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Wusa9

By Jess Arnold

BURKE, Va. — As fentanyl continues to claim young lives, a Fairfax County supervisor is hosting a town hall on its impact on the community.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity is leading the town hall with School Board member Laura Jane Cohen, with the goal of making parents, students and community members aware of just how dangerous fentanyl can be.

Herrity said they will have a panel of experts, including someone living with an addiction.

Last week, the Supervisors chair sent out an update on the impact of opioids in Fairfax County.

He shared that last year, the county saw more than 300 non-fatal overdoses and 45 fatal overdoses, many connected to fentanyl.

The county reports that fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for U.S. adults under 50.

“It’s being put in everything, and it only takes a small amount to kill you. So, you can be taking something you think is OK for you, and it’s laced with fentanyl,” Herrity said. “And you end up overdosing, which is why having the naloxone around is so helpful. Even if you don’t think that your kids are into drugs, you never know.”

Supervisor Herrity says to combat that kind of trend, everyone will need to work together.

“It can’t be a siloed approach. This isn’t a police issue. It’s not a school’s issue. It’s not a you know, a teacher or a parents issue or mental health issue,” he said. “You need to address all the silos and it needs to be a coordinated response. We had that with opioids, and I’m hoping we can develop that for fentanyl. I know our each of those departments are doing what they can, but it’s bigger than any one agency or one at any one group.”

Tuesday night’s town hall will also feature a naloxone training. That’s the overdose-reversing drug.

Everyone who attends will receive some to take home with them.

Fairfax County also regularly offers virtual trainings on naloxone.

Fairfax County Public Schools said last month that now – every one of their schools stocks it.

FFXnow

By Vernon Miles

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a new policy last week that could offer incentives to developers to replace the affordable housing lost to new development.

The new policy wouldn’t just require a one-to-one replacement of units set aside as affordable — known as committed affordable units — but would incentivize the replacement of those that were naturally affordable — meaning market-rate affordable.

In effect, if a new development brings units to a site previously affordable for those making less than the area median income, the developer would be offered incentives to include an equal number of affordable units in the new development. Those incentives could include additional density, building height and financial assistance.

The sole voice against the new amendment at the meeting last Tuesday (March 21) was Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, who said the county can’t subsidize its way out of the regional housing crisis. According to Herrity:

The requirement to replace market-rate affordable units could inhibit the delivery of much needed housing, especially if incentives fail to cover the cost of the preserved affordable units. It’s a lot of those incentives that are basically making housing unaffordable for many of our residents, because those incentives are paid by our residents. Our young adults and our seniors are priced out of housing. We’re not going to be able to do enough government-subsidized housing to fix this problem. Where we need to start is reducing the cost of housing. I’m not going to be supporting this, that’s probably no surprise to the board, but I think there are better ways to attack this problem.

The rest of the board, though, was enthusiastic in its support of the new policy.

“This is a good next step for us,” Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said. “The issue is: how do we ensure this distribution of housing is countywide? I think this starts to tackle that issue by highlighting and identifying where those issues and where those needs are. I’m looking to support far more housing that’s affordable in many other areas.”

Storck said the policy is part of the county’s commitment to ensure residents can afford to stay in the county even as overall housing prices continue to rise.

“I have a statement that I say often and my staff will probably roll their eyes when I say this again: we need to make sure we leave no one behind,” Storck said. “If you’ve lived in our community for a while, we need to make sure there are options for you. To get those options, we need to build more housing.”

The policy change was approved in a 9-1 vote.

Following adoption by the Board of Supervisors, staff will work to put together a draft of new guidelines in May and present those to the board later this summer.

Fairfax County Local News

By Angela Woolsey

Fairfax County’s police helicopters have a new base of operations.

The emergency choppers and their crews will now be housed at the Fairfax County Police Department’s new David M. Rohrer Aviation Center, which was welcomed with a grand opening celebration yesterday (Wednesday).

Located at 4604 West Ox Road, the two-story, 23,000-square-foot facility replaces a smaller heliport that was built on the same site in 1984 but no longer met the helicopter division’s staffing and equipment needs.

Known by the call sign “Fairfax 1,” the division includes two helicopters and flight officers, pilots, paramedics and maintenance crews.

They were performing over 150 helicopter missions per month and more than 80 medical evacuations per year out of the now-demolished, 9,500-square-foot heliport, the FCPD reported when pitching the project for bond funding in 2015.

“Similar to a firehouse, staff remains on-site throughout their shift, but locker space, helicopter equipment space, storage areas and training space is insufficient to meet current operational needs,” the department said. “The helicopter hangers are not large enough to house the county’s two twin-engine helicopters, and the sloped landing pad causes safety issues especially during winter months.”

The project received $13 million from that public safety bond referendum, though the county ultimately approved $14.1 million, according to the current capital improvements program.

In addition to a landing pad for the helicopters, the new aviation center has a two-bay hanger, parking for 25 vehicles, and upgraded locker, storage and training spaces.

The facility is named after former deputy county executive for public safety David Rohrer, who retired last year after a 41-year career that he started as a patrol officer. The name was requested by Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis and Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, whose district includes the heliport site.

“The operational needs of our flight officers, pilots, paramedics and maintenance crews have grown significantly,” Herrity said after participating in the grand opening. “This new facility will provide lifesaving medical treatment and crimefighting services to our citizens.”

Speakers at the ceremony included Herrity, Davis, Rohrer, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, County Executive Bryan Hill and Department of Public Works and Environmental Services Director Chris Herrington.

At the time of the opening ceremony, helicopter crews hadn’t officially moved in yet, but the FCPD anticipates they’ll be able to operate out of the aviation center starting at 8 a.m. Saturday (March 25).

“That depends if everything gets moved over in time,” the police department said.

Connection Newspaper

By Bonnie Hobbs

Anyone who’s ever tried driving from Fairfax to Centreville on Route 29 between 3 and 7 p.m. knows how slow and irritating it can be. Vehicles are bumper to bumper, with a sea of red taillights, as far as the eye can see.

There’s also gridlock there during the morning rush, with long backups at the intersection of Clifton and Stringfellow roads. But at long last, relief is on the way.

For years, VDOT has planned to widen this 1.5-mile stretch between Buckleys Gate Drive and Union Mill Road from four to six lanes. And on March 8, it finally broke ground on this project. The ceremonial tossing of shovels full of dirt took place on the Route 29 service road in front of the Brightview Fair Oaks senior-living facility.

“What a wonderful day for a groundbreaking,” said VDOT’s Northern Virginia Deputy District Engineer Bill Cuttler. And with the wind chill plunging temperatures into the 20s that morning, he wasn’t talking about the weather – but the fact that this project is now on its way to becoming a reality.

“VDOT is pleased to deliver important, multimodal transportation projects that enhance living and working in this great community,” he continued. “We appreciate users’ patience and attention to safety as we work toward our performance goals. And we’re very proud to have great partners here in Fairfax County; these partnerships have been critical to our success.”

Since Route 29 averages 30,000 vehicles a day on this section of road, this $97 million project not only aims to reduce congestion, but to also improve safety, operations and access, including for bicyclists and pedestrians. Therefore, the road’s vertical alignment will be corrected to improve sight distance.

The project will also add and improve 10-foot-wide, shared-use paths along both sides of Route 29 to provide better bicycle and pedestrian access to the trails at the Fairfax County Parkway/West Ox Road Interchange. Planned, as well, are crosswalk improvements at major intersections, with modified signals to accommodate them.

In addition, there’ll be intersection improvements at Centreville Farms and Union Mill roads, Clifton and Stringfellow roads, Meadow Estates Drive and Hampton Forest Way, and Buckleys Gate and Summit drives. Estimated completion time for all this work is spring 2026.

Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield), whose home is in Little Rocky Run, off Route 29 and Union Mill Road, knows firsthand how challenging it can be to get to places on time when Route 29 is jammed with traffic. “Living in this area, I’ve spent too much time on this road – especially coming home at night in all that congestion,” he told the groundbreaking attendees.

“But this improvement will get residents where they need to be, instead of sitting in traffic, and will really improve their quality of life,” he said. “The beneficiaries will also be the people in the neighborhoods off Route 29 who have had to put up with cut-through traffic from I-66 for many years. This project will finish the last section of this road outside of Fairfax City, and I’m looking forward to the ribbon cutting in 2026.”

Herrity also thanked county Transportation Director Tom Biesiadny, who’s retiring soon, for all his hard work on this widening project. He acknowledged, as well, the county and VDOT staff members who worked with a nearby garden center and a towing company to deal with their particular concerns, since both are located along Route 29.

Supervisor Kathy Smith (D-Sully), called the event a “great way to start the day,” adding that most of this project is in the Springfield District, but part is in Sully. “This will create a more stable travel experience and especially improve the p.m.-peak traffic for Sully District commuters,” she said. “And I’m glad it’s a design-build project, which enables us to get it done sooner.”

In such projects, the designer and contractor work together as a team and project phases happen simultaneously. Cuttler stressed that VDOT was “an innovative leader” in adopting design-builds as work methods. He then thanked the Route 29 widening project’s builder, Shirley Contracting Co., and its designer, Dewberry, plus many individuals who’ve played vital roles in bringing it to this point.

“Projects like this take people with a lot of different expertise,” said Cuttler.

This one is financed with federal, state (including Smart Scale) and local funding, plus I-66 concessionaire money. Comprising its $97 million total are: Preliminary engineering, $5.5 million; right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation, $9.7 million; and construction, $81.8 million. 

Cuttler thanked all those who helped fund this project, including U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly (D-11) on the federal level. Then, smiling broadly, he said, “Let’s go shovel some dirt.”

WJLA

by Christian Flores

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — After hours of sharp criticism from residents for even considering the measure, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a massive pay raise for the supervisor and board chair positions — though it won’t go into effect for current members.

The measure increases supervisors’ annual salaries from $95,000 to $123,283, and the board chair’s pay from $100,000 to $138,283. That’s a nearly 30% pay increase for supervisors, and almost 40% for the chair. The pay increase will not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2024, when the newly elected board takes office, though most current supervisors are up for re-election.

The board approved this pay increase by a vote of 8-2, with Supervisors Pat Herrity and Walter Alcorn voting no.

“The compensation is being considered without addressing compensation promises to our employees. We’ve got a 15 % vacancy rate with our county staff. We’re facing retention issues in multiple county-facing agencies — specifically a staffing crisis in our police department, not to mention paramedics, mental health providers, trash collectors,” Herrity said. “I think prioritizing a board salary increase without addressing any of these, as we heard from our residents tonight, is outrageous.”

Herrity’s remarks before the vote echoed what most speakers had to say during the public comment period.

Initially, the proposal called for supervisors to see pay increases up to $130,000 — or 36% — and for the chair to get up to $145,000 — or a 45% hike.

“You should be ashamed for letting these programs fall by the wayside while you plan on what to do with your 45 % raise,” said one county resident.

Johna Gagnon, another county resident, added: “Lead by example. Where’s your decency, your humanity, your humility? Of all the comments I’ve heard and read, many of which were wrong and unfounded, the one I think that says it best is the timing of this is totally tone-deaf.”

Members of the Fairfax County Board Of Supervisors are part-time employees.

For about three hours, residents sounded off during the public comment portion of the meeting, saying the raises were too high for a part-time job.

“Getting full-time pay for part-time work is a disservice to the thousands of hard-working full-time employees who make significantly less,” said Helga Yunker, a Fairfax County resident.

In comparison, the annual salary for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is $70,916 a year while the Prince William County Board of Supervisors make $43,422. Both boards are also part-time positions.

However, some supporters came to the defense of the board, stating the hours of the position are akin to a full-time job.

“I know from my own full-time experience, this is a full-time job. I’ve experienced those late nights with Chair McKay,” said Nicole Miller, a Fairfax County resident. “Most people are not involved with anything in this county and are just unaware how much the job entails.”

Prince George’s County Council members make more than $133,000, Montgomery County Council members make more than $156,000, and D.C. Council members make more than $145,000. All three are full-time positions.

In addition, Fairfax County’s population is closer to those counties and D.C. with full-time county councils, while being much larger than Loudoun and Prince William counties — which have part-time boards of supervisors.

In fact, with more than 1.1 million people, Fairfax County’s population is greater than that of Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, Fairfax County’s population more than doubles that of both Loudoun County, which sits at just more than 427,000 people, and Prince William County, at just more than 484,000 people.

“I respect the fact there are some people on this board that have other employment. I do not. I never have. I’ve done this job full-time for 16 years because I cannot imagine how I could do another part-time job and do this job the way I would expect – as my own constituent – for my supervisor to be doing it,” said Board Chair Jeff McKay before the vote. “The board does not enjoy raising its salary. I do not enjoy raising a future board’s salary. The Virginia law requires us to consider it only in election years for future boards. I don’t think anyone on this board enjoys that process.”

The board’s last pay raise was in 2015, or eight years ago.

Supervisor John Foust, who introduced the measure, said the pay raise averages out to 3.7 % per year in the time since the last pay raise and is in line with pay bumps county employees earned during that span.

“Salary for the Board of Supervisors has not changed since 2015, eight years ago,” said Fairfax County Director of Human Resources Cathy Schafrik.

Still, that did not stop those still in attendance for the vote from booing the board, with one resident even stating she will run against a current supervisor in the next election.

Currently, county employees are set to see a 2% pay increase.

One current employee told 7News she is not opposed to the board getting pay increases, but would like to see the gap in pay raise percentages be a little closer.

“For me, it’s not as much about whether or not they have raises. It’s whether the county employees also are treated the same,” said Sarah Young, a management analyst with the Fairfax County Department of Family Services. “We are really the ones that keep the county moving. We keep services going. We provide excellent services day-in and day-out.”

Patch

By Michael O’Connell

Fairfax County residents have a chance on Tuesday to weigh in on a proposal to give the board of supervisors a 45 percent pay hike.

Clarification: This story was updated with U.S. Census data regarding the annual median income in Fairfax County.

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Whether or not the members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors should give themselves a 45 percent pay raise is the subject of a public hearing scheduled for 4 p.m., on Tuesday at the government center.

Currently, supervisors are paid $95,000 and the chairman earns $100,000. If adopted, the new pay range for supervisors would be between $125,000 and $130,000, and $140,000 to $145,000 for the chairman.

While David Walrod, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, acknowledged board members do important work in keeping the county running and certainly deserve to earn a living wage, he questioned how a 45 percent pay increase could be justified while many teachers and county employees struggle to make ends meet.

“I think that really speaks to, one, what an expensive area Fairfax County actually is to live in, and two, it’s just a little bit out of touch with the actual Fairfax County community,” he said.

Most teachers don’t earn $95,000 a year and those who do are nearing the end of their careers, according to Walrod. Many teachers and public sector employees will never have a salary of $95,000.

“They’re talking about what they’re making now and adding another 45 percent on top of that,” he said. “That’s pretty big chunk of change.”

Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust introduced the motion to raise board member salaries at its March 7 meeting.

“In addition to counting base work, the job of a supervisor or chairman requires participation in a growing number of regional bodies, in which most board members participate, but are not compensated,” Foust said, justifying his measure. “Our constituents rightly expect us to always be available to them in this electronic era, which makes the time committed to this job more involved and complex than ever.”

Other board members spoke in support of Foust’s measure at the meeting.

Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross, who like Foust is not running for reelection this year, described the board of supervisors as an executive and legislative board and its members should be similarly remunerated.

“Now that we’re virtual, we’re 24/7,” she said “You’re answering emails because you’re on all the time.”

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik noted that the supervisors’ current yearly salary of $90,000 was well below Fairfax County’s average median income of $127,000 for households, according to data quoted in the measure. The AMI for individuals is $54,000. [Editor’s note: In 2021 dollars, the AMI for households in Fairfax County was $133, 974 and individuals $61,947, according to U.S. Census data.

In order for the board to attract more women and diverse candidates to run for county office, she said the supervisors needed to “make it a little bit easier for those candidates to come forward to make that sacrifice and not to have their families absolutely sacrifice not just the time, but the income in order to be able to live in this county.”

Only two supervisors on the 10-person board voted against the measure: Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill) and Pat Herrity (Springfield).

“I do not support raising supervisor salaries more than what county employees have received during the past eight years,” Alcorn said after the vote.

The last time the supervisors gave themselves a pay increase was 2016, and Herrity, the lone Republican on the board, pointed out that many of the conditions were the same back then.

“Our employee compensation promises weren’t addressed,” he said. “But it’s worse. This time around we’re again not addressing our compensation promises. We’ve got retention issues across multiple resident-facing agencies, specifically the police department and paramedics and psychologists.”

At the same meeting that Foust introduced his pay raise measure, the board chose not to increase the real estate tax rate. This means that when the board votes on the final fiscal year 2024 budget, the tax rate will stay $1.11 per $100 of assessed value.

Even with a flat tax rate, property owners whose property assessment values went up would see higher tax bills. Fairfax County homeowners had an average increase of 6.97 percent in their 2023 real estate assessments. The average tax bill will increase just over $520 under the current tax rate.

“We’re in the midst of high inflation … high gas taxes and other post-pandemic challenges, and we still have a substantial tax bill increase on the table for the average homeowner,” Herrity said. “I don’t know how we give ourselves a 45 percent raise with all of that. Prioritizing a board salary increase without addressing those issues is outrageous.”

The board is only allowed to adjust its compensation during an election year and is required to hold a public hearing and vote on a pay change before April 15. Any change they approved would be applied to the new board that was sworn in after November’s general election.

The proposal as written contains a clause that if the measure passes, individual board members are not required to take a pay hike if they so choose.

Herrity said that clause was clearly political maneuvering during an election year.

After a majority of the board voted to approve Foust’s measure on March, the public hearing was set for March 21, so that supervisors could vote on whether or not to give themselves a raise before the April 15 deadline.

7 News

By Nick Minock

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s Democratic opponent says Descano has failed the people of Fairfax County repeatedly.

“There is a crisis in the courthouse today,” Ed Nuttall told 7News).

Nuttall is a trial lawyer and has handled cases in Fairfax County for 26 years.

He’s now running for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney against Steve Descano in the June Democratic primary.

“Crime is up, prosecution is down, victims feel abandoned,” said Nuttall. “Our communities feel like they aren’t getting the results that they want to keep our communities safe. Violent offenders are being released back out to the community because of this office’s lack of leadership and management. And I have a solution.”

Nuttall laid out six reforms he said he’ll make to fix the Fairfax County CA’s Office, including investments in victim services and community outreach, modifying discovery protocols, implementing a mental health docket in Circuit Court and Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, expanding drug courts in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and getting rid of social media positions in the office.

Descano’s staff frequently posts videos of Descano on social media.

“We don’t need social media positions,” said Nuttall. “We don’t need political positions or chief of staff positions in that office. We need to train prosecutors to run that office effectively to give the community what they deserve which is safety. “

Nuttall would replace the positions with a senior lawyer or retired judge to train young prosecutors.

“We see many cases being dismissed or pled out as the [Troy] Reynolds case was today because of prosecutorial errors in discovery protocols,” said Nuttall.

On Thursday, Descano’s office made a plea deal with Reynolds who was accused of driving a school bus drunk with 44 elementary school students on board. The plea deal drops all felony charges and victims’ families were not notified of the plea deal – a common complaint.

“Can you imagine having such an awful thing happen to your kindergartener on a field trip and not knowing this is a result of that case?” asked Nuttall.

“It’s a tragic outcome of the case, which happens often, unfortunately, all too often in the courthouse today due to mismanagement and lack of leadership by the chief prosecutor [Descano],” said Nuttall. “The prosecutor’s office has vast resources to conduct discovery. The county opened their wallets up three years ago, so he could hire additional paralegals and additional prosecutors to conduct discovery to improve discovery protocols so that that office could honor defendants’ constitutional rights. If you don’t train the paralegals and prosecutors how to conduct appropriate discovery, all the resources in the world are meaningless.”

Nuttall points to Descano’s inexperience in the courtroom.

In a 7News interview, Descano acknowledged he hasn’t personally prosecuted one case as the Commonwealth’s Attorney since he was elected in 2019.

“Have you ever personally prosecuted a case as the Commonwealth Attorney in Fairfax County?” 7News Reporter Nick Minock asked Descano.

“Nick, I would tell you that if I personally went up to court and prosecuted a case I would be doing my community a disservice,” Descano replied.

“I will lead from the front,” said Nuttall. “I will try cases on every level in that courthouse. I will try cases in Juvenile Court, General District Court, and Circuit Court.”

In an interview last month with 7News, Descano said he is running for reelection.

“I am very excited about it,” said Descano. “I know the community is behind what we’ve done.”

Nuttall also highlighted the 100 percent turnover rate on Descano’s legal team since he took office.

“The only individuals who remain on the legal staff as attorneys are the chief prosecutor and his deputy,” said Nuttall. “Everyone else has left. I believe over 50 Prosecutors have left that office in the last three years. That’s an astonishing turnover rate for any office. They didn’t leave because the economy was bad. They didn’t leave for better jobs. They left because they were mismanaged. They were overwhelmed, understaffed and under trained, and not respected, and that lack of leadership led them to other areas of the law. What’s left is a poor group of prosecutors, earnest line prosecutors who want to do the right thing, but are mismanaged and undertrained and can’t do what they were hired to do.”

Nuttall has lived in Fairfax County for the past 30 years.

“My wife and three children were born and raised in Fairfax County,” said Nuttall. “I’ve tried cases in Fairfax County for 26 years. That courthouse behind us is my second home. I talked to my wife and with her approval and my business partner’s support, I am running for Commonwealth’s attorney to make the changes that we need to return to a safe Fairfax.”

7News reached out to Descano for an interview on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Descano declined an interview with 7News on Thursday as he did Wednesday when 7News reported how a victim and her family feel they are being retaliated against by Descano.

Fairfax County Times

By Heather Zwicker

Social media sites lit up with comments on posts after a story first reported by WJLA hinted that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering giving themselves a nearly 45% raise. The proposal would increase supervisor pay from about $90,000 per year to between $125,000 and $130,000. The chairman’s pay would go from about $100,000 to between $140,000 and $145,000.

Then Board voted Tuesday on the board matter presented by Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust. The vote was 8-2 in favor of holding a public hearing on the sizeable pay increase for the board members. Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity and Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn voted against the measure.

The increase would bring the supervisor’s salaries more in line with officials in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Officials in surrounding Northern Virginia jurisdictions receive much less.

In the matter Foust said that per Virginia law compensation can only be adjusted in an election year and following a public hearing. He recommended that pay for board members be “increased up to $140,000 annually, which is consistent both with surrounding large jurisdictions as well as what compensation would be if they had received the same pay increase as county staff since 2015.” Members of the Board of Supervisors have not received a pay raise since 2015 and since Foust is retiring at the end of the year, he would not benefit from the compensation increase. Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross, who is also retiring at the end of the year, would not receive a raise; she voted in favor of the matter. 

Interestingly, Foust included in his board matter “that staff develop a mechanism for any Board member who disagrees with this compensation adjustment to return any additional compensation they receive to the County.” That means if approved Herrity and Alcorn would not receive the higher salary.

The board matter comes as county residents are suffering from higher costs on goods and services as a result of inflation. And constituents are already complaining about paying high personal property taxes and their increasing real estate tax bills, making the issue of such a large increase in compensation unattractive to constituents.

In fact, some county residents took issue that supervisors would receive this much salary for what is essentially a part-time job. Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said that the only reason he could consider running is because he already had a pension from his previous 30-year job with the county.

“This could backfire on them,” said Ben of Burke responding to a Nextdoor post. “With higher pay, more local residents may want to run.”

Some residents across many social media platforms decried the low salaries of teachers and law enforcement personnel. “The Fairfax Police Department has the lowest starting salary in the area,” said Stephen of Fairfax. The schools have a horrible staff bloat. Take your self-centered raise and give it to first responders and teachers. They deserve it much more than you do.”

On Wednesday, recently elected Delegate Holly Seibold (D-Vienna) issued a statement saying that she finds the proposal “objectionable.” 

“The people on the ground working for us every single day to ensure our lives and that of our families are safe and prosperous – do not receive fair wage increases,” said Seibold. “Yet the salaries of our elected leaders are in excess.”

Conversely, Springfield Democrats lauded the idea tweeting, “Increasing salary on the Board means that local government is more accessible and representative of our County. Don’t let Republicans twist it: this is a good move towards a more equitable Fairfax County.”

“It is unbelievable that this Board would propose a 37 to 45 percent raise for themselves when our residents are struggling with high inflation, a 50 percent increase in homeowner taxes over the last decade, and in a budget that does not address the staffing crisis in public safety and other critical county positions,” said Herrity, who considers being on the Board a public service.

Alcorn told FFXnow in a statement that he does not support raising supervisor salaries more than what county employees have received during the past eight years. General county and public safety employees have received roughly a 29.84% increase since FY 2015, which includes a 14.76 average merit increase and at 14.08% increase in the market rate adjustment, according to a Herrity staffer.

Additionally, Herrity said that a county car Chairman Jeff McKay pays for out of his office budget should be considered part of compensation. “It would be useful to have that information and take that into account when we’re looking at compensation because compensation is bigger than just a paycheck,” said Herrity.

Before any increase in compensation can occur, a public hearing must be held. Residents can sign up to speak at the meeting on this matter March 21 at 4:30 p.m. For more information visit https://bit.ly/2Iopvpf.

Just The News

By Nicholas Ballasy

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to move forward with consideration of a proposal to give themselves salary increases of up to 45%, even as the county, located just outside of Washington, D.C., faces a shortage of police in the midst of a crime surge.

With inflation still high, county residents are facing real estate taxes that have risen 7% on average. In addition, Virginia counties assess the value of personal vehicles and send “personal property tax” bills that residents must pay each year. These bills are at record levels due to the high values of used vehicles. 

The Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 to proceed with consideration of a plan to approve supervisor salary increases from $90,000 per year to between $125,000 and $130,000. The board’s chairman, Jeff McKay, is currently paid $100,000 yearly, according to local media reports. Under the new proposal, his pay would jump to between $140,000 and $145,000.

Residents have a chance to respond to the Board’s action on Tuesday, March 21 at 4:30 p.m., when the proposal comes up for a final vote.

Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity opposes the pay increases. In a statement on social media, he noted that the county is 200 police officers short as it faces a public safety crisis.

“It is unbelievable that this Board would propose a 37 to 45 percent raise for themselves,” Herrity wrote, “when our residents are struggling with high inflation, a 50 percent increase in homeowner taxes over the last decade, and in a budget that does not address the staffing crisis in public safety and other critical county positions.”

Chairman McKay, who would see a 40-45% pay increase under the proposal, has a county-paid vehicle. Herrity reportedly said at the meeting on Tuesday that the board hasn’t formally approved McKay’s use of the vehicle. McKay didn’t directly respond and changed the subject.

According to local news outlet WJLA, major crime incidents are increasing in the county. A Patch report said that Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, who is not seeking reelection to the board this year, “made the motion to raise the board members’ salaries.”

The Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance said the supervisors haven’t earned the raises they are seeking to give themselves. The group also noted that supervisors are able to hold other jobs outside of their board duties.

“For over 20 years they’ve been raising real estate taxes three times faster than homeowner income,” said Arthur Purves, the group’s president. “Their spending is out of control. For example, they give half our taxes to the school board without demanding any accountability. The result is that between FY2018-FY2022, the school budget increased $400M while FCPS SAT scores decreased 27 points. Over the same period, Virginia SAT scores increased 14 points.”

Purves said that “political rhetoric and mismanagement of the police has made it much more expensive to hire police officers, with the bill passed on to the taxpayers.” He added that “tax hikes subsidize and reward mismanagement.”