County Advertises Flat Real Estate Tax Rate — “The advertised real estate tax rate is $1.11 per $100 of assessed value. That is the county’s current rate and was proposed to remain the same under County Executive Bryan Hill’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal. The same rate or a lower rate can be adopted during the budget process, but a higher rate can not be considered.” [Patch]
Eight Displaced by Pimmit Hills House Fire — Fairfax and Arlington county firefighters were dispatched to the 2000 block of Griffith Road at 9:02 p.m. on Monday (March 6) after an unattended candle ignited a fire in the one-story house. No one was injured, but eight people were displaced and the fire caused about $30,000 in damages. [FCFRD]
No Reelection Bid for Fairfax County Delegate — “Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), the first woman and first person of Jewish faith to serve as speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, said she will not seek reelection this fall, adding to a historic loss of senior lawmakers ahead of next year’s legislative session. Filler-Corn said she plans to work to get other Democrats elected” and may run for governor in 2025. [The Washington Post]
Archaeologists Start Digging in Vienna — “An archaeological dig is taking place on our grounds! It’ll be fascinating to learn what the archaeologists uncover. The public is invited to stop by and observe the dig, see the excavation in action and talk to the archaeologists. Please visit on March 8, 11, 14, 17 during the hours of 1-3pm.” [Freeman Store & Museum/Instagram]
Majority Oppose Co-Ed Sex-Ed in Survey — “About 85% of people who responded to a Fairfax County Public Schools survey oppose proposed changes that would put boys and girls in the same classroom for certain sex education lessons…[FCPS] discussed proposed changes to its family and life education curriculum last spring, but opted in May to delay a vote on the recommendations.” [WTOP/Inside NoVA]
Search Continues for Suspect in Kingstowne Murder — “Monday marks one year since Fairfax County woman Hannah Choi vanished…Fairfax County police continue to look for [suspect Joel Mosso] Merino, who was charged in Choi’s murder. He is being charged with second-degree murder and the disposal of a body.” [ABC7]
Metro Regulator Questions Plan to Auto-Pilot Trains — “Metro announced Monday it is aiming to convert the system to a self-piloting system…by December, with the possibility of Red Line automation weeks sooner. The nearly 50-year-old rail system was designed to operate automatically and did so until a deadly train crash in 2009 prompted Metro to disable the system.” [The Washington Post]
Springfield Town Center Hops Into Spring Events — “Springfield Town Center will be celebrating the start of spring with the Bunny, the Mad Hatter and other special guests. Family photos with the Bunny and a Mad Hatter Tea Party will be held at Springfield Town Center starting later this month.” [Patch]
It’s Wednesday — Clear throughout the day. High of 49 and low of 30. Sunrise at 6:32 am and sunset at 6:09 pm. [Weather.gov]
(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Over the past two years, salaries have ticked up for local elected officials across Northern Virginia, and Fairfax County doesn’t want to get left out.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 today (Tuesday) to consider raising the annual pay to somewhere in the $125,000 to $130,000 range for board members and up to $140,000 to $145,000 for the chairman at a public hearing later this month.
Current Board Chair Jeff McKay earns $100,000 per year, while the supervisors earn $95,000 a year.
“I recognize all the challenges we have with compensation,” said Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, who introduced the motion. “We’re all committed to addressing them as best we can, but I just think we should be able to move forward with this and ensure future board are adequately compensated.”
In accordance with Virginia law, the new salaries would go into effect when a new board takes office on Jan. 1, 2024, if they’re approved. The Board of Supervisors last got a pay raise in 2015.
According to data collected by staff, Fairfax County pays its board chair and supervisors more than any other locality in Northern Virginia, where the next highest salaries can be found in Loudoun County. On the low end of the scale, Alexandria City Council members receive just $37,500, and its chair gets $40,000.
The proposed ranges would bring Fairfax County closer to D.C. and Maryland, where legislators are compensated as full-time employees. In Virginia, even state lawmakers officially work part-time, an approach that some argue is outdated and untenable.
Foust, who is retiring after this year, said he views his position as a full-time job, noting that supervisors participate in regional groups like the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and are “rightly” expected to be responsive around the clock, thanks to the availability of email, texting and social media.
From Foust’s board matter:
A reasonable compensation increase recognizes the growing responsibilities and expectations of this job and will help Fairfax County attract Board members who are able to meet those demands, reflect the age, gender, and racial diversity of our County, and who do not need to rely on outside employment or personal wealth to do so. Compensation should not be a barrier to run for, or serve in, public office.
However, some board members balked at the idea of raising their own salaries at a time when the county is grappling with high real estate taxes and inflation.
While agreeing that the life of a supervisor is busy, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity lamented that board raises are being considered when the county’s starting pay for police officers is reportedly the lowest in the D.C. region, according to ABC7.
He also noted that the budget for fiscal year 2023, which began on July 1, allocated an additional $1.1 million to cover personnel and operating expenses for the chair and district superviors offices. Read More
A 26-year-old man from Vienna died on Saturday (March 3) after crashing in the Rosslyn tunnel on I-66.
Virginia State Police are now investigating the single-vehicle crash in Arlington County, including to determine whether “excessive speed” was a contributing factor, according to a news release.
The driver, Talaat Hamooh, died while being transported to a hospital. A passenger identified as Hussain Aljahdali sustained minor injuries.
The full VSP news release is below.
At 3:37 a.m. on Saturday (March 3), Virginia State Police responded to a single-vehicle crash on westbound I-66 at the Rosslyn Tunnel.
A 2018 Range Rover was traveling west on I-66 when it ran off the right side of the road and struck a jersey wall just before the tunnel. It then traveled into the tunnel and overturned.
The driver, Talaat B. Hamooh, 26, of Vienna, Va., died during transport. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle.
A passenger, Hussain A. Aljahdali, 29, of Arlington, Va., sustained minor injuries in the crash. He was wearing a seatbelt.
Excessive speed is being investigated as a contributing factor in the crash. The crash remains under investigation.
An expansion of the criminal charges eligible for record-sealing in Virginia has led to a surge in petitions for expungement to Fairfax County’s courts.
Faced with that increased caseload, the courts have moved to streamline the process by no longer requiring those petitioning for an expungement to attend a hearing, the Office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney announced last week.
As of March 1, a court hearing is only required if a petition is rejected.
“Previously, individuals would have to come to court for a one-minute hearing, which is a considerable burden if you’re unable to take off work, get childcare, or have other barriers to attending,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said. “Now, individuals can petition for an expungement by filing paperwork, which will be reviewed weekly.”
The process change was initiated by the Fairfax County Circuit Court judges, according to Court Clerk John Frey. It was implemented in a partnership between the judges, the clerk’s office and county prosecutors.
In Virginia, expungement removes criminal records from public view and prohibits access to them without a court order.
The Fairfax County Circuit Court received 701 expungement petitions between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023 — about three times more than the 211 petitions taken up the preceding year, according to data provided by Frey.
The court has taken in a total of 1,438 expungements over the past five years, including 168 petitions from March 1, 2018 to March 1, 2019, 200 in 2019-2020 and 158 in 2020-2021.
Frey attributes the increase over the past year directly to new laws adopted by the General Assembly in 2021 that introduced automatic sealing and significantly expanded the kinds of charges that can be sealed with a petition.
“The General Assembly made it much easier to obtain an expungement,” he said.
Currently, Virginia only expunges records if the petitioner is found not guilty, has the charges dropped or dismissed, or gets pardoned. In other words, a conviction will be public forever, regardless of how much time passes or the type of crime.
Under the 2021 law, which will take full effect in 2025, the state will automatically seal dismissed charges, acquittals, certain misdemeanor convictions, and cases where the person completes a “deferred disposition program,” such as Fairfax County’s specialized drug and mental health dockets.
Misdemeanors eligible for automatic sealing include simple marijuana possession, underage drinking, shoplifting, trespassing and disorderly conduct. The person must wait seven years since the conviction and have no new convictions during that time to have their record sealed.
The law also allows individuals convicted of other misdemeanors and Class 5 or 6 felonies to petition for expungement.
While automatic sealing won’t begin until 2025, the law has simplified the petitioning process by eliminating a fingerprint requirement, according to the Legal Aid Justice Center, which says expunging a criminal record typically takes at least nine months.
“A person’s criminal record can follow them around for a lifetime — even if they haven’t been convicted of the charges — potentially limiting their ability to get a job, benefits, or housing,” Descano said. “For people who want to start fresh, old criminal charges can prevent them from stabilizing their lives.”
Mezeh is ready to open its doors at Tysons Corner Center.
A grand opening for the fast-casual Mediterranean chain’s new location at the mall will be held tomorrow (Wednesday). The restaurant is in the former Le Pain Quotidien next to Bloomingdale’s.
“We knew that Tysons Corner would be a great place to have a mezeh, but we didn’t know when it would happen,” Mezeh Managing Partner Patrick Mika said by email. “With this free-standing location outside of Bloomingdale’s, we expect to gain a lot more exposure for the mezeh brand at this mall location compared to our other mall locations.”
Mezeh has over 30 locations across the mid-Atlantic region, including spots in Reston, Fair Oaks and Springfield. It serves build-your-own pita pockets, flatbread wraps and rice, salad or pilaf bowls.
The 3,134-square-foot Tysons restaurant will have the unique twist of serving as a test kitchen, where the company will try out new recipes and entrees, according to Mika.
“[That] will be very exciting for both us and our customers,” he said.
To celebrate, the eatery will give customers at the grand opening a free bowl with the purchase of a drink and a $10 credit that can be used during a future visit. The promotion will be available for purchases made in the store that day from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5:30-8:30 p.m.
The free bowl will still carry a $2 charge if the order includes steak or lamb.
Other recent changes at Tysons Corner Center include a Peachwave frozen yogurt stall that opened in the third-floor food court last week. In addition, two interactive pop-ups centered around candy and Dr. Seuss are on their way to the mall.
FCPD Uses Tech to Track Guns Used in Crimes — “A computer technology that can match the unique marks a gun makes on cartridge casings is helping detectives in Fairfax County, Virginia, to track down people suspected of violent crimes more quickly…Fairfax County is the only local department in the region with the system.” [NBC4]
County Highlights Women’s Stories — “In honor and recognition of Women’s History Month, we are sharing a few stories of amazing women leaders throughout Fairfax County, as well as events in March that highlight compelling stories about women’s contributions to society.” [Fairfax County]
McLean Woman to Plead Insanity in Murder Trial — “Potential jurors were told Monday that a Fairfax County, Virginia, woman charged with killing her 5- and 15-year-old daughters in their McLean apartment in 2018 will use an insanity defense…Youngblood is accused of shooting her daughters, 5-year-old Brooklynn Youngblood and 15-year-old Sharon Castro, in their home in August 2018.” [WTOP]
Independent Joins School Board Race — “Saundra Davis…announced her candidacy Monday for one of the three at-large seats on the Fairfax County School Board. Davis, who lives in Burke with her family, said she is running for the school board partly in response to the county school system’s policy of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.” [Patch]
Dunn Loring Fire Caused by Smoking Materials — “On Saturday, March 4, at 6:02 p.m., units from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and the Arlington County Fire Department were dispatched for a house fire in the 2100 block of Tysons Executive Court.” There were no injuries, but three people have been displaced, and the fire caused approximately $100,000 in damages. [FCFRD]
Open Strollers Now Allowed on Metrobus — “Effective immediately, open strollers are welcome on Metrobus, replacing a policy that required strollers to be folded before boarding. The public is invited to learn more about the policy and enjoy kid-friendly giveaways…March 7, from 8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m. near Eastern Market Station” [WMATA]
Former Herndon Delegate Will Seek Senate Seat — “[Ibraheem] Samirah originally planned to run for the 26th House District this year but decided to run for the 32nd Senate District after its incumbent, John Bell, announced last week that he would not run for reelection while he seeks treatment for prostrate cancer.” [Washingtonian]
Overnight Lane Closures on Maple Avenue — “Commuter Alert! Due to utility work, lane closures on Maple Avenue, between Glyndon Street and Branch Road, will begin at 9 p.m. [Monday]. The utility work and lane closures will occur from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. through Thursday, March 9. Please use caution when driving in the area.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
Route 1 Widening Requires Bank to Relocate — “The Wells Fargo branch located in the Colonial Revival-style building at 8770 Richmond Highway in Woodlawn will relocate to the opposite side of the highway later this spring as part of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Richmond Highway Corridor Improvements project.” [On the MoVe]
It’s Tuesday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 51 and low of 37. Sunrise at 6:33 am and sunset at 6:08 pm. [Weather.gov]
Fairfax County could be getting more money from opioid settlements, funding that local leaders said is desperately needed to stem a growing crisis.
Opioid Task Force Coordinator Ellen Volo spoke to the Board of Supervisors’ Health and Human Services Committee at a meeting last Tuesday (Feb. 28).
“Across the state, there’s been a shocking increase in overdoses in the last couple of years,” Volo said. “We’ve seen an increase across all ages locally as well.”
Volo said Fairfax County has seen a concerning increase in youth overdoses. Nearly all of them involved fentanyl.
The report to the Board of Supervisors said fatal and non-fatal overdoses for youth trended higher in 2022 compared to previous years.
The report also indicated that 6 out of every 10 counterfeit prescription pills in a Drug Enforcement Agency test contained a lethal dose.
Volo said Fairfax County’s focus is on expanding substance abuse treatment facilities.
“The big bucket of work has been enhancing and expanding substance abuse treatment for youth,” Volo said. “When you look at the nation, certainly the region as well, there is a scarcity of appropriate treatment options.”
Volo said a regional, multi-pronged approach is needed to build capacity for substance abuse treatment, but Fairfax County has hit some stumbling blocks along the way.
“It’s been difficult to find providers of detox and residential service,” she said. “We’re working to establish partnerships. It’s ideal to have this capacity in the region and in-house.”
For the opioid settlements, Volo said the situation is “very fluid” in terms of how much money is available, but it’s clear that the funds must be used for abatement purposes.
In the near-term, Fairfax County should apply this spring to the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority to fund detox and treatment services at a regional level, Volo said. The county should also launch a survey to gather local and regional input on substance abuse treatment services and other opioid resource needs.
In the October 2023 to April 2024 time frame, Volo said the county should undergo an internal process to organize requests for funding to opioid-related projects and an Opioid Settlement Executive Committee will vet the proposed projects.
County leaders said the help can’t come soon enough.
“We lost a 17-year-old student in my community last summer,” Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said. “We’ve heard consistently [there’s a] need for additional treatment service, for inpatient and outpatient services, but the outpatient ones are critical.”
Photo via DEA/Flickr
As a steady drizzle of rain provided an appropriately somber atmosphere, the parents of Timothy McCree Johnson and their supporters gathered in front of the Fairfax County Government Center on Friday (March 3) to call for justice after his recent death in a police shooting outside Tysons Corner Center.
With support from the Fairfax County NAACP, top among the family’s demands are the continued call for an independent investigation of the shooting and the prompt release of body-worn camera footage captured by the two police officers who fired their guns.
The Fairfax County Police Department maintains that the footage will be made public within 30 days of the shooting, in accordance with its information release policy, but Johnson’s mother, Melissa Johnson, questioned why she and her family needs to wait that long to see what happened to her son.
“The Johnson family needs to see the unedited footage of the body-worn cameras, and they need to see it now,” said Carl Crews, an attorney for the family. “They need to know what the officer perceived that he thought was a threat to his life from Timothy, that was running away from him. The longer it takes for us, for the Johnson family to see the footage, the more time we will have to simply speculate as to what happened.”
A 37-year-old D.C. resident, Johnson was shot once in the chest around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 by officers who pursued him after he was allegedly seen trying to shoplift a pair of sunglasses from Nordstorm.
The FCPD identified the officers involved as Sgt. Wesley Shifflett, a 7-year veteran of the department, and Police Officer First Class James Sadler, an 8-year veteran, on March 4 — exactly 10 days after the shooting, as required by its policy.
Shifflett and Sadler were assigned to the Tysons Urban Team, a 12-officer unit based in Tysons Corner Center that was introduced in 2013. They both have certificates of valor from the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which honored Shifflett in 2020 and Sadler in 2018.
They’re currently on restricted duty status as criminal and administrative investigations into Johnson’s shooting continue.
The identification of the officers hasn’t changed the Johnson family’s desire to see the body camera video or have the shooting investigated by an entity outside the police department, Crews told FFXnow.
The FCPD announced on Friday that the D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) will examine officer-involved shootings since 2021, but the review will focus on overall trends, rather than specific incidents.
“I don’t have a comment about that,” Melissa Johnson said when asked about the PERF review. “Let the police take care of what they need to do to earn public trust or to police themselves.”
Even with the rain, Friday’s vigil drew about 50 attendees, including General Assembly candidates Saddam Azlan Salim and Shyamali Roy Hauth.
Fairfax County NAACP President Michelle Leete and Rev. Dr. Vernon Walton, a senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of Vienna, placed Johnson among other victims of police violence, invoking names like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Natasha McKenna, who died after being restrained and shocked by Fairfax County sheriff’s deputies in 2015.
Police still too often use deadly force against Black and brown individuals in particular, despite efforts to train officers to deescalate situations and widespread protests that have increased awareness of racism in the justice system, they said.
“I don’t want to be here, but Tim Johnson’s life meant more than an inanimate object,” Leete said.
Melissa Johnson expressed appreciation for the activists and other community members who came to the vigil.
She said she felt it was important to “return to the atmosphere in which Timothy took his last breath.” While her son had struggles in the past, including a conviction on felony gun charges, none of that is related to or justifies the police shooting and killing him, she said.
“Timothy is loved, Timothy is beloved, and I really wanted to bring humanness, that this is not a check-the-box template of what we do when such tragedies happen,” Melissa Johnson said. “This was my son, and this is a case-by-case basis, so we’re going to stand patiently and we’re going to wait to see what happens, but we’re watching.”
The Mosaic District roller skating rink won’t come back this year, but the development is still holding out hope for ice skating in the future.
Rink Management Services Corporation, which operates Mosaic Skateland, has decided it won’t “be doing any roller skating during this warm weather season,” Fairfax County’s planning staff told the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) at a Feb. 1 meeting.
With no roller skating planned for this summer, the company asked the BZA for another continuance of the public hearing on its request for a special permit that would allow roller skating and ice skating on a seasonal basis in the Merrifield neighborhood.
“They’re reevaluating their plans for perhaps next winter,” staff coordinator Brandon McCadden told the BZA. “At this point, they’ve asked to continue later into the spring to give them time to work on their plans for a winter ice event that would occur starting next November, December.”
A decision on the case has now been postponed four times after the board unanimously agreed to grant the continuance.
EDENS, the property owner and developer behind the Mosaic District, didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Mosaic Skateland was introduced in June 2021 with a launch event tied into LGBTQ Pride Month. The temporary roller rink returned in a different location by Barnes & Noble last year.
The developer and Rink Management Services filed for a special permit from the county last April, proposing that the roller rink become a regular pop-up every spring and that an ice rink be added during the winter months.
However, Mosaic residents took issue with the proposed facilities at a July 13 public hearing, worrying about the potential noise and traffic impacts, and the BZA later criticized the applicant’s public outreach efforts as lacking.
County staff indicated at an Oct. 19 meeting that the rink proposal will likely be “substantially” different when it next goes before the board.
At last month’s meeting, McCadden noted that the county may get updates before June, but for now, the case won’t return to the BZA until June 14.
Several parks in the county will get a funding boost for renovation work through a matching fund grant approved by the Fairfax County Park Authority earlier this month.
The grant program, Mastenbook Volunteer Matching Fund Grant, will power community-led restoration projects at three parks and the batting facility at Chantilly Park.
So far, the FCPA has allocated roughly $31,000 for the projects, which are expected to cost nearly $72,000.
The largest grant allocated $20,000 to the expansion of the Chantilly Park batting facility, which will replace the two existing cages with three hitting stations, while keeping four “soft-toss stations for additional practice space,” according to the park authority’s news release.
A chemical treatment plan to restore the habitat in the Churchill Road and Lewinsville parks in McLean will be funded by roughly $4,000 from the FCPA.
The project will follow work by the McLean Trees Foundation, which planted and maintained 28 native trees in the area and managed the removal of invasive plant species.
“Progress on these efforts has been slowed by the persistent regrowth of invasive species,” the park authority says. “MTF has proposed to launch a more sustainable chemical treatment plan to be implemented by an FCPA-managed contractor to accelerate the habitat restoration.”
Additionally, roughly $7,340 was allocated to restore a family garden next to the recently restored Miller’s House at Colvin Run Mill.
The funds were requested by Friends of Colvin Run Mill to clean the area, repair the stone border, remove invasive plants, plant, much and install interactive markers in the area. The organization will contribute $7,338 to complete funds for the project.
The Mastenbook grant program was established to bridge the gap between bond funding and community desires for new neighborhood facilities. Since it started in 1999, the program has awarded roughly $2 million in grants.
