situation that took a lot of manpower and a lot of time but what as we looked at the evidence we

[00:42:18] realized this case isn't going to get any stronger 15 years from now and so we put together the case that we the best case that we could so while those particular types of cases might be going down there's still lots of enforcement going on on the other end that aren't really included in that trend yeah well you know just you know looking at it from a you know community safety and just quality of life for us i mean you know we're hopeful that you know our our community is getting

[00:42:52] safer and and um and so that that i hope this is a trend that continues as we go forward um on the axon um software you said that it's uh 750 000 but it was over a million did they give you a cyber monday discount or um that was a joke you don't have to answer that question number of years yeah dealing with them is interesting yeah well when they hold all the cards right you know and i think

[00:43:26] that becomes part of part of the challenge is is that you're held to this because the programs used by our police department if you're going to use that information now they've sort of got you over the barrel um in in terms of what you need to use now that 750 is that a one-time fee up front or is that a that's over it's over five years so it's 750 per year or 750 split over five years correct okay perfect yeah that's what we need to get the first year was like 150 okay and then it

[00:43:58] tapers down because there's a one-time setup and okay all right thank you all right see if i just steward hi good afternoon so about the accent account all right so i i was looking at the free versus the the the justice tier and it looks like a paywall um and looking at the features that they're offering i mean if we're housing those videos or even if they're housing them is there not a way i mean i kind of heard about how brilliant your it person was oh all right yeah

[00:44:36] is there a way that we can build something comprehensive ourselves like that in-house for less investment no and and i wish that there was and we've tried to figure out because our case management system has the ability to hold digital evidence. The problem is the police department uses one system. And for us to now use different systems, which we have in the past, which have caused huge problems because a detective uploaded it to system A, but didn't tell anybody it was in system A. We don't discover it till we're looking in Axon. We can't find it.

[00:45:15] oh, it's over here. Immediately we disclose it. Judge says, that's too late. You had that for too long. Case is dismissed. That's the problem. Is that a procedure that can be changed where if you're using system A, maybe systems B through X are retired in some sort of way, or just procedurally only upload to system A and we know that everything is domiciled there. And, you know, I don't want to get too much into the weeds, but in theory, sure, but we've, we've tried that and

[00:45:54] it's failed. Got it. And so now that we have Axon is giving us access to the evidence because they don't want to cut off the Commonwealth attorney's office from the police department in this size of a jurisdiction. I did. I think that would be a bad business move for them, but they have been persistently warning us that we have to come to a solution, right? Like this free ride isn't going to continue forever. And so what we did is investigate okay, what are the other solutions?

[00:46:35] The problem is to get a police department of 700 some officers to then start using separate systems to store separate things which is what we did in the past is an operational nightmare. And I did not want to give in to Axon.

[00:46:56] I fought the fight as long as I can. I think it was like maybe three months ago that I reached out to Dan Alexander and Chief Newsham and said, you know, help me continue to say no to them.

[00:47:14] What can we do? The alternative isn't saving the county that much more money, to be honest. The alternative of going to different systems has its cost as well and creates a logistical nightmare.

[00:47:30] And so that delta between what we have to pay Axon to have, Axon makes a good product. They absolutely make a really good, useful product. They are leading the market, and there's a reason for that.

[00:47:49] But, you know, they sell the police department on these fantastic products, and then we're kind of attached. stuck with the bill. Because we rely on the police department to do the evidence gathering and connecting. So I think it was a joint analysis that we came to the conclusion there's really no other alternative. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Bodie. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[00:48:24] Thank you, Amy slash Ms. Ashworth, for coming before us. Appreciate your presentation as always. I appreciate all your diligence in sort of working through, frankly, what you've, since the moment you stepped into your role as a mountain of climbing in terms of manpower and getting to where you need to be in terms of delivering real justice to our community. So I wanted to commend you on that. So my first question touches upon something that was just said and you also just sort of alluded to it. Can you talk to me a little bit about the not causation but correlate relations between how many police we have and how many folks you have? Yes, yes. What we figured out

[00:49:01] when we first came on board right is that the police department had been growing year by year by year and the commonwealth attorney's office hadn't been growing and that just created this compression or or delta that we had to really work hard to overcome and the police department is still growing the population is still growing and you know as long as that keeps continuing to occur, I would love to see some sort of staffing plan that ties our office to the police departments,

[00:49:40] right? When they're growing, we should be growing. Because they do a lot of hard work. They investigate a lot of crimes. And, you know, there's a difference between reacting to calls that are coming in and proactively going out and investigating. And so as that shift happens, you still need prosecutors all along the way and prosecutors need admin staff appreciate that because i as you just said we've basically almost every year suddenly we've been most of us have been in office we've given them more positions i know that here and there some of those positions

[00:50:16] were smaller and we gave we shifted uh uniform positions to admin positions but the last couple of budget cycles we've definitely given them more and to your point that means there's more folks collecting evidence to give to your folks and working in that collaboration so i wanted to highlight that. My second question is, last time we all met, you know, as the county exec was saying before, we met with your compatriots in the sheriff's department, the clerk of court, but we also recognized in support of the creation of the Greater Prince William Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. Can you talk a little bit about how your team interacts with that initiative?

[00:50:52] Right. So that initiative came out, and I think it is an absolute fabulous initiative, right? You're most likely to be murdered by your drug dealer or your domestic partner. That's the fact of life.

[00:51:07] And so the more we can get into those domestic fatalities and figure out where we could have intervened to prevent that is invaluable for this county. But I will admit when that email first came through, my thought was, who am I going to put on this?

[00:51:26] Like we are just, it's a struggle. And so I was able to sign off on the agreement and say we will be there once we let everyone know, like, we can't administer this. We can jump in when there's something that happens.

[00:51:44] But our domestic violence team is, I worry about them. They are, there's a lot that's the crux to the case. And as we come into November, December, January, those numbers increase. And I wanted to highlight that, too, because I know you were supportive.

[00:52:01] I obviously wanted you to get a chance to say that, but that also means that your team plays a role. And as we roll that out and we hopefully expand that program, there's obviously, again, a role for your team to play. So I appreciate that. My last sort of commentary isn't much a question, but a comment on one, thank you for the good news around the behavioral health docket.

[00:52:23] That's, as you said, that's one that right now our justice system isn't great at sort of handling that balance of people need to be held accountable. but they also have in some cases long decades long untreated behavioral health issues trauma all these other things that frankly we can't just throw them in jail because one that's not a good service to them but two it increases recidivism we don't wrap that around with services to help treat the underlying need on why they may have acted in an unjust way to begin with so I wanted to say thank you for that and as soon as as much as we can continue to lean into that and please come to us for support on that i think we're all doing our constituents justice with that thank you

[00:53:01] so much yes thank you i'm very excited about that it's it's going to be a boon to this county all right thank you in front of supervisor angry thank you madam chair uh miss ashford i love this slide here but slide 16 i just want to uh advocate for uh extremely because of the dockets and so as you know we are huge fans of what this county and the courts have been able to do with the veterans docket with the recovery court docket we're hearing about the behavioral health docket now if you say those need more positions and i've heard from the dockets that they do

[00:53:39] yeah i think this is something that we definitely in addition to everything else you've said our need to support so i just want to go on record of stating that and i'm very impressed and proud of how our docket courts have been moving so yeah thank you all right i just have some questions because i know last year trying to find the money for a lot of things was tough and you had mentioned that at the time that there may be some things that you were going to work on the police uh we work with the police there may be some what i believe it was class one and class two misdemeanors are you how is that working out so because we've brought the staffing up to close

[00:54:17] to what it should be. We really have just picked up the, you know, we had to back out a little bit of some of those misdemeanors. But I, you know, for the first time, once those four attorneys got sworn in, right, and we were up, I think, like 58 attorneys, it was like, suddenly we have people

[00:54:51] to man those dockets. And so the nine o'clock, which is the kind of easy misdemeanor traffic docket, I've been able to put attorneys on, which I've heard the police appreciate, the attorneys appreciate because they're kind of weeding through cases and moving them through faster and more efficiently. So it's really, it's improved greatly. And that's all due to the board providing those needed positions no thank you so much because i just wanted clarity on that um and how is the

[00:55:30] um because we talked about this i'm trying to think um what's the word how is the environment of the office how are people feeling are you seeing higher turnover because of staffing shortages or are you able to manage right now it's gotten it's gotten a lot better from where it was i mean when we first started this we were in critical need and we were losing people frequently really good people that just were burning out other jurisdictions were able to poach from us very easily because they're like you don't have to do your administrative work we'll do that for you

[00:56:09] I think it's now gotten much better people the the losses that we have now are people we're losing to private practice because they can make more money but prosecution is really a calling it is you know you're not going to make big money but you're going to try cases and really care passionately about your cases and so that's what we try to cultivate this young man in this picture had been one of our interns and so we have a number of people that go through our intern program and

[00:56:48] we can suss out that they really are devoted to prosecution. So it's exciting. Now, the reason why I sometimes ask some of those, or I want to get into some of those questions is obviously, you know, people have mentioned it, we're hiring more police, but, you know, what does it look like within the Commonwealth's attorney's office?

[00:57:07] And safe and secure community, making sure that we invest in public safety obviously does include your office. I don't know if anyone else has any other questions, but if not, thank you so very much for coming. And for sharing all this information with us, you know, there's a lot to think about.

[00:57:23] But, you know, we want to make sure that we're giving you the support that you need and that we're able to keep talent. That's always a concern for mine because, you know, the public sector does pay more. And keeping people in public service can be difficult. Yes.

[00:57:39] I try to keep track of what the pay is in other jurisdictions and make sure that we can keep our people at that level. And I think we've done pretty well. I haven't heard that as a complaint. We haven't lost any or many to other Commonwealth attorneys' offices, so that's good.

[00:57:59] Gotcha. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, members of the board, and again, Commonwealth Attorney Ashworth, thank you for being here. Next, we'll have for item 10B, Madam Chair, the planning office, Director Tanya Washington and her team will be bringing forward a resolution for the board's consideration of CPA related to Sadler Place.

[00:58:26] Director Washington. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board. Tanya Washington, Director of the Planning Office. We are here to request initiation for a comprehensive plan amendment related to Sadler Place in a Brentsville district.

[00:58:44] Ahmad Bazar from our countywide planning team will lead the presentation. Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the board. Ahmad Bazar with Planning Office presenting you our finding, analysis, and recommendation regarding the CPA 2026-0001 stat lab place.

[00:59:11] So this is a request to change the long-range land use designation for approximately 5-acre property from industrial I3 to mixed-use MU3. This request has an accompanying rezoning, which seeks to rezone the parcel from general business to planned mixed residential.

[00:59:33] The parcel is located approximately 1,000 feet to the northeast intersection of the Knoxville Road and Linton Hall Road. So as you see on the picture here, the existing long-range land use designation is I3 and the requesters proposed is the MU3.

[00:59:57] The existing zoning designation is, as I mentioned, general business, and the proposed rezoning is the planned mixed residential to allow residential dwelling units approximately 181 units, which is included in the rezoning application.

[01:00:18] As we see the demographic changes as a result of this request, we see a moderate decrease in overall density. And we see addition of the dwelling units, which indicates that if the CPA gets approved by the board, this area will have a transition from an employment-oriented nature to a residential one.

[01:00:48] It's also located within the Bristol Activity Center. The activity centers usually advocate for mixed-use walkable development and improved connectivity and also diverse housing stock as you see here to the eastern and northeastern boundary of this activity center we have a park and open space which act like as a natural buffer between the industrial uses and mixed uses however the industrial abatting the mixed use after our preliminary analysis does not represent an ideal transition however that's something we will

[01:01:28] focus after the findings of this CPA analysis once we have the in-depth analysis of this this requested CPA plus its accompanying rezoning we will analyze a further study is needed and there is a merit in doing a broader analysis which is obviously will be at the direction of the board and also will be addressed in a separate CPA so after the preliminary analysis staff recommends initiating this comprehensive plan amendment to allow a focused analysis of the

[01:02:06] request and have an in-depth assessment of the application and and it's accompanying rezoning it worth mentioning that this initiation does not result in any outcome it just allows us to further study the application and also process the rezoning application with that i will include my presentation and open the floor for any question you may have thank you all right thank you so much well i'm waiting for people to jump in the queue i did have a question and i know that my colleague

[01:02:41] supervisor gordy has answered this but i just want to go on the record there are there is proposed routes power lines routes that are going through this property there are people who feel and have encouraged the board to vote this down because they feel if it goes through that means the power routes the Dominion lines are going to take a different route one through their community can someone speak to that question thank you madam chair members of the board my name is David McGettigan from the planning office the long-range land use change would have

[01:03:17] no effect on any choice of routes for any transmission lines that Dominion is proposing all right thank you I just wanted that stated from one of our professionals you know for the record supervisor gordy thank you madam chair and i want to thank our planning staff for um working on this and you know as we think about this bristo activity center and as we think about you know we've had a couple of we had one recent case that we denied because we really wanted to use this as an activated space for uh as a true activity center um and i really appreciate the you

[01:03:55] know how how you talked about the walkability and the connectivity to the parks and open spacing looking for that right type of development in this area that's going to create the right kind of buffer but the connections and the linkages between you we've got the commercial at the bristow shopping center and then potentially some residential some health care facilities potentially on the corner and but then being able to keep that connectivity going to the parks and open space along the broad run linear park um and so i i'm looking forward to uh the conversations

[01:04:33] um now are you planning to have uh like community meetings as part of this cpa so the community in this area can come and speak to the um uh to to this cpa i think typically with cpas we have not necessarily scheduled community meetings however because there is a related rezoning application um the planning office already has guidelines to land use applicants when they're doing rezoning applications special use permits etc to conduct community engagement uh for their proposals prior to public hearing so there should be opportunities for the community to weigh in um through those

[01:05:12] venues all right thank you very much i'm sure that's all i have thank you does anyone else have any questions we're a very quiet group today but i'm not complaining all right supervisor gordy would you like to do the honors i'm chair i move uh 10b second it's been properly moved a second and is there any discussion supervisor bode yeah thank you madam chair and wanted to save my sort of comments because it wasn't a question one one thank the the planning staff for working on this too one of the things to brother gordy for his vision on really working through this activity

[01:05:48] center because as you said we really want activity centers to be just that right we're places where there's activity you know especially when you consider a major corridor like that stretch of 28 you just go farther down a little bit more and there's the other shopping center there's a target and these other things other residences that are farther back behind there and we talked about during that case that you mentioned uh that night a couple months ago but really thinking about how we can make these corridors and these activity centers more lively more attractive more able to have actual life there versus people just driving by buildings and and not really knowing and seeing what's going on there so really wanted to commend that i'm really looking forward to it sounds like

[01:06:27] There's going to be a sort of a step to this that once this goes through, there'll be an in-depth look at the rest of the long-range land use designation just to the east of this as well as you go farther down the corridor. We're looking forward to seeing how that bears fruit, and I'll be supporting this, of course. Thank you, Madam Chair. All right.

[01:06:44] Does anyone else have anything? Because I don't see anything. So I'd like to just go ahead and call for the vote. Motion passes five to one. Supervisor Stewart voting nay.

[01:07:01] All right. Thank you very much. I still have someone in the queue, but that was, you had already spoken. All right. So, Mr. Shorter. All right. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. With item 10C, I'm going to be asking that our Director, Joni Duckett, for Housing and Community Development come forward.

[01:07:23] Madam Chair, members of the board, as you all know, we have been working quite diligently for some time, and the board has committed over $30 million between now and FY29 to an affordable housing fund.

[01:07:41] What we are presenting here is the guidelines and procedures associated with that fund. I want to thank Director Duckett and her team for all the work that they have done up to this point. And with that, Madam Chair, I will turn it over to Director Duckett. Thank you.

[01:07:57] Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Board of County Supervisors, Joni Duckett, Office of Housing and Community Development. So this has been a long time in the process, and we are closer than ever to the establishment and the implementation of the Affordable Housing Fund.

[01:08:15] This first slide is just a quick overview of the Affordable Dwelling Unit Ordinance. It includes the what, the who, and the how. As you're aware, you all, as the Board of County Supervisors, have adopted this ordinance on June 3rd, With an effective date of December 1, 2025.

[01:08:37] And after much hard work and collaboration between many agencies, especially planning development services in our office, we are here today. What is the mission and the goals of the Affordable Dwelling Unit Ordinance?

[01:08:54] It is to support the creation, availability, and long-term viability of affordable housing options within the community. The goal is supporting and encouraging the development of a range of housing choices that meet the needs of households across different income levels.

[01:09:14] Collaborating with the development community and key industry stakeholders to increase affordable housing opportunities. Assisting in the preservation and continued existence of affordable dwelling units for years to come, ensuring long-term affordability and stability.

[01:09:32] The affordable dwelling unit is a residential dwelling that is affordable to households with incomes at or below the identified area median income, or we reference that as AMI, and to be occupied by residents who meet the income qualifications defined under the affordable dwelling unit program.

[01:09:53] There are two types of housing programs. One is for the purchase of affordable dwelling units that provides affordable homeownership opportunities and then providing affordable rental housing opportunities.

[01:10:12] The income limits for the program will be determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. These income limits are updated annually, and the Affordable Dwelling Unit Program will provide these services to the households up to 50% of AMI that are identified as very low income, and then up to 80% that is identified as low income.

[01:10:38] The Affordable Dwelling Unit Framework allows for the creation of an Affordable Housing Fund. The Housing Fund will serve as a dedicated resource to support affordable housing initiatives, and the Office of Housing and Community Development will be the responsible party for administering the Affordable Housing Fund.

[01:11:00] The Affordable Housing Fund is the primary focus of the presentation that I'll be providing to you today. So the Affordable Housing Fund is designed to provide flexible gap financing for the development projects that will increase or preserve the supply of affordable housing units within the county.

[01:11:22] Many affordable housing projects face significant financial challenges due to limited revenues, capped rents, and rising development costs. The Affordable Housing Fund will help address these challenges by filling critical funding gaps that traditional lenders or investors cannot cover.

[01:11:42] It will help support the financial viability of the affordable housing developments, reduce the developer borrowing costs by providing more favorable financing terms, streamline the support through an accessible local funding mechanism.

[01:11:59] Overall, the Affordable Housing Fund will enable the county to expand and sustain affordable housing opportunities for the very low and low-income households. The Affordable Housing Fund may be accessed by development partners to include both for-profit developers and non-profit developers.

[01:12:22] These partners may apply for financing to support new construction, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable housing units. As I previously stated, the income range will be and will support for both for sale and rental will be up to 50% of AMI and up to 80% of AMI.

[01:12:44] These income limits ensure that the Affordable Housing Fund targets the households most affected by the affordability challenges of housing. The affordable housing funding will be offered at a low-interest repayable loan designed to close the gap between total project costs and available funding from the traditional lending sources or private investment parties.

[01:13:09] This gap financing is essential because affordable housing must keep rents and sales prices within the funding limits and levels, which can limit projected revenues for the developer. The Affordable Housing Fund's low-interest financing will help improve project feasibility, reduce long-term debt burden, encourage more developers to build or preserve affordable units.

[01:13:37] I especially want to thank the Board of County Supervisors as you have demonstrated your strong support for this fund. Currently, the Affordable Housing Fund has $16 million available for financing of eligible projects, with an annual contribution of $5 million beginning in FY 2027, which will, by fiscal year 2029, provide $31 million to the fund.

[01:14:05] This substantial investment reflects the county's commitment to expanding affordable housing options, supporting our developers, and meeting the community housing needs. For the Affordable Housing Fund, several types of projects can be considered for funding as eligible uses.

[01:14:26] These include, but are not limited to the following, multifamily developments, which is often financed through federal state tax credit programs such as Virginia Housing Income Housing Tax Credit, or LIHTC as we reference it. In exchange for receiving tax credits, developers must provide affordable units.

[01:14:47] Tenants in the LIHTC-supported projects must meet income eligibility requirements for these designated units. This same income eligibility standards will apply to the affordable units that are supported by the Affordable Housing Fund.

[01:15:03] There's acquisition of affordable units. This includes the purchase of below-market affordable housing in order to preserve long-term affordability, as well as the acquisition of rental properties that may be at risk of conversion to market-rate housing.

[01:15:22] Acquisition may also be directly tied to the construction or rehabilitation of affordable rental and homeownership units. Construction of affordable units. This support may be provided for the development of new affordable housing units.

[01:15:38] And then projects involving rehabilitation, renovation, and substantial improvement of existing affordable housing units is also an eligible project. Eligible uses of the fund include the dollars must support activities directly related to creating or preserving affordable housing in the county.

[01:16:06] These include construction, rehabilitation, preservation, new construction of affordable rental or owner occupied units, rehabilitation of existing housing to maintain that affordability, and preservation that will protect the long-term affordability.

[01:16:26] related housing costs, costs that directly support the development and rehabilitation of affordable units, expenses necessary to ensure the housing is safe, functional, and compliant with code requirements, and projects directly tied to producing or maintaining income-restricted units.

[01:16:50] All funding must be used subject to acceptable administrative and management procedures. The purpose of this is to maximize impact and ensure funds are restricted to allowable uses aimed at the increasing and preserving of affordable housing.

[01:17:09] Non-eligible uses include routine day-to-day operating expenses of an organization, staff salaries unrelated to the specific construction or rehab activity, social services, any services provided to residents or communities such as counseling, education, or case management, general project reserves.

[01:17:43] The exception is if the reserves is specifically required by Virginia Housing or HUD financing. Any contingencies, such as hard cost contingencies or soft cost contingencies, we anticipate that our developers, by the time we go through the training and work with them and they work with us, that they will provide accurate and fully formed budgets.

[01:18:07] Developer fees or builder's profits are not eligible. Brokerage fees, legal or accounting fees tied to syndication activities are not eligible. Construction management fees, which can run between 3% to 15% of a project cost.

[01:18:24] These are not allowable under the fund's resources. Development or financing consultant fees, fees for services not directly related to the project. And funding guarantees or reserve accounts, fees required by lenders or investors that are part of the project.

[01:18:42] Any costs for units that will not be deemed affordable but will be sold at a market rate or rented at a market rate. And any lending fees such as loan origination, construction loan interest, or any bridge loan expenses that may be necessary.

[01:19:04] In a summary, the purpose of the affordable housing loan. The loan will function, as I have said, as a gap financing for developers who will include affordable units within their housing developments. The loan applicants must demonstrate that all funding sources are already secured, committed, and ready to go.

[01:19:25] They may come from a variety of programs, other vote programs, and funding sources. The affordability period must be no less than 15 years and no more than 50 years, or until the loan is fully repaid, whichever is the later.

[01:19:43] Both rent and mortgage affordability restrictions will apply to all designated affordable units to ensure that they are kept for long-term affordability. The Affordable Housing Fund loan may not exceed 20% of the total non-county funding for the development costs of the housing project.

[01:20:06] The standard maximum loan per affordable unit will be $75,000. A higher loan amount may be considered for projects that will serve households with incomes for those that are extremely low, and that would be at 30% or below or below 50%.

[01:20:25] The loan repayment will be, the loan will be repaid according to the approved terms and may not exceed the full affordability period. If the loan is paid early, the affordability period will remain on the property for the full original term.

[01:20:48] This slide represents the funding terms of the Affordable Housing Fund. The loan will have a fixed simple interest rate based on the current 10-year Treasury bill rate at the time of closing or settlement.

[01:21:06] The loan will be paid back over no more than 30 years, plus one extra year after closing or settlement of the liens, allowing for construction, rehabilitation, or renovation. The repayment term cannot be longer than the project's required affordability period, And once approved, the loan commitment period will be for three years.

[01:21:31] If the applicant does not close the county loan within those three years, the funds may then be provided to another project. If the loan does not close in time, the applicant can apply again only in a future funding cycle using the same project application and, of course, based on funding availability.

[01:21:53] When there is financing using LIHTC or the HUD funding programs, affordability programs, they must provide a plan that will explain how and when the limited partners will exit the project and any expected changes in ownership.

[01:22:17] Is there going to be planned refinancing or resyndication or sale to another anticipated party? They must determine and explain how will the project remain affordable for the extended affordability period, as the LIHTC and the HUD financing do not require the lengthier term of affordability.

[01:22:42] What steps will be taken to ensure that any future ownership transfers will follow the Affordable Housing Fund guidelines and will always protect the program's interests? There will be an annual competitive application process through a Notice of Availability or NOFA.

[01:23:06] The Office of Housing and Community Development, through the Affordable Dwelling Unit Division, staff will first review all applications to ensure that they are complete and meet the initial eligibility requirements of the program.

[01:23:26] An interdepartmental housing application review team led by the Office of Housing will then evaluate, discuss, and score the applications based on the board-approved criteria. The team at this point will include representatives from our office, the Department of Planning, Office of Management and Budget, Department of Finance, Department of Development Services, and additionally, the county attorney's office will be consulted as needed.

[01:23:57] All funding decisions will be based on the merits of each loan application. Applications will be scored according to the Affordable Housing Fund guidelines and the terms outlined in the NOFA, as well as the availability of funding resources through the program.

[01:24:19] To streamline the process, the Office of Housing is introducing a calendar year 2026 timeline for the Affordable Housing application and review process. The projected timeline is as follows.

[01:24:37] We have decided to have two meetings instead of one pre-application meeting. In January of 2026, OHCD will host the initial introduction meeting with the developers or interested applicants to go over the requirements, initial requirements, timelines, and provide some guidance on the application process.

[01:25:03] Developers will be able to ask questions, raise issues for discussion with OHCD and the housing staff, and we feel this time will allow us to learn from the developers as well. Then the meeting on March 26th at this time will be the process where the pre-application meeting will take place, where everyone has been introduced to the process and any follow-up questions or necessary processes needed at that time.

[01:25:34] On May 1, we anticipate releasing our first NOFA. It will be released and applicants will have 90 days to prepare and submit applications, which will be due August 1, 2026 by 5 p.m.

[01:25:51] Then in October of 2026, our office will then take the recommendations for the projects that have completed the eligibility and submitted review process, and we'll take that to the Housing Board for endorsement.

[01:26:09] And then in December of 2026, the funding decision or the final decision to be made and brought to the Board of County Supervisors. Each applicant is evaluated on how well the proposed project meets the goals of the program.

[01:26:34] For example, creating or preserving affordable housing, serving a targeted population, financial feasibility and readiness. The merits include qualitative and quantitative strengths of their applications. Applications may be approved for loans for less than the amount requested, and when there may be several projects that apply, scores will be used to compare them with each other.

[01:27:01] Applications receive the highest consideration when they show that the project will produce, preserve, and improve the largest number of high-quality affordable housing units, especially for the households with the greatest need. Projects are also ideal when they do this in a financially sustainable way and meet the applicable affordable dwelling unit ordinance requirements, which is what governs our housing trust, our housing fund.

[01:27:30] We have a scoring criteria that has been provided. This slide is a quick overview of the scoring criteria, which is crucial for our office to ensure that the funding through the Affordable Housing Fund is being allocated effectively and equitably.

[01:27:54] It is based on both the local needs, the priorities, and the program guidelines. This scoring criteria also will provide a transparent and consistent method for accountability for our department and the other departments to evaluate the applications, as well as a guideline for us to make sure the applications being submitted for final approval align with both the Affordable Dwelling Unit Ordinance and the Affordable Housing Fund Guidelines.

[01:28:24] The maximum points that any applicant can receive is 210. Section 1 is based on the housing needs. That is 65 points or equals 31% of the total.

[01:28:43] The next one is the project characteristics. That is 50 points and represents 24% of the scoring criteria. Section 3 surrounds the project readiness. It is 28 points and represents 13%.

[01:28:59] Then we look at the experience of the applicant. That is 32 points, or represents 15%. And then their budget and leverage of funding, maximum of 35 points, which represents 17%.

[01:29:15] There is no minimum score, only a maximum score in this criteria. Can't recognize me there. So this next is exciting news for what we've been working on.

[01:29:32] And our office has been working on creating essential webpages and processes for both the committed affordable rental and for sale units. We call them committed as we reference the proffered affordable units.

[01:29:48] As you are aware, the proffered or committed units has been an area where standard language, accurate data on these units, including the housing types being offered, the number of housing units available, the intended income limits to be served, has all been something that the Board of County Supervisors has inquired about for some time.

[01:30:12] The Office of Housing now will be able to provide this data, participate in greater collaboration with the developers, and have information available directly to the community. These sites will include the ability to check the availability of rental and for-sale units have access to the most current income guidelines, and any additional resources for both prospective and current renters, and provide important educational information. The affordable housing

[01:30:46] link from our main webpage, landing page, will take you to the Prince William County Affordable Housing Programs page. This page has two sections. The first two tabs with information about the rental and the for sale committed units.

[01:31:03] Remember, the committed units are the proffered units. Each tab in this section will have a brief description of what the program entails. It will also provide an explanation that Prince William County does not own or operate these units.

[01:31:19] That's very important information for the community. Clicking on here for more information will take you to another page where prospective tenants and buyers can see a list of participating apartment complexes, units for sale, links to resources, and how to apply for the programs. The second section has two tabs as they relate to the affordable dwelling unit for rent and for sale programs and will provide a description of the

[01:31:49] programs, again the AMI served, and the methods for applying. Clicking on the committed affordable rental units will take you here where interested parties will be able to see a list of apartment complexes that offer committed affordable units. Prospective tenants will need to contact the property management companies directly to inquire about the unit availability and their application processes as each one of the apartment complexes have different procedures and requirements.

[01:32:25] This page will also include income limits, community resources from different community organizations such as the Prince William County Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia Housing. These agencies offer free of charge one-on-one counseling for financial fitness seminars, budgeting, first-time homebuyer education, and also have information on homeownership grants, among other services. Slide 16, this page contains links to the income limits and

[01:33:03] resources for prospective buyers of our affordable dwelling units. This will also include a list of the for sale units with a link to an information sheet for each unit and a link for eligible applicants to enter a drawing or a lottery to purchase a unit. I'll get to that in a minute.

[01:33:30] Here you will see the steps to apply to purchase an affordable dwelling unit. Registration for an orientation where we will discuss with the potential homeowners the responsibilities along with the affordability requirements of becoming a homeowner. Obtain a pre-approved loan letter from a lender. That letter will indicate the ability, the purchasing buyer's ability to purchase a home.

[01:34:06] Therefore, when the properties come up, we will know who to let know that those properties are available and that's when the lottery comes in. Attend voluntary housing counseling and there will be three ways to apply. Online we are working with our software company now. There will be an online portal. They will be able to apply via email or through the traditional mail system. We will also have staff. Our staff will be available to assist with anyone that needs a reasonable accommodation

[01:34:39] or is having difficulty in applying or providing the information. These web pages will allow potential buyers to browse through the available affordable dwelling units, and then they will be able to apply for drawing for those units. They would visit those units, talk with the sales reps there to determine their final eligibility for the available units. And this just gives you an idea of what the for sale properties would look like, where the information would be given

[01:35:16] so that they can see the purchase price, features, or amenities of the units, where they're located, HOA fees or condo fees for that final qualification, as well as the AMI that would be served for those particular properties.

[01:35:36] There will be a link from OHCD's landing page for housing developers that will take them to this particular page where they can apply. We'll get a brief description of the Affordable Housing Fund, shouldn't have trust, of the program.

[01:35:56] It will have tabs with information about eligibility, how to apply, pre-application registration, what the checklist looks like, and any links to resources that we have available for the developers applying. Once all of the programs are in full swing, OHCD will also include a dashboard on our webpage that will provide data, funding availability for program outcomes, the projects that we are serving, the AMIs that are being served, number of people, households, and the locations of the projects.

[01:36:36] Before I conclude my presentation, I would like to offer an additional statement to the Board of Supervisors for your consideration. Our office has been in conversation with and also received an email notification that was sent to each one of you as the board members from Supervisor Vody.

[01:36:58] This correspondence outlined both the support, and we thank you for the Affordable Housing Fund, as well as a request for additional clarity regarding the scoring criteria presented this afternoon to you. It also requested consideration to the administrative process by which county staff would be responsible for reviewing, evaluating, scoring, and approval of funding for eligible loan applications, which would be in line with the final board-approved affordable housing fund policies and guidelines.

[01:37:36] I want to assure the board that the Office of Housing is prepared to move forward with whatever decision the board makes, Whether that means proceeding today with the policies as provided and presented to you, or whether that means delaying the approval to allow for additional time for the Office of Housing to research and discuss the recent scoring revisions with Loudoun County, as well as the administrative changes with the county attorney.

[01:38:06] Our office, in all sincerity, is grateful for the opportunity to implement this affordable housing program, regardless of today's decision. Staff is committed to contributing to the positive impact and the benefits this program will bring to our communities.

[01:38:28] It will promote housing stability and support affordable housing opportunities. We recognize the importance of these initiatives for community vitality, and we remain dedicated to ensuring the success of this program, regardless of the situation.

[01:38:45] Thank you. Questions? No questions. All right. Thank you so very much. No questions. You all were really silent. No questions. I'm sorry to break your heart. Before I go over to Supervisor Bodie, I just had a quick question.

[01:39:04] Because you're talking about having the website and people can be able to enter a lottery. But what about the units that are available that haven't used county funding? Because we have a lot of developers who are setting aside affordable units.

[01:39:21] Are you, is this office, is your team going to be able to help market those? Because there are developers who have said that we have these affordable units available, but we need help making them public. Is that something you're going to be able to explain? So are you referring to the proffered units? Yes. That's the committed units that we're talking about.

[01:39:38] And yes, that was the slide. We will have those committed units on the website, working with the developers, getting a link to their site so that we know these units are available in phase one or phase two or whatever. These are the unit numbers. This is the amenities that go with them. And yes, that is our goal. Thank you. Supervisor Bodie, then Franklin. Thank you, Madam Chair. And first, I'll start with the flowers. I see you tensing up there, Joni. Why don't I start with the flowers? I want to give you flowers. We give Elijah flowers, the planning team as well, and Supervisor Franklin, of course, who gave the directive for the Affordable Housing Fund, what, five years ago at this point?

[01:40:16] but who's counting right but i wanted to highlight that and celebrate that that we are so close now to getting there it's something frankly that other jurisdictions have had for years longer than us and it's really paid dividends in them actually delivering committed housing for folks who who really need these set limits on on their housing so we wanted to to start by celebrating how far we've come celebrate all the work that's been done um to get us to this point um i did have some questions some of them are going to speak to what you just said joni which is you know you spoke to

[01:40:50] of other jurisdictions that have revised their their uh their policies the one one that i know i mentioned before is loud and understanding that we adopted our dwelling ordinance on june 3rd and they revised their housing fund guidelines literally two weeks after that in the middle of june um so you obviously have not had a chance to really dig into that with them what have you what does it look like moving forward if we give you directional approval to engage with them on those policies we will do whatever the board decides to do that's fair i appreciate that you also mentioned in your commentary there joanie the the idea of going to administrative approval

[01:41:28] instead of having it come from through the housing board and of course the board of stewards can you talk about how how or why you guys opted to go through the housing board for endorsement coming the board versus having an administrative process so the housing board is the advisory committee for the office of housing so we take all projects and housing related information to them they are the board that makes the decisions for our housing choice voucher programs they only endorse programs that are taken to them through our community planning and development

[01:42:06] and they are active in our department so therefore we would take it to them for endorsement they either endorse or they don't it doesn't stop the train um and we would look at why they don't endorse it but by that point we would have done our due diligence and it should be endorsed sure appreciate that um in terms of the scoring because you have your slide up sort of generalized buckets of scoring i know that the the draft version of the policy you shared with us a couple months ago go more granular than that um can you talk a little bit about you know the methodology you used obviously you looked at other jurisdictions you had members you had

[01:42:45] meetings with all the board members can you talk about the weighting and what how you landed on the the percentage of the both the points and percentages for each bucket we had a lot of discussion and and listening to your staff and to the other board um member staff um and their comments and put these into these buckets that the housing needs the characteristics and the readiness and experience budget is all and all important obviously we worked with the consultant and as you said this scoring criteria was in place the majority of it we removed some we added some

[01:43:22] um was in place with loudon county but as i mentioned we're we're just starting this So we took this information, we discussed it with the consultant over and over, we discussed it with you all, and in going back and looking, Loudoun County just did this, but this is the fifth revision that Loudoun County has made to their scoring criteria.

[01:43:49] So it's a work in progress. It is definitely a work in progress. And it is important to us that we get it right the first time. Their scoring criteria, I've read it, they condensed it.

[01:44:04] They didn't change everything. They just condensed some of it. So they know what they're doing. They've done this for many years. This is new for us, and we all want to make sure that we get this right.

[01:44:20] And the projects that we bring before the board or approved, however, are good projects, good for the community, serve the population we want, and do what this trust fund is supposed to do. Appreciate that. And I did have some other questions, but I only have 30 seconds left, so I'll pause and wait.

[01:44:37] There's no one else in queue. Oh, good. I tried. I want the record to show that I tried to shut up for a little while, but apparently no one else has any questions. I'm almost done, Joni, but I appreciate the work. I appreciate your answers. So a couple more questions that I had asked you and Elijah in our one-on-one, but I wanted folks to know because this is a really important part of policy.

[01:44:59] And as you said, you know, this is our first time doing it. We have, as you said, we're the first locality in Virginia to avail ourselves of this through 2305.1, exactly right. And so I know that we have some differences there, but I wanted to talk through it because this is the whole point of us sort of talking through this today.

[01:45:22] So I know that some of the other considerations that other folks look at is a line for grants instead of just loans, as an example, off-cycle applications. So you have a very strict calendar, and I know that coming out of the gate, we kind of need some structure there as opposed to just being a free-for-all.

[01:45:39] We'll want to talk about off-cycle applications as well, community land trusts, and other things that I know are in some other jurisdictions' policies that allow for more flexibility around these things. So, again, grants, off-cycle applications, can be land trusts and other things.

[01:45:55] Could you talk to those and why some of those were sort of peeled out from what we can do and sort of what the consideration was there? So we did listen to you. I appreciate that. Okay. We did listen to you. If you notice, we did put in the policy for future consideration for the use of the funds.

[01:46:16] The land trust, the shared equity, and rent and buy-down rental assistance programs, it all comes around funding, right? It, it comes around funding to be able to do these, um, land trusts. I'm not educated on the land trust. So I kind of wanted to, uh, we wanted to do this first and put this in for consideration later. I appreciate that. The last thing I'll just say on that is thank you for listening to me. I appreciate that. But I, you know, as we adopt this, I know there's a balance point between not wanting to take on too much since we've never done this before but also wanting to speak to the fact that there are other

[01:46:55] possibilities and that we shouldn't necessarily have funding be that that that you know that constraint on us because we've committed X number of dollars already said we're about 16 16 and a half million 16 million now with 30 in the long run well hopefully you know this is just me one-eighth of this board more in the future because we know that that money as soon as people get through a flow and a cadence will likely begin to be eroded very quickly And I don't want us to be in a culture where we're afraid because we don't have the funding right now.

[01:47:29] I'd much rather us put a policy out there to show people what we can do. And as we get demand, as we have conversations with folks, as we get projects in the door that apply for funding, have a proof of concept to show that, hey, there's a real need here, and there's people out there willing to partner with us to deliver real housing solutions for the community.

[01:47:47] And that since that demand is there, that'll build a proof of concept to then go back to the taxer and say, look, this is working. This is why we need more of our taxpayer dollars going to this in the budget process. So I just wanted to say that because I know there's a balance, but I don't want us to be confined by the restrictions of today as opposed to looking to tomorrow with what we really want to do with this.

[01:48:09] Thank you, Madam Chair. All right. I still don't have any other speakers. I don't know. Are you okay? Gordy. You've got to be bipartisan and driving you crazy today. John, so to go to what Supervisor Bodie was just talking about, I want to talk about the management of the funds within the fund.

[01:48:32] So as the money is sitting there, is it going to be managed in like an interest-bearing account so it has its own natural growth? And then as it's borrowed out or lent out, the interest that comes back, you know, that continues to help build the fund for future growth.

[01:48:50] So it actually sort of becomes, it helps create its own growth over time. Right. I can't answer the first part of that. I can answer the second part of that. And that is the simple interest tied to the 10-year Treasury bill rate that will be repaid by the developers.

[01:49:07] That money will go back into the fund. Okay. I don't know what the fund is making, but you do. Eliza Johnson, Deputy County Executive, you're correct. The finance has set up the funds actually in a fund by itself now.

[01:49:23] It will stay in that fund until used. And so the normal interest rates that we collect as the finance department will be applied. Okay, perfect. Thank you. And then is there sort of a – are you sort of setting a limit based on the balance each year on how much you will lend out?

[01:49:44] give you know kind of trying to appropriately manage the fund in terms of maintaining a good balance uh going forward what we haven't set a limit if the board wishes to do that our intent was to make available what's available and see what projects we get in because we know the urgency of getting those projects started and getting funding out there so we were going to use that 16 million initially and then look at what that does and over the next few years how it's coming back and what other sources we can put to it. All right. Excellent. Thank you. That wasn't bad.

[01:50:17] Thank you. I appreciate you. Well, it looks like you survived. I did. You know, thank you so very much again, you and everyone who has worked on this. This is such an important milestone for our county. We talk a lot about housing and we need to make sure that we're making it affordable. You know, I've seen a lot of statistics about the average income that one needs in order to buy a house now homeownership is still very important part of the american dream for a lot of people it's a way to build financial stability um so i appreciate that all the work that has gone into

[01:50:51] this so with that it is time for me what do i do to ask for a motion i'm going to look over i know it's supervisor franklin second all right it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion supervisor franklin actually i pressed that to make the motion but i just want to thank the housing department um for working so diligently over the past a couple of years um and really over the past i would say year um pretty pretty um efficiently and very quickly um to really get

[01:51:30] this uh stood up um i know it took a lot of conversations and you know my favorite saying from you joan is less directives and more direction and and and i heard that loud and clear and i think you've done an excellent job on this she always gets embarrassed when i say that But that's real because our county staff works so hard on a lot of these initiatives.

[01:51:51] And sometimes we really have to do a better job of telling them exactly how we envision some of these programs. And I really do think that our housing department got it right. So I'm sure there will be changes down the road as we learn more and as we experience more.

[01:52:08] This is our first time doing this. But I think we're off to an excellent start. And I just appreciate you and Elijah and all of our other staff who have been working so closely on this. So thank you. Thank you. Supervisor Bode. Thank you. And I hate to seem like I'm contradicting Supervisor Franklin here, but I'm going to give a directive after we adopt it to go and talk to Loudon.

[01:52:31] I just want to give everyone a heads up on that. Because, Joan, you yourself said it, right? Yeah, you knew it was coming, so you're not blindsiding anyone. But, you know, you said it yourself. We want to get this right. We want to give time to, you know, they went through their iterations. To me, we should learn from their mistakes.

[01:52:48] And like you said, they've gone through theirs five times. The most recent one was, again, just two weeks after we adopted the ordinance. So I'd like us to at least begin to endeavor to do that work. But I'll just go back and first say thank you, Joan. Thank you to Elijah. Thank you to everyone else who put work into this. Thank you to Supervisor Franklin, everyone else that got us to this point.

[01:53:07] I know this is an important project for the county to undertake, right? We know there's a housing affordability crisis, not only in this county, in this region, in this Commonwealth, in this country. The medium household price for a detached home in this county right now is $720,000.

[01:53:24] Roughly 50% of the renters in this county are paying more than 30% of their income on rent. We call that income, you know, burdened, right? We are driving away our young people, I know we talked about that, and young professionals because they don't have the opportunity to move into a home they can afford.

[01:53:41] All this comes down to we are not building enough housing or the right type of housing, and the way that we can help begin to do this is through having the trust fund and making sure that the folks that are willing and able to build these homes are able to do so and make it pencil out. We're almost there, and like I said, I'll be supporting us adopting this, but I know there's a little bit more tweaks, and I appreciate you making tweaks based on the conversations that we've had.

[01:54:06] I appreciate you putting more weight into the housing needs because to me, the prime directive on this is more affordable housing, more of those set units that are at certain levels of AMI, because without that, all the other stuff is great to have, energy efficiency, universal design, all these other things are great, but without the affordability, we're really just incentivizing other types of units that really doesn't get at the point of the trust fund. As you said before, Loudoun consolidated a bunch of these things into more sets of buckets. I think we can do that as well as we look at revising this in the future. And I also mentioned, and I appreciate you listening to me, things like

[01:54:43] grants, off-cycle applications, community land trusts, other flexible options as this evolves, as you and your office mature in being able to administer this program and work with developers, giving us as much flexibility as possible to look at what's possible as opposed to the constraints of today.

[01:54:59] So I appreciate that. I also am going to put in a plug and I'll say it through my directive, us going to at least explore the administrative process. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't need to come to the board. We set the policy. We adopt the policy. We can have you all administer the policy without it coming through this other process.

[01:55:17] At the end of the day, we're already behind. And it's unnecessary to have everything come to the board because we, again, are the ones that are already signed off on the policy, the goals, the guidelines, and the scoring and what have you. I also, this board is not currently doing this, but I also worry that in the future you may have a board that decides to politicize the process around this.

[01:55:37] Now, obviously, we trust you and your guidance and your guidelines, everything you have done, but we can't speak for the board that will be sitting in these seats 12, 18, 50 years from now that may decide that they want to go in a different direction on affordable housing and turn into a process that, frankly, does not serve the community well.

[01:55:54] So I, again, want to go back to the idea of us exploring the administration of it. So, again, I want to thank everyone for all the work they've done. say that we're almost there. Obviously, I'll be supporting this, but I will be giving a directive right after we adopt it to have us go back and talk to Loudoun. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[01:56:11] Supervisor Angry? Ms. Duckett, Mr. Johnson, thank you. We are here. Okay, this took a little longer, but we're here, and it's a start point, so I imagine we're going to have some tweaks that we do, but thank you for getting us this far. All right. That was easy. Thank you for being so succinct all right so with that um we have the motion it's been properly seconded unless anyone has anything else let's go ahead and take the vote vote unanimous all right thank you so very

[01:56:50] much we are going to move on i see that you're still a lit supervisor body but would you like to do your directive during supervisor's time i can okay i think that would be best and in fact i'll be kind i will go to you first there you go thank you madam chair i only have a well i shouldn't say only have. I have a couple things. One is that directive, but I just wanted to first wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I know that we had a long holiday weekend. Hope everyone had some time to spend with family, friends, or however folks decide they wanted to spend the long weekend. Also, just wanted to echo what Chair Jefferson said earlier. We know that

[01:57:29] Supervisor Vice Chair Bailey lost her mother over the weekend. I know what that's like. I lost my mother almost a decade ago there's not a a hole or a pain i wish on anyone as losing a parent and i my heart and i hope all of our prayers are with her and her family as she goes through this difficult time um that said i do have a couple of items one was the directive that was first mentioned um i will uh sort of truncate it a little bit because we already talked about so the preamble to this um let me get the directive i'm we're not burning time here doing that

[01:58:04] first while before i do that i did want to hand something out um i haven't done this recently but folks that were on the previous board know that in the past i have uh uh requested to have fast-tracked uh resolutions put on future board meetings to look at specific policy issues i think it's time that we looked at housing frankly as one of those issues um so i'm gonna be passing out for my fellow board members a resolution that i would like to put on the uh the agenda

[01:58:36] for the 16th a housing attainability fast track measures resolution and essentially what it does is it looks at a fair number of different items but looks at the housing aspects of the comprehensive zoning ordinance update as everyone all knows the planning office in the in the process right now of looking at a comprehensive zoning ordinance update for zoning ordinance and embedded in that uh effort is a bunch of areas to look around promoting more housing housing types and really

[01:59:10] helping to modernize our processes around housing um so i think that if we wait until 2027 frankly to do that um we will be missing a huge opportunity to really really move the ball forward quickly on some of these housing issues that we know we've talked about as a board um so i i outlined a bunch of issues on here the reason why i'm not giving that as a directive because frankly there's a lot of them. And it would take me, you know, five or six times of the amount of time that we have during our supervisor's time to give a directive about it. But also, since there are certain specific policy issues that are embedded in a much larger effort, I feel like this is a better

[01:59:47] way to present it. That said, I will quickly shift over to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund

[01:59:53] Directive. Give me one second here. Okay, here we go. All right. My staff and I have recently learned that Loudoun County has updated their housing trust fund policies. I would like to give

[02:00:32] county staff the opportunity to engage with Loudoun County and come back with recommendations based on their conversations and also looking and exploring the ability for us to go administrative. As was said before, talk to folks about this already. I know that my office has also sort of talked to folks about different aspects of the trust fund and areas that I believe we can improve.

[02:00:54] Therefore, without objection, I'd like to direct the county executive to have county staff review Loudoun County's updated trust fund policies and any other applicable documents, discuss it with the appropriate Loudoun County staff, update county staff's policy and guidelines recommendations as they deem appropriate.

[02:01:10] I should also direct them to align with the AFDU ordinance as an administrative process and explore the ability for us to do that as well. any of you out with this score, trust fund policy, loan applications, and other policies as appropriate. The county attorney is also directed to review the updated draft policies and guidelines for any legal concerns or issues. The county executive is directed to schedule in the future an updated trust fund discussion for board consideration sometime in the future. Thank

[02:01:40] you, Madam Chair. All right, Supervisor Franklin. Yeah, just want to, just for clarity, because I know we've had a lot of conversations over the past couple of days. So with the directive, I just want to be clear that the next steps from the directive is simply for county staff whether it's the county attorney as well as our county exec and others will review Loudon's updates and guidelines to their policy and come back to us simply with an update and then we can decide if

[02:02:17] we should move forward with making some of those changes. I just want to be clear about if that's what the directive does i'm fine with the administrative portion so that's because laudan doesn't do it that way so i would i would say 90 of it is what you just said but that administrative piece i think is a key part of it yeah and i think the discussion around making changes to the guidelines i think as long as we're clear that that just depends on what staff comes back and updates on us on so i just want to be clear about that not legislating through the director just having to come back okay thank you anyone else i don't

[02:02:53] Anything else? All right. Thank you so very much. And I'm going to go to Supervisor Stewart. All right. Thank you. So, number one, I do also want to offer my condolences to our Potomac representative, Supervisor Bailey. I also, several years ago, lost my mom to COVID, who was born actually during the Spanish flu, but then ended up dying of COVID.

[02:03:31] and um you know there's again yeah no greater loss than than than a parent um and i i want to wish everybody back a great comeback from thanksgiving if uh you're still in a tryptophan laden coma uh you know you gotta shake it because christmas is upon us um so you know i want i want to talk about some things that have uh speaking about christmas we're having an open house at uh my office in uh gainesville uh next friday from 5 to 8 p.m um it's going to be a great time

[02:04:08] if i do say so myself it's uh my first open house since since taking office and i really expect if you can hear the sound of my voice that to have you be there so um i want to mention that also the town of haymarket is going to be um holding their annual uh christmas bazaar on saturday the 13th that's the day after um uh from 2 to 6 p.m there's going to be uh free photos with santa arts and crafts for kids and musical performances and um so some of the things i also want to talk

[02:04:43] about on the 19th of november there was a meeting that i attended uh with dominion energy and talking about the three lines that they want to run through Gainesville. And I'm really encouraging them to figure out a way to get any one of those lines buried, just to be responsible for that.

[02:05:11] And we'll be following up with them. On the 22nd, there was National Adoption Day that I attended at the courthouse in Manassas. As many of you know, I am myself adopted.

[02:05:28] And it was a very moving event to see these five families give permanent homes to seven children. It was, yeah, these families are the best among us.

[02:05:57] And I am eternally grateful for them and for them stepping up to do something like that. To have any child languish in foster care until they're 18, I think is a disservice to us as a species, really.

[02:06:16] And I'm looking forward to it next year as well. But, yeah, also later that day, I attended Seals on Wheels that was in Gainesville at the Gainesville Library.

[02:06:34] And a very great program, very great vehicle that they have there that really does everything that you need, including marrying folks. So there was a wedding there.

[02:06:50] A couple came up for their license. And I want to give a big shout out to Erica and Jonathan. You know who you are. And many happy years going forward for you. Yeah, and instead of getting their license, they were like, you know what? We'll just do it right now.

[02:07:06] So I wanted to give a shout out to that. And thank you very much. All right, thank you so much. I'm going to go to Supervisor Angry. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. Well, let's see.

[02:07:23] It was a short week. Well, basically, Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. So I'm just going to talk about kind of what's coming up. And the biggest one I'm going to promote, you know, our colleague, Supervisor Vega's Christmas tree lighting this Saturday. So hopefully you can make it there to join that.

[02:07:40] Also, Manassas Christmas Parade, Greater Manassas has their Christmas parade Saturday morning, 9 o'clock. If you've ever done those, they're pretty cool to do. And I think I'll do it for that. Now, my question, I spoke at the last meeting about the directive with the Arts Council.

[02:08:02] I sent that to you guys. Do I need to read that, or is that good just to note that on the 16th, I put that in there, that's when that directive will kind of be read, I guess. I don't know if you saw that. Did I send that to you?

[02:08:18] You did. I was copied, and what I was thinking is that the email that you sent was essentially noticed to the board, and that you would formally enter it on the 16th. Yes. So does that do it without me having to do anything? You can read it on the 16th.

[02:08:35] There we go then. All right. I'm good. Thanks, Madam Chair. All right. Supervisor Franklin. Okay. I just want to highlight a couple of recent events and upcoming events. On the 18th, we had staff at the Ripon Landing Master Homeowners Association where we provided a community update and responded to just questions around what's going on in the community.

[02:09:01] So I just want to thank the HOA for that invitation. On the 19th, I participated in the OmniRide Rider Appreciation Event at the 234 commuter lot. So we met with a bunch of riders hopping off the commuter bus, telling them happy holidays, and also addressing some questions that many of them had as well about some of the routes.

[02:09:25] So thank you to Omni Rye for hosting. On the 20th, myself, along with Supervisor Vega, was a panelist for the Own Your Own Voice public speaking and leadership event sponsored by the Prince William Association of Realtors. So had a very good discussion there about our journey through public service.

[02:09:45] And just want to thank the Association of Realtors for their Women in Business event that hosted this. So thank you. 21st, I participate in the holiday tree lighting event at Stonebridge, and a special thank you to Santa, as well as the Prince William County Fire and Rescue Squad, as well as Stonebridge for hosting.

[02:10:05] I can't remember how many years that's been going on now, but the community loves it, and so I love being part of it. On the 22nd, I also participated in the Holiday Turkey Giveaway, hosted by Delegates Candy King, Luke Torian, and Brianna Sewell, along with, I think, Supervisor Angry was there, and I believe, I don't know if we had any other electeds there, but a lot of community members.

[02:10:30] I just want to thank all the students at Garfield that showed up to help out. I think we gave out 750 turkeys in less than an hour and a half. So I just want to thank the delegates for hosting and inviting us to be part of that. Later that day, I also attended the Prince William Community Foundation turkey giveaway and food giveaway at Freedom High School, hosted by Dr. Vanessa Gaddis, as well as our local Delta Sigma Theta chapter.

[02:10:55] I believe they gave away 500 turkeys within a couple of hours. So a lot of great community events that took place that day. Later that evening, I was very, very honored to attend the installation service for Reverend Dr. Sandra James as the new and first woman pastor at First Mount Zion Baptist Church.

[02:11:17] And so I just want to thank First Mount Zion, thank Pastor James for having us there. I think many of us attended and such a wonderful celebration and historical as well. A couple of upcoming events. On the 4th, I will be participating in the Holiday Walk of Light at the Neabsco Boardwalk, so please join us there.

[02:11:38] We'll also, on the 7th, be attending the graduation ceremony for the two-family clinic training centers sponsored by the Association of Salvadorians United in Virginia. On the 11th, I will participate in the installation of new officers and special award celebration for the Prince William Association of Realtors.

[02:11:56] And on the 12th, I will be hosting our annual, the Woodbridge Annual Senior Holiday Luncheon at the Woodbridge Senior Center. And everyone is invited and look forward to having everyone there. And then also on the 12th, I will be speaking at the 19th anniversary celebration and conference of the Centro de Apallo Familiar, a nonprofit that is HUD-approved housing counseling agency that provides free education, educational workshops, and a wide range of housing counseling services, including pre-purchase assistance, foreclosure prevention, and rental guidance.

[02:12:30] So a lot going on in the month of December, but looking forward to seeing the community at all of these events. So thank you. Thank you. And Supervisor Gordy? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just point out to Supervisor Anger, apparently he's no longer the best anymore, so he's not going to last today.

[02:12:49] So I do want to start by offering my sincerest condolences to Supervisor Bailey. I know the last few years as a caregiver, she's been carrying a huge burden and caring for her mother lovingly and absolutely willingly.

[02:13:10] and we know that this has been a long, hard road, and so we just want to continue to pray for her and her family at this time. A couple of events that I was able to participate in over the past few weeks. First of all, on the 21st of November, I attended the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. It was held at ATCC's facility in Innovation Park, and this commission was a congressionally established commission to look at the security of our biotechnology,

[02:13:45] particularly our pharmaceuticals in our country. And what I think most of us may not realize is that the starter agents for most of our medicines originate in China and that our biotechnology and our pharmaceuticals for our own health and our own well-being and our own security is we've got to find a way as a nation to produce those products here in the U.S.

[02:14:09] And given our proximity to ATCC, our proximity to George Mason University, and all the life sciences and the biosciences, this is a great opportunity for us to look at this as an opportunity from economic development to help grow new business, grow new jobs, but also to help serve a national security concern for our entire nation.

[02:14:33] And so it was a great conversation. I learned a tremendous lot. It scared me a lot, you know, because you had some big brains that were presenting. And so we're hopeful that, you know, from this we can see many benefits locally from those conversations.

[02:14:52] On the 24th, I participate in a walkthrough with some Braemar community leaders to look at the siting of one of the routes for the power lines that's being, as presented by Dominion for the Noakesville-Bristow options. And so if you have not had a chance, I know a few folks have already been out to take a look, and I really appreciate you going. And I know we're going to have some additional conversations about that in the coming weeks. But it's one thing to see it on a you know in two dimension it's another thing to see it in three dimension

[02:15:32] and I certainly encourage if you have an opportunity to visit with the Braymore community to do so on the 25th I also participated in the Victory Lakes Homeowners Association meeting as a former resident of Victory Lakes it was great to be able to go back to our community where my kids grew up and and where we still have many friends and talk about you know transportation challenges speeding on Sudley Manor Road and as well as the power lines and the impacts in their community too.

[02:16:06] Going forward, just want to remind the community on Monday at 6 30 p.m., Chair Jefferson and I will be co-hosting a town hall at the Noakesville Firehouse Community Room in Noakesville and just want to invite the community to come out and join us for that event. That's all I have, Madam Chair.

[02:16:22] Thank you. All right, thank you so very much. I didn't realize how sensitive people are. So today, tom you know you're the best or actually monday on monday when we do that next week when we do that town hall you are the best um so i do encourage people to come out because that's one of the things that is hard for us as elected officials is getting that feedback talking to people and meeting them where they're at you know i have tried um to be more accessible to people to make sure that i'm going to town halls and having different events and their events we have you know five people sometimes we have 50 we have 100 but i am encouraging everyone to come out next

[02:17:00] monday because we have a lot of important discussions and things to talk about in the princeville district and you know i'm talking to my staff and we're starting to plan out events for next year because i want to make sure that i'm hearing from the community and we obviously get the emails we listen to that but it's different than having a face-to-face conversation so i have one notice of intent and that is i would like to announce my notice of intent to appoint sadishna toari to the tourism industry advisory board with a term beginning on january 1st

[02:17:37] 2026 um and that really is it for me i'm going to keep it short thank you everyone for such a good meeting um move to adjourn yeah all right let's go let's do it gordy franklin let's take vote vote unanimous all right i will see everyone we'll see everyone next tuesday thank you so very much

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