Panhandling Town Hall Recap & Link - Over 1,800 residents attended the virtual town hall that I co-hosted with Prince William County Supervisor Jeanine Lawson. Overwhelmingly, residents want something more done about panhandling. You can view the townhall here. More on the town hall and how you can help address panhandling below.

Lee Chapel Town Hall Reminder - Many of you have shared concern with my office about the safety of Lee Chapel Road, especially after the tragedy there earlier this year when two teenagers lost their lives in a horrible accident. We will be further discussing the direction of the Lee Chapel Road project with the community and soliciting feedback at a virtual town hall set for September 13^th at 7pm. Delegate Tran, Senator Barker, the offices of Supervisor Storck and Chairman McKay, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) will also be participating in the Town Hall. To learn more and participate in the town hall, use the login information for the meeting below.

Input Requested on Next Year's Summer Concert Series -This summer’s concert series was our best series yet with nine shows, over 5,000 people, 6 different food and drink vendors, 350 attendees for two Celebrate Fairfax Kids pre-concert events, and zero weather cancellations! As I look forward to planning next year’s series, I want to hear from you about which concerts you liked best, which food trucks we should bring back, and if there are other things you hope to see at the concerts next summer. If you missed the series, I would still appreciate your feedback to learn what would make you attend the series next summer. See below to take the 3-minute survey.

Other news and information…

•            School Zone Speed Camera Citation Issues

•            Consider Being an Election Officer!

•            Virginia Task Force 1 Deployments

Today it is commonplace to see one or more people panhandling in medians, even walking between turn lanes throughout Fairfax County. Not only are the numbers of panhandlers increasing but incidents of aggressive panhandlers are increasing as well. In August, over 1,800 residents attended a virtual town hall that I co-sponsored with Prince William County Supervisor Jeanine Lawson. The show’s producer said they received more feedback on this virtual town hall than any other they have had. Overwhelmingly, residents wanted more done to address panhandling. You can view the town hall here.

During the town hall, we heard from many residents; some comments that stood out include:

-         One resident, who volunteers at a food bank, had thousands of dollars of damage to his car because of an aggressive panhandler and wants something more done.

-         One woman shared that she regularly talks to panhandlers, always referring to them to County services.

-         Another resident was concerned about response to aggressive panhandling on private property, a common situation in shopping centers.

-         Others submitted questions asking if an ordinance prohibiting panhandling would hold up in court since panhandling is protected by the First Amendment. 

Supervisor Lawson and I were grateful to have Major Greg Ahlemann with the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office with us on the panel to talk about Loudoun County’s ordinance prohibiting the exchange of objects in their roadways and medians. This ordinance has been successful in addressing the public safety issues around panhandling. To date this year, while they have given warnings, they have had no citations for panhandling. The ordinance has successfully deterred people from giving to panhandlers and panhandling in intersections. Major Ahlemann shared during the town hall that the ordinance has withstood legal challenge, similar to other successful ordinances around the country.

Additionally, I was very glad to have Fairfax County’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services Director Chris Herrington on the panel to share with us about the success of a work program I proposed back in 2017 that helps people experiencing homelessness, Operation Stream Shield. 

Since 2017, I have been proposing multifaceted solutions to address panhandling, and prior to the pandemic, the previous Board of Supervisors decided to move these solutions forward. The current Board has opted to move forward only a public education program. Back in 2011, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to ban signs in the medians of our roads, a ban I proposed after seeing how even my own political signs were distracting and could cause safety issues for motorists. While it’s illegal to place a sign in the median, it’s surprisingly legal in Fairfax County to stand, or walk around in the median holding one.

I believe we have a duty to help those in need in ways that equip them to lift themselves up from hard times and to have the opportunity to succeed. At the same time, we need to promote safety on our roadways which are no place for pedestrians, panhandling or otherwise, to be engaging with motorists. In September, I will be renewing my call for an ordinance in Fairfax County. This will not make panhandling illegal in Fairfax County; it would only prohibit it and other engagements between pedestrians and motorists in the roadway for public safety reasons.

If you have feedback and/or would like to see more done to address the public safety issues around panhandling, I encourage you to share this with your district Supervisor and the entire Board by emailing ClerktotheBOS@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Lee Chapel Road Improvements Move Forward & Town Hall Sept. 13^th

Many of you have shared concern with my office about the safety of Lee Chapel Road, especially given the tragedy there earlier this year when two teenagers lost their lives in a horrible crash. At our July Board meeting, the Board supported my motion to adjust the Transportation Priorities Plan to provide initial funding of $5 million for the Lee Chapel Road safety project. To increase the expediency of this road improvement, I asked that the $5 million funding come from the currently allocated funds for the Shirley Gate Road Extension project.

Since January, I have been assessing ways to fund the project and working with our partners and staff to identify funding opportunities at the state level. One of the projects that has sufficient funding available, as well as a schedule that allows for a temporary transfer, is the Shirley Gate Road extension project. The Shirley Gate extension’s estimated cost is $22 million, and it is currently fully funded. While this project is vitally important, the need for expediency in moving forward with a project on Lee Chapel Road is significant and this $5 million for Lee Chapel is enough to get the project moving forward. As both projects are very important, my motion included that we continue to work with our partners to find additional sources to fund the remainder of the Lee Chapel project and to restore full funding to Shirley Gate as quickly as possible.

FCDOT and VDOT have evaluated three mid-term options to improve safety on Lee Chapel – removing the principal hill, removing both hills, and building the first leg of the eventual widened Lee Chapel Road. The alternative that appears to be the most prudent from a funding, timeline, and community support standpoint is a project that would eliminate the two hills and include two 11-foot lanes and a 6-foot shoulder on each side of the roadway. Preliminary costs for this project are approximately $9 million. By addressing the hills and bringing the road up to current design and safety standards, we can remove the incentive to “catch air” and improve overall safety on this stretch of roadway.

Sadly, the tragedy on Lee Chapel Road was not the first on this section of road and I as well as others have made efforts in the past to address the ongoing concerns about this roadway. This recent loss of young lives only amplified the need for safety improvements on this segment of Lee Chapel Road between Ox Road and the Fairfax County Parkway. In a coordinated effort with my office, Delegate Tran, Senator Barker, the offices of Supervisor Storck and Chairman McKay, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT), and the Park Authority, there have been a number of immediate safety improvements to the road while mid-term and long-term solutions were examined. As this article was being written, work to repave Lee Chapel Road was wrapping up, which included short-term safety improvements, including the addition of a shoulder wedge and rumble strips.

We will be further discussing this direction forward with the community and soliciting its feedback at a virtual town hall set for September 13^th at 7pm. Delegate Tran, Senator Barker, the offices of Supervisor Storck and Chairman McKay, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) will also be participating in the Town Hall. To participate in the town hall, use the login information for the meeting below.

Meeting ID: 214 328 203 374

Passcode: ZFKBoJ

Download Teams | Join on the web

+1 571-429-5982,,83989641#  United States, Arlington

Phone Conference ID: 839 896 41#

Find a local number | Reset PIN

Learn More | Meeting options

 

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to share your feedback with me either by calling my office at 703-451-8873 or emailing springfieldbos@fairfaxcounty.gov. 

This summer’s concert series was our best series yet with nine shows, over 5,000 people, 6 different food and drink vendors, 350 attendees for two Celebrate Fairfax Kids pre-concert events, and zero weather cancellations! As I look forward to planning next year’s series, I want to hear from you about which concerts you liked best, which food trucks we need to bring back, and if there are other things you hope to see and do at the concerts next summer. If you missed the series, I would still appreciate your feedback to learn what would make you attend the series next summer.

Will you take this 3-minute survey to share how we can improve the concerts for next summer?

This concert series would not happen without our partners at the Park Authority Foundation, the Park Authority, and our local business sponsors, including Transurban, Dominion Energy, Peterson Companies, Sheehy Automotive, Wegmans, Glory Days Grill, Interstate Van Lines, NOVEC, Great American Restaurants, West Springfield Car Care, Hello Garage, McGuireWoods, TD Bank, Pulte Homes, National Endowment of the Arts, and Virginia Commission for the Arts!

It has been brought to our attention that speed camera citations have been issued at the Irving Middle School and London Towne Elementary School locations while Winko-Matics (the flashing lights) were not in operation from July 17th until sometime in August.

The cameras were properly issuing citations during summer school operations, but the Winko-Matics were not properly functioning. FCPD is currently in the process of reviewing citations at these locations to void and/or reimburse all citations that were issued due to the Winko-Matic error. Officers have identified that the Winko-Matics were not properly functioning since July 17, at Irving Middle School, in Springfield, and London Towne Elementary School, in Centreville.

They are the only two schools known to be affected by this issue. If you believe you were issued invalid citation at these two locations during this period, there is no action that you need to take. An administrative notice will be sent to you via mail to advise of the reimbursement or voided citation.

Fairfax County Office needs election officers countywide for the November 7th General Election and the 2024 elections. Compensation begins at $250 and training is provided online and in-person for new officers. More information on serving as a Fairfax County election officer can be found here. Apply today.

There is also a need for bilingual Virginia voters who speak Vietnamese and English or Korean and English to serve in the Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly, and Falls Church areas. To serve as a designated bilingual election officer, you must also complete a short oral language skills assessment. More information on serving as a language election officer can be found here.

I’d like to applaud the incredible efforts of our Virginia Task Force 1 team (VA-TF1) as they have been deployed to assist those displaced by the Maui wildfires and those affected by Hurricane Idelia in Florida.

The Task Force has extensive domestic and international disaster relief experience, providing structural assessments and participating in search and rescue missions. Sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, in coordination with federal partners like FEMA, they have completed missions in Peru, Nepal, Puerto Rico, Kentucky, and much more.

VA-TF1 is federally funded but we get the benefit of the highly specialized training and skills these first responders receive while they are not deployed. A huge thank you to these first responders for your courage and incredible service, helping people around the globe.

On September 9th, starting at Tysons Corner Center, Food for Others is hosting their 10th annual Food for Others Tysons 5K and Fun Run! It starts at 8AM and serves to assist the nearly 81,000 people in Fairfax County that identify as food insecure.

Last year, they achieved and exceeded their incredible goal for fundraising, reaching $90,000, and received many food donations. This year will look to be as accomplished, so join their partners and local business vendors to help address community hunger. A special thanks to Food for Others for this great event and for kicking off Hunger Action Month in September with momentum!

For more information on running and sponsorship opportunities, please see here.

The Friends of the Fairfax County Animal Shelter and the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce are once again hosting their Captain’s Choice Putting for Pets Golf Tournament to benefit homeless pets at the shelter. It will be held at the Chantilly National Golf and Country Club on September 18th, starting at 9AM and running until they host their dinner and awards show.

Please join me in supporting this event and the great work that they do for our four-legged friends.

If you’d like to consider participating and being a sponsor, use the QR code above or this link.

The Beacon newspaper is pleased to announce the return of its in-person 50+Expos this October. Thousands of older adults and their families are expected to attend the free annual events, featuring a range of valuable resources, informative speakers, health screenings and entertaining activities tailored to their interests and needs.

This year's 50+Expos will be held at TWO LOCATIONS:

In Springfield, the Beacon is proud to partner with the Fairfax County "Ventures into Volunteering" fair, an annual event showcasing multiple government agencies and nonprofits that offer exciting volunteer opportunities and promote an engaged lifestyle.

Both locations will host a diverse array of exhibitors, including government agencies, nonprofits and local businesses. Attendees will be able to obtain valuable information about pertinent topics such as retirement communities, home remodeling, financial planning, healthcare, travel, fitness, senior services and much more.

Ensuring the health and well-being of attendees is also a top priority. The Expos will provide a number of important vaccines, including regular flu, high-dose flu, Shingrix (shingles), pneumonia, tetanus, and the new Covid booster (as available). For those with a Medicare card or insurance, flu and Covid vaccines will be free, while others may require a co-pay.

To encourage proactive health management, free health screenings for blood pressure, glaucoma, blood glucose and cholesterol will also be offered.

For additional information, or to inquire about sponsorship, exhibiting or volunteering opportunities at either Expo, please contact them at (301) 949-9766 or visit www.thebeaconnewspapers.com/50expos.

If you'd like to meet Peaches, visit here for more information.