The steady rain that has fallen over Fairfax County throughout the past two days could result in flooding, forecasts indicate.

Citing “excessive rain,” the National Weather Service has issued a Flood Warning for the county that’s expected to remain in place until 6:45 p.m. today (Friday).

“Flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations is imminent or occurring,” the alert says. “Low-water crossings may be inundated with water and may not be passable.”

Some flooding has already been reported, with Prosperity Avenue currently closed near Mantua, Fairfax County confirmed.

[2/4 at 3:16 PM] A Flood Warning is in effect until 6:45 PM this evening. Between 1 and 1.5 inches of rain has fallen and additional amounts up to 0.25 are possible. Prosperity Avenue is closed near Mantua due to flooding. Remember, Turn around, don’t drown! #VaWx #FloodSafety pic.twitter.com/reacd5KnDv

— Ready Fairfax (@ReadyFairfax) February 4, 2022

Here are more details from the warning, which went out at 2:52 p.m.:

– At 246 PM EST, radar indicated heavy rain had occurred in the warned area. Broadcast media reported that flooding is already occurring. Between 1 and 1.5 inches of rain have fallen.

– Prosperity Avenue is closed near Mantua due to flooding, and other typical flood prone areas may also flood shortly.

Additional rainfall amounts up to 0.25 inches are possible in the warned area.

– Some locations that will experience flooding include…
Reston… Annandale… Springfield… Vienna… Mantua… Burke… Oakton… Tysons Corner… Wolf Trap… Great Falls… Merrifield… West Springfield… Dunn Loring… North Springfield… Ravensworth… Belleview…

Flood Warning for parts of Fairfax County until 6:45PM. Broadcast media confirmed that flooding is already occurring. Typical flood prone areas may also flood shortly. Turn Around, Don’t Drown. #vawx pic.twitter.com/LoMP5gLi1X

— Washingtonian Weather Geeks (@WashingtonianWx) February 4, 2022

Fairfax County plans to hire a neutral observer this year who will help handle activities involving county government workers’ unions.

Although unions can move ahead with elections now, groups appear content to wait for the labor relations administrator to be in place.

“The labor relations administrator will be the neutral person, so they don’t work for us. They don’t work for any of the employee groups,” Fairfax County Human Resources Director Cathy Spage told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday (Feb. 1) at a Personnel and Reorganization Committee meeting. “They’re going to be like a judge.”

The person will be tasked with establishing and publishing union vote procedures and overseeing secret ballot elections, among other duties. Fairfax County government plans to use a contractor for the position and will accept proposals from Wednesday (Feb. 9) through March 9.

The Board of Supervisors could approve the new position on May 24, allowing the administrator to start this summer for a four-year term.

The county approved a historic ordinance in October allowing public-sector unions to negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions on the behalf of county government employees.

The move was made possible by a 2020 General Assembly law that overruled a 1977 state Supreme Court decision barring public workers from collective bargaining.

According to the ordinance, if a union seeks to hold an election before the labor relations administrator is in place, the county would secure services from an impartial agency provider, such as the American Arbitration Association or another group.

As of Tuesday (Feb. 1), no union filings have begun. Units representing police, fire and general county government employees will be allowed to collectively bargain.

“Right now we are not ready to do elections,” Spage said. “We haven’t received any petitions to do elections.”

Following an election, a union acting as the exclusive bargaining agent must start contract negotiations on or before July 1 and conclude by Oct. 15 in order for an agreement to be in place for the next fiscal year.

That means the first collectively bargained agreement for Fairfax County government workers could take effect on July 1, 2023.

Fairfax County voters will have at least one primary on their hands in this year’s midterm elections.

Ally Dalsimer, an environmental advocate whose experience includes work under the Obama administration, is campaigning against Rep. Gerry Connolly for Virginia’s 11th District seat, which represents most of Fairfax and Prince William counties.

Dalsimer kicked off her candidacy in June but is now ramping up her campaign, with a virtual meet-and-greet on Sunday (Feb. 6), where she hopes to be able to talk to the public and listen to their concerns.

“I would just like the chance to talk to the people, tell them my thoughts and what I can do for them. And I want to hear back from them, questions, comments, the issues they’re concerned about,” Dalsimer told FFXnow.

Set for June 21, this will be the second Democratic primary that Connolly has faced since first assuming his current office in 2009. He previously defeated challenger Zainab Mohsini in 2020.

Dalsimer believes her professional and personal experiences have prepared her to serve in Congress as someone willing to reach across the aisle.

The daughter of a Scottish immigrant mother and a father in the U.S. Foreign Service, Dalsimer and her family spent time living in Central and West Africa before moving to Northern Virginia when she was 8.

She credits those experiences abroad with teaching her the value of respecting other’s differences and embracing other cultures, a message that she hopes to carry through efforts like her campaign sharing resources for the Afghan refugees.

“At the end of the day, in spite of the small differences between us, we’re all just people,” Dalsimer said.

Dalsimer’s career in environmental preservation began at a nonprofit foundation after she graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in public policy, environmental law, and economics.

From there, she went on to manage the Department of Defense’s Natural Resources Program, co-found several national conservation initiatives, and implement policy changes for natural resources while serving on the White House Climate Council under President Barack Obama.

In addition to the environment, Dalsimer is passionate about health care, particularly after losing her husband to cancer in 2015, mere days before his 52nd birthday.

While her husband had health insurance, Dalsimer is aware that there are others who aren’t as lucky, especially after the historic job losses triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. She supports the single-payer, universal health care system touted by progressives like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“I don’t think anyone should be left without any way to get medical help just because they lost their job,” said Dalsimer.

Dalsimer also cites war as a subject she wants to tackle if elected. Her legislative goals include a law that would prohibit corporations from profiting from the sale of weapons and equipment meant for war.

“It’s one thing to sell an airplane for the purposes of travel and profit from the sale, that’s fine. That’s the free market,” Dalsimer said. “But to sell a plane meant for war and to gain a profit from it is just wrong in my view.”

Dalsimer says her interest in running for Congress grew out of the tumultuous events of 2020, including the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests in response to George Floyd’s murder, as well as the Trump administration’s actions on the environment, such as the dissolution of the White House Climate Council.

After watching “Knock Down The House,” a 2019 documentary that followed four women running for Congress, Dalsimer got her son’s support to run for office and spent the next six months asking her neighbors and county residents for their opinion of her potential campaign.

She says the response was positive, especially since those she talked to were less than positive about Connolly.

“He’s against universal health care, and said he’d never vote for it,” she said. “He’s allowed corporations to profit from the sale of weapons of war, and there are those in the LGBTQIA+ community who say he hasn’t done anything for them.”

FFXnow contacted Connolly’s office for comment but did not get a response by press time.

Fairfax County is exploring the possibility of using public money to help fund new startups, particularly those from underrepresented entrepreneurs.

The county government has proposed a two-year pilot program called the Fairfax Founders Fund, where young businesses would get up to $50,000 in grant money.

The program could reverse a competitive disadvantage for the county and fill a gap that traditional angel investors have avoided, providing fairer levels of capital to Black- and female-owned businesses, county staff suggested at an Economic Initiatives Committee meeting on Tuesday (Feb. 1).

“People of color don’t have the same access,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said. “We believe that is wrong. We believe that we can get a better cultural and social return on investment.”

First proposed in July 2021, the pilot program is still being tweaked but could go before the board for approval this spring.

While celebrities such as Pharrell and Serena Williams and companies like Wells Fargo have sought to change that funding landscape, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority Vice Chair James Quigley said, in general, that money is not going to early-stage businesses.

Officials also said that Black and women-owned businesses are underrepresented in investment opportunities, with the D.C. region far behind other states in drawing venture capital dollars.

According to the staff presentation, new Black-owned businesses start with just a third of the capital granted their white-owned counterparts. While 12% of the U.S. working population is Black, they only constitute 2% of startup executives.

Latino individuals constitute about 18% of the country’s working population and just 3% of startup executives.

In comparison, 79% of startup executives are white, even though data indicates that businesses with ethnically diverse leadership teams tend to be more profitable.

As currently proposed, the Fairfax Founders Fund would be open to for-profit technology companies based in Fairfax County that have earned up to $250,000 in gross revenue over the past 12 months. The business would match the county’s investment.

Staff have proposed devoting $500,000 to the program from the county’s Economic Opportunity Reserve, which was created in 2017 as part of its efforts to stimulate economic growth. The county would not get any kind of ownership in the companies.

However, officials caution that the program will require some patience from the county. Quigley, who cofounded the Reston-headquartered tech company GoCanvas, said there won’t be a Google startup coming out of it in three months.

Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk expressed excitement about the program.

“We do need to make Fairfax County a bit more competitive, and this program is going to be able to help us do that,” he said.

The Fairfax County Health Department will stop investigating every COVID-19 case to identify close contacts who may have been exposed to the disease.

County staff will instead focus their contact-tracing efforts on outbreaks and cases in high-risk settings, such as long-term care and healthcare facilities, the department announced today (Wednesday).

The move away from investigations of individual cases extends to schools and childcare facilities. Starting at 5 p.m. Friday (Feb. 4), the FCHD will only investigate outbreaks, defined by the Virginia Department of Health as three or more linked cases.

While health department staff will continue assisting with preventative measures, they will no longer investigate and provide guidance for every individual who tests positive for Covid.

“School Divisions and Private schools may choose to continue contact tracing close contacts, but this is no longer encouraged by recent VDH guidance due to the reasons cited above,” Dr. Robin Wallin, FCHD’s school health division director, said in an emailed statement. “VDH has developed a flowchart for parents to access as well to help them determine if they or their child should isolate or quarantine.

The county has released a toolkit with guidance on what people should do when they test positive. The health department also has a call center at 703-267-3511 that’s available to anyone with questions.

The changes reflect a shift in approach at the state level after VDH announced on Jan. 25 that it will start prioritizing outbreaks in long-term care and other congregate settings, as well as healthcare facilities and other high-risk settings.

Though Covid transmission in Fairfax County has declined over the past couple of weeks, health officials say the omicron variant spreads too quickly for it to still be feasible and effective to investigate every single case.

The county added 624 new cases today and is averaging 620 cases per day for the past week.

The FCHD reiterated that the best way to prevent Covid’s spread for everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated and boosted, in addition to following health protocols, such as wearing a well-fitting face mask and maintaining six feet of social distancing.

Local businesses trying to revive operations could soon get more help as they seek to ward off persistent challenges due to COVID-19.

Fairfax County plans to create a new program called Fairfax Thrive that would use American Rescue Plan Act money to provide technical assistance to small businesses for digital marketing, financial planning, and staff retention, among other areas.

“The majority of our small businesses continue to report negative impacts from the pandemic,”  Economic Development Initiatives Director Rebecca Moudry told the Board of Supervisors’ Economic Initiatives Committee yesterday (Tuesday).

Up to $10,000 in services could be provided for each company, which would allow the program to assist 620 small businesses, according to a staff presentation at the committee meeting. The effort could use $7 million in ARPA funds that the county government received to provide COVID-19 relief.

The county has already devoted millions of dollars in relief funds to support local businesses during the pandemic.

The Fairfax Relief Initiative to Support Employers (RISE) program awarded over $52 million in grants in 2020 to over 4,800 businesses and nonprofits, and the PIVOT Business Recovery Grant Program, which launched last summer, gave over $16 million to over 1,000 businesses, focusing specifically on the hospitality and arts industries.

The Fairfax Thrive program is seeking to reach more businesses than those previous efforts, with a potentially multi-year outreach.

“We’re proposing an expansive program in terms of who’s eligible,” Moudry said.

Eligible businesses could involve sole proprietors, home-based as well as commercial enterprises, and certain nonprofits. They would need to have fewer than 50 full-time workers per location and be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike previous programs that had limited windows to apply, the new program envisions a rolling applications process. 

As the pandemic stretches toward the end of two full years, top needs for small businesses now involve finding and keeping qualified workers, obtaining financial planning assistance or additional capital, and increasing digital marketing or brand development, the county found through a survey.

“At this point, financial assistance is no longer the No. 1 need that businesses require,” Moudry said, noting that cash was the top concern a year ago.

County officials are expected to further tweak the program based on feedback during the committee. The outreach could involve providing seminars or forums to swaths of businesses, such as those looking to hire more staff.

The Board of Supervisors could approve the program this spring, possibly launching it this summer. Supervisors said they would like it to start as soon as possible.

Wanted: a superintendent for the 10th largest school division in the U.S.

Desired traits include, but are not limited to, effective communication skills, experience interacting with diverse communities, a willingness to listen without being swayed by the loudest critics, and the ability to find creative solutions to existing problems while also planning for the future of education — one that is, hopefully, post-pandemic.

Finding someone with all those qualities, as well as the educational and professional qualifications needed to lead a school system with 178,227 students and nearly 25,000 full-time employees, would be challenging in ordinary times.

With current Superintendent Scott Brabrand set to depart on June 30, the Fairfax County School Board has been tasked with hiring a new leader at a time of heightened political tensions over public education, when school board meetings can devolve into arrests and gun threats and classroom lessons are subject to legislation, tip lines, and book bans.

Fairfax County Public Schools is far from the only place looking for a new superintendent, according to Gary Ray, president of GR Recruiting, the human resources firm hired to conduct the nationwide search for Brabrand’s successor.

“I’ve been doing this for nearly 40 years, and this is the most, the very most vacancies that I’ve ever seen,” Ray told the school board at a work session yesterday (Monday). “…This certainly will not only be a challenge for us and the board. It’s a challenge for a lot of districts out there.”

After spending December and January gathering staff and community input, GR Recruiting will move into a new phase of the search process with plans to start advertising the superintendent position this week.

The job posting and a more detailed candidate profile are being developed based on feedback from the school board and the public, which had the opportunity to weigh in through an online survey, virtual town hall meetings, and stakeholder meetings.

According to GR Recruiting’s presentation, the survey, which was open from Jan. 4-18, drew 9,523 responses, 57% of them from parents and guardians of current FCPS students. The six town hall meetings held on Jan. 12, 13, and 18 drew 337 participants.

Dr. Gloria Davis from GR Recruiting reported that the firm also met with 45 different stakeholder groups that represented staff, community members, and FCPS leadership.

Participants consistently cited effective and timely communication as a priority for the new superintendent, along with transparency, decisiveness, good listening skills, and an appreciation of the county’s diversity.

The need to put students first and address disparity in access to different academic programs were also recurring themes, according to Davis.

“It was expressed that, in light of the many challenges that Fairfax County faces as well as school divisions across the country, they want a superintendent who is brave and courageous,” Davis said. “Those were the exact words used often.”

Several school board members expressed concern about the relatively low survey response rate. GR Recruiting said it sent invitations to the survey to 225,761 parents, students, and staff.

While they floated the idea of resending the survey, the board ultimately seemed to agree that it might not be worthwhile, given the tight timeline for the search.

According to Davis, the deadline for candidates to apply for the job will be March 4. GR Recruiting will then review the applications and present a slate of candidates to the school board on March 17.

The candidates will be narrowed down with two rounds of interviews in late March, the second of which will include a panel of community members appointed by the school board. The new superintendent is expected to be announced in the first or second week of April.

“I don’t know why we didn’t get more involvement [in the survey], so I’m not really sure if reopening it would garner more results at this point and taking into consideration we’re bumping up against these tight timelines,” said school board chair Stella Pekarsky, who represents Sully District. “I am feeling the pressure to go ahead with advertising this.”

Irene Shin, the first Korean American woman to serve in Virginia’s House of Delegates, believes it’s time the Commonwealth gave kimchi its due.

Shin, who started representing the 86th District this year, has introduced a bill to celebrate Nov. 22 as Kimchi Day, a tribute to the classic Korean fermented vegetable dish.

Del. Marcus Simon, who represents Pimmit Hills, Merrifield, and the City of Falls Church in the 53rd District, has signed onto the legislation as a cosponsor.

California became the first U.S. state to make such a designation last year, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) also celebrates the day each year.

“I think it’s really an incredible opportunity to celebrate the cultural heritage and the contributions they’ve made [through] cultural diversity, especially in the northern Virginia region,” Shin said.

Called H.J. 147, the bill recognizes Korean culture’s influence and reach around the world, from K-pop music to Korean dramas.

It notes that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization “recognized Korea’s traditional process of preparation and preservation of kimchi, known as kimjang, as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage Item” in 2013.

The proposal also speaks to the region’s changing demographics. The largest Korean population in metropolitan areas in the U.S. is Los Angeles, followed by New York and D.C., according to 2019 data, the Pew Research Center found.

According to the 2020 Census, Fairfax County is now Virginia’s second most racially diverse county, in part due to an increase in its Asian population, though the data was not broken down into more specific ethnicities or nationalities.

Growing up, Shin felt the dish might be unfamiliar to people when they visited her home, but she’s seen its prevalence and popularity rise over the years. She’s eager to help celebrate that diversity like other parts of the country have, even if it means introducing the cuisine to legislators who may not have tried it.

“In Virginia, Korean is the third most spoken language other than English,” she noted. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the Commonwealth.

To mark the occasion of being sworn into office on Jan. 12, Shin wore her family’s hanbok, a traditional Korean dress.

“I hope it will serve to remind us that diversity makes our Commonwealth great,” she said on Twitter.

I wore my family’s hanbok (traditional Korean dress) to honor their sacrifices & legacy, & I hope it will serve to remind us that diversity makes our Commonwealth great. I’m ready to get to work. pic.twitter.com/HBxGM5L6SL

— irene shin (@ireneshintweets) January 12, 2022

Photo via Portugese Gravity/Unsplash

The omicron wave continues to subside in Fairfax County, which is now seeing only a third as many COVID-19 cases as it was half a month ago.

The county is averaging 753 new cases a day for the past week, compared to 2,520 cases at the current surge’s height on Jan. 13. The caseload is still above last winter’s peak of 697 cases on Jan. 17, 2021, but at this rate, it could drop below that level within a week.

The Fairfax Health District, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, reported 321 new cases today (Monday) — the fewest in a single day since Dec. 16, when the new variant was just starting to emerge in Virginia.

Even with cases plummeting, the pandemic’s danger has not passed. The county recorded nine more Covid-related deaths in the past week, bringing its death toll for January up to 20 people.

Death counts tend to lag behind cases, sometimes by weeks, due the amount of time it takes for death certificates to be filed and reported.

The district has reported a total of 169,612 COVID-19 cases, 4,416 hospitalizations, and 1,280 deaths during the pandemic.

While community transmission is still high, the Fairfax Health District has seen the pace of vaccinations flatten over the past couple of weeks, suggesting that demand in the area is nearing its ceiling.

At least one dose has been administered to 951,265 residents, or 80.4% of the population, including:

• 89.8% of people 18 and older
• 95.2% of residents aged 16 and 17
• 90.7% of 12-15 year olds
• 48.1% of 5-11 year olds

According to the Fairfax County Health Department, 842,180 residents are fully vaccinated, which amounts to 71.2% of the overall population and includes 80.1% of adults.

More snow is on the way to Fairfax County, though Northern Virginia isn’t expected to see the worst of this storm.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the D.C. area, starting at 4 p.m. today (Friday) and continuing until 4 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday).

The full alert is below:

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 AM EST SATURDAY…

* WHAT…Snow. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches.

* WHERE…The District of Columbia, and portions of central Maryland and central and northern Virginia.

* WHEN…From 4 PM this afternoon to 4 AM EST Saturday.

* IMPACTS…Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

Slow down and use caution while traveling.

When venturing outside, watch your first few steps taken on steps, sidewalks, and driveways, which could be icy and slippery, increasing your risk of a fall and injury.

Fairfax County Public Schools has canceled extracurricular programs, athletic team practices, and all other activities scheduled to take place on school grounds this afternoon and evening, as well as tomorrow morning until noon.

The Virginia Department of Transportation says its crews pretreated roads in Northern Virginia yesterday (Thursday), and approximately 2,400 trucks will start deploying around midday to treat roads as needed.

The snowstorm is expected to hit around this afternoon’s rush hour, so the department advises planning ahead to avoid non-essential travel at that time.

“Temperatures are expected to stay below freezing over the next several days, causing potential icy conditions,” VDOT said in a news release. “Treat anything that looks wet as if it could be icy, especially bridges, ramps, overpasses, and elevated surfaces. If there is snow or ice on roadways, travel is hazardous.”

In anticipation of the coming snow, Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency for Virginia yesterday, noting that areas along the state’s coastline are expected to see the biggest impact.