While Virginia’s U.S. Congressional delegation looks like it will remain largely unchanged after the 2020 general election, voters approved a state constitutional amendment that will reshape the process for how their representatives will be chosen in the future.
One of two statewide referendums on the ballot, Constitutional Amendment 1 shifts responsibility for drawing congressional and state legislative district lines from the Virginia General Assembly to a redistricting commission made up of eight legislators and eight appointed citizens.
According to the Virginia Department of Elections unofficial returns, Amendment 1 passed with 65.91% of voters casting their ballot in favor of it, though a few precincts had not yet reported results by Wednesday night and the results will not be official until they are certified on Nov. 16.
Fairfax County approved the measure by a smaller margin than the overall state, with 53.69% of voters supporting it and 46.31% opposing.
“From the start, this movement has been about putting the voices of citizens above politicians and political parties. Today, Virginia voters spoke loud and clear in approving Amendment 1,” Fair Maps VA executive director Brian Cannon and campaign co-chairs Wyatt Durrette and Bobby Vassar said in a joint statement on Wednesday (Nov. 4).
Fair Maps VA is a nonprofit advocacy organization formed in July by OneVirginia2021, the coalition of policymakers and citizens that spearheaded the redistricting commission proposal.
With Virginia set to redraw district lines next year, Fair Maps VA says the proposed commission will combat partisan gerrymandering by giving members of the public “a seat at the table” instead of leaving redistricting exclusively in the hands of legislators, as previously dictated by the Constitution of Virginia.
The General Assembly will vote on new district maps, but it will not be able to change them. If new maps are not approved by set deadlines, the Supreme Court of Virginia will draw them.
“In creating a bipartisan redistricting commission…[voters] said they want a transparent redistricting process,” Cannon, Durrette, and Vassar said. “They want civil rights protections to be added to the state constitution for the very first time. And they said that they want to end partisan gerrymandering in Virginia once and for all.” Read More
Fairfax County Police Chief Col. Edwin C. Roessler Jr. will step down from his position early next year, the Fairfax County Police Department announced this morning (Thursday).
The FCPD says Roessler will retire after eight years as Fairfax County’s police chief effective February 2021 in order to transition the agency, which is the largest police department in Virginia, to a new generation of leadership.
The FCPD’s announcement confirms news that was first reported by Washington Post journalist Justin Jouvenal.
“The FCPD is blessed with women and men, past and present, who understand their noble calling in life and are deidcated to serving and protecting others,” Roessler said. “…Our county leaders, community and its great police department are positioned to continue to serve as a model for the next generation of policing in America.”
Roessler’s tenure with the Fairfax County Police Department spans more than three decades. First hired as a police recruit in 1989, he rose to the position of deputy chief before serving as interim Chief of Police in early 2013 to replace then-Chief David Rohrer, who had been promoted to deputy county executive for public safety in October 2012.
Roessler was officially appointed as Fairfax County’s police chief by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in July 2013.
Roessler became police chief as the FCPD was facing increased scrutiny by county officials and community members after a Fairfax County police officer shot and killed Springfield resident John Geer in August 2013.
After the Board of Supervisors established an independent Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission to examine the FCPD’s policies and relationship to the community it serves, Roessler oversaw the implementation of many of the commission’s recommendations, including the creation of a body-worn camera program, the establishment of a civilian review panel and independent police auditor, and modifications to the department’s use-of-force policy.
The FCPD also started a Chief’s Diversity Council and worked with county leaders and community advocates through the Fairfax County Communities of Trust Committee, which was formed in 2015 by then-Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova and led by then-Fairfax County NAACP President Shirley Ginwright.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay thanked Roessler for “his years of service to Fairfax County and his dedication to protecting our county,” emphasizing Roessler’s efforts to work with the board to implement reforms “that have solidified the police department as a leader in transparency and community trust.”
“I know I join many in wishing the Chief continued good health and success in his next chapter,” McKay said. “I look forward to beginning the search for his successor and continuing to build on our successes in Fairfax County.”
Photo via Fairfax County
As of Thursday morning, the future of the country is still up in the air, with votes in key states still being decided and the outcome of the election is unclear.
On the sidewalks and Slack channels around the area, the election seems to be on everyone’s mind. The area’s votes have already been counted, with areas like Tysons, Merrifield, Herndon and much of Reston going for former Vice President Joe Biden while McLean and Great Falls voted for incumbent President Donald Trump.
Whichever side you picked, you might have a few more grey hairs by Thursday morning. With that being said, Tysons Reporter wanted to check in and see how folks in the area are feeling about the election.
The Fairfax County Park Authority has purchased an historic property in McLean that previously belonged to President Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski.
The county park authority announced on Monday (Nov. 2) that it had acquired the 5.45-acre land known as Spring Hill for $2.4 million funded through park bonds. Located in the Dranesville District, Spring Hill sits near the intersection of Spring Hill Road and Old Dominion Drive in McLean.
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust says he is grateful to the park authority for preserving the Spring Hill property and “many other beautiful properties in our county, for the use of current residents and future generations.”
“I also appreciate the Brzezinski family’s desire to protect the natural beauty and cultural significance of this property, and their willingness to work with the Park Authority to make sure that happened,” Foust said.
As the longtime residence of former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Spring Hill has hosted many foreign leaders, according to Fairfax County’s Public Information Officer Judy Pedersen.
Brzezinski’s wife, the renowned artist Emilie Brzezinski, previously worked on her signature wood sculptures out of a studio built in the house.
Spring Hill’s former residents, size, and attractiveness make the property historic and a remarkable acquisition for the county.
“The attraction on that property is, first and foremost, the beautiful land,” Pedersen said. “A piece that size in the McLean area is an unusual find.”
Pederson says the county acquires land in advance and later makes plans for what to do with it.
“It’s not on this year’s work plan,” Pedersen said. “Future work is going to be aligned to the availability of capital funding, and that’ll be used for planning for the design and construction process.”
Those plans also include inviting the community to voice their ideas on what to do with the property.
“That’s the discussion that we’ll go back and have with the community at some point, about what is the appropriate and most sought-after use for this lovely property,” Pederson said.
Photo via Fairfax County Park Authority
Since JEB Stuart High School morphed into Justice High School in 2018, debates over changing school names are turning into familiar territory for Fairfax County residents, but the issues they dredge up have become no less contentious.
Held in two parts on Oct. 22 and 29, the Falls Church City School Board’s public hearing on whether to rename George Mason High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School featured passionate arguments from both proponents and opponents of renaming schools that bear the monikers of historical figures tied to slavery.
At the crux of this particular name change debate are the legacies of Mason and Jefferson, which are arguably more complicated than that of Confederate leaders like Stuart or Robert E. Lee.
Arguing that romantic notions of America’s founding have wrongly overshadowed the violence Mason and Jefferson committed against the human beings they enslaved, supporters of removing their names from Falls Church schools cast this moment as a chance for the city to move away from its segregationist past and toward a more inclusive future, particularly with George Mason High School in the process of getting a brand-new campus.
“Our changing of the name will not erase or change history,” George Mason High School student Constance Meade said. “It will demonstrate that we’ve learned from our history and that we’ve chosen not to let these men represent our future and our community of students.”
Some critics of the proposed name changes argued that the ideals Mason and Jefferson espoused as the authors of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, respectively, are worthy of honoring even if they did not live up to them.
“The fact that Jefferson and Mason were slaveholders and behaved in ways viewed as completely unacceptable today does not at all outweigh the totality of their accomplishments and contributions,” Falls Church City resident and former school board member Hal Lippman said.
Other opponents contended that changing the names of schools is a symbolic gesture not worth the cost, which FCCPS estimates to be $96,760 for Mason and $13,500 for Jefferson.
“I’m a little frustrated with things that I perceive to be more on the order of virtue signaling, rather than content,” Alison Kutchma, the parent of FCCPS alumni, said. “I’d rather that our education dollars and your efforts and your meetings go to what happens inside the building.”
Name change proponents countered that the associated costs are negligible compared to the need to reckon with the damage wrought by slavery and systemic racism.
“I assure you that claiming money stands in the way of promoting an inclusive culture will not age well,” said Jamie Argento Rodriguez, the parent of two FCCPS students.
The Falls Church City School Board decided to consider changing the names of George Mason High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School on June 30 after community advocacy efforts gained renewed attention during the protests that emerged in the wake of Minneapolis police officers killing George Floyd on May 25.
The school board will review a draft survey report from the Herndon-based consultant K12 Insight on Nov. 10 before voting on whether to change the name of either school on Dec. 8.
“We’re really grateful for our community members who are taking time to share their thoughts with us,” Falls Church City School Board chair Greg Anderson said. “…The board is not endorsing or supporting any comments submitted to us, but we’re very happy to hear what you have to say.”
Photo via Falls Church City Public Schools
More than 30 companies in the D.C. metro area are looking to hire women for open positions in STEM-based fields at a Women in Technology Virtual Career Fair tomorrow (Thursday). Some of the companies include Amazon, Capital One, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
The career fair is sponsored by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and Capital One as part of an ongoing series of virtual career fairs that the FCEDA has supported in response to the COVID-19 crisis, according to a press release from the FCEDA.
The first three virtual fairs in the series attracted more than 2,100 attendees, the release says.
“More girls and women need to be exposed to the high-paying jobs in the technology sectors that are a major part of the economy of Fairfax County,” Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said.
Gross, who serves as vice chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, added that “efforts such as this career fair open up a wider talent pipeline for the companies that have so many job openings even during the pandemic.”
According to the release, only 26% of the jobs held by women in the workforce are computing-related jobs. The career fair on Nov. 5 will help connect technology professionals with top organizations in the D.C. metro area, seeking to help increase access to opportunity “in a field where women have been historically underrepresented.”
Participants will be able to browse companies through a virtual lobby, enter their booths, view open positions, engage in video conferencing, and talk with human resources representatives at the virtual fair.
“In Northern Virginia, we have more than 15,000 tech firms constantly hiring. In fact, tech job postings are growing more in Virginia than in California and New York,” FCEDA President and CEO Victor Hoskins said. “We are a region that not just embraces, but pioneers diversity: women are twice as likely to work in tech in Northern Virginia than in Silicon Valley.”
Participation in the career fair is free of charge. Employers interested in promoting their job openings can contact Mike Batt, the FCEDA Director of Talent Initiative Programs at [email protected] or visit the Employer Resources page.
Photo via the FCEDA/Instagram
Despite — or maybe because of — the coronavirus, the Virginia Department of Transportation is on track to open new express lanes on I-66 in December 2022.
“There have been some project benefits in terms of reduced traffic volumes in the corridor,” VDOT megaprojects director Susan Shaw said during a virtual presentation and Q&A last Thursday (Oct. 29).
Longer-term lane closures were possible this year that would have resulted in gridlock pre-pandemic, she said.
Construction on I-66 continues during daytime and overnight hours, as weather allows. VDOT, I-66 Express Mobility Partners, and FAM Construction — the design-builder for the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project — updated commuters and residents through two online meetings last week.
Although the express lanes are predicted to open in December 2022, some construction on the project will continue into 2023.
Many lane closures will extend through end of the year, but in areas where congestion has started to snarl during peak hours, officials are looking to add back some lanes and abate traffic.
And with the pandemic showing no signs of ending, it is “really hard to say how the overall project will be impacted,” Shaw says.
All the late-night construction means there will be noisy nights, but VDOT is working with Fairfax and local supervisors’ offices to communicate construction plans to residents, she said.
“There are some activities that have to be done at night and do have to be noisy,” Shaw said.
The ramp from I-66 East to Route 28 North was closed from 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday to 4 a.m. on Wednesday to allow for a traffic shift onto a temporary left exit ramp from Route 28 North to I-66 East, VDOT said in an email.
Officials expect the temporary ramp to be in use for four weeks, while crews finish constructing a permanent ramp from Route 28 North to I-66 East.
Drivers traveling from Lee Highway South to Route 28 North will not be able to access the temporary ramp. These drivers will need to take detours farther south on Route 29 to the I-66/Route 29 interchange in Centreville until the permanent right-side ramp from Route 28 North to I-66 East is opened.
Tysons area residents and commuters can expect a number of other construction activities to affect travel starting in mid-November, including:
- Closure of the I-66 East and Nutley Street North loop ramp, redirecting travelers exiting I-66 for Nutley onto temporary ramps
- Continued construction of a new Gallows Road bridge over I-66 in Dunn Loring, which is occurring in two phases to maintain traffic flow during construction, according to Smith
- Temporary realignment of the W&OD Trail at Idylwood Park, starting in late November and continuing for four to six months as crews build a new, permanent alignment
A new ramp at the I-495 interchange was completed recently, and deck work for a new bridge is starting soon, FAM Construction spokesperson Nancy Smith said. The I-495 interchange will have eight ramps to connect the express I-66 East/West lanes to I-495 North/South general purpose lanes.
Construction on VDOT’s I-66 Outside the Beltway project has been ongoing since 2017, starting after new express lanes opened on I-66 inside the Beltway on Dec. 4 of that year.
Watch an animated video of changes planned for I-66 here:
Photos via VDOT/Youtube
While the vote remains undecided nationally at time of writing, Fairfax County has swung heavily towards Biden. At the precinct level, however, the results are a little more divided.
Biden swept most of the precincts in the Tysons area, with Tysons itself going 57.71% for Biden. Merrifield had one of the largest percentage of support for Biden, with 62.23%.
The precincts didn’t unanimously favor Biden, however. In McLean and Spring Hill, Trump won by 55.49% and 50.71% respectively.
Further west, Trump won more securely in the Great Falls, Hickory and Seneca and Forestville precincts.
Biden won all three of Herndon’s precincts and all of Reston except Cameron Glen and North Point, which Trump won by 37 and 78 votes respectively.
In Pimmit, Biden had a 6 vote lead over Trump, taking the precinct 48.92% to 48.20%.
Because Fairfax County had such a high level of absentee voting for the 2020 general election, however, precinct level results might not be as revealing of voter attitudes in a particular area as in previous years.
According to unofficial results from the Fairfax County Office of Elections, the county has received 404,254 absentee ballots so far that were delivered by mail or in person. Absentee votes account for an estimated 51% of Fairfax County’s overall 77.5% voter turnout for this election, and with absentee ballots permitted up to noon on Friday as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3, more ballots may be added in the coming days.
All absentee ballots are counted in a central absentee precinct for Fairfax County regardless of where they came from or where they were dropped off. Biden won a decisive 80.67% of absentee votes in the county, while Trump received 17.86%.
“What we know is that Democrats swept to a large victory in Fairfax County, sending a message in their votes in the national election,” said Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University. “[Expressing] trust in a time of such political upheaval…being in a state with the only medical doctor of any state serving as Governor…[and] the ability to rely on facts in the middle of this pandemic is vital to trust in governance at such a difficult time of loss [for] too many American lives.”
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Mary Riley Styles Public Library Construction Closes N. Virginia Ave. in Falls Church — “The 100 block of N. Virginia Ave. will be closed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, to allow for work on the library renovation and expansion project.” [City of Falls Church]
Halloween House Fire in McLean Causes Serious Damage — “An abandoned house in McLean went up in flames on Halloween night, causing $621,400 in damages…The cause of the fire remains under investigation.” [Patch]
How a Tysons Task Force Built a Road Map for Redevelopment — “The Tysons Land Use Task Force provides a potential model for permitting more housing in other expensive, suburban jurisdictions.” [Greater Greater Washington]
Wawa Hosts Tesla Giveaway and Electric Car Parade in Vienna — “Not only did the event crown Luis, local resident of Alexandria, VA, with a brand-new Tesla, but the event supported sustainable environmental causes throughout Vienna.” [Wawa]
Photo courtesy Wawa
Updated at 11:00 p.m. — Falls Church Education Foundation executive director Debora Schantz-Hiscott appears likely to win the Falls Church City Council’s open seat based on preliminary results from the City of Falls Church Office of Voter Registration and Elections.
Schantz-Hiscott carried 47.5 percent of the city’s total vote after winning two out of three wards and attracting 48 percent of the 7,556 absentee ballots that had been counted on Tuesday.
Falls Church City Housing Commissioner Joshua Shokoor came in second with 27.3 percent, edging out Schantz-Hiscott to win the Third Ward, while community activist Simone Pass Tucker trailed with 11.6 percent of the vote.
The special election for the Falls Church City Council seat, which was left vacant by the late Councilmember Daniel Sze’s death from cancer in July, was part of a packed general election ballot that saw an unprecedented amount of early voting, enabled by Virginia General Assembly legislation that permitted no-excuse absentee voting.
The City of Falls Church set a record for the number of ballots cast with 8,786 votes easily surpassing the previous high of 7,860 ballots from 2016.
However, barring a massive influx of post-Election Day absentee ballots, the 82.5 percent of active, registered voters who turned out this year falls short of 2016, which had an 85.4 percent turnout. The 87.4 percent of active voters who cast ballots in the 2012 general election remains Falls Church City’s high mark for voter turnout in terms of percentages, according to Falls Church City elections director and registrar David Bjerke.
70.4 percent of Falls Church City voters turned in their ballots before Election Day. By the day’s end, the city’s central absentee precinct, which collects all absentee votes, was responsible for 7,556 ballots. The city’s three wards reported 1,230 ballots combined.
Fairfax County saw a similarly high rate of early voting with 51 percent of its 77.5 percent voter turnout coming before Election Day. As of 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the county office of elections had received 404,254 by-mail and in-person absentee ballots.
Turnout Update as of 4 p.m.
✔️ Today: 19.7%
✔️ Early Voting: 51%
✔️ Estimated Total: 70.7% of 787,000 registered voters in Fairfax CountyVote or return mailed ballots by 7 p.m. https://t.co/D58GOcVxM4#vote #vote2020 #electionday #election2020 #2020election pic.twitter.com/IRanLUVTj2
— Fairfax County Votes (@fairfaxvotes) November 3, 2020
Because Virginia will accept absentee ballots until noon on Nov. 6 as long as they are postmarked on or before Nov. 3, state and local election officials emphasized that the reported results for this year’s election are unofficial until they are certified on Nov. 16.
Based on Election Day results from its 243 precincts, which have now all reported, Fairfax County voters generally favored Democrats with presidential candidate Joe Biden, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Reps. Don Beyer (8th District) and Gerry Connolly (11th District) each leading their respective races among county voters.
Only voters in the 10th District, which encompasses parts of Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, were leaning Republican with Aliscia Andrews holding a lead over incumbent Rep. Jennifer Wexton, though as of 10:40 p.m., the vote totals in Fairfax County’s unofficial returns do not yet include absentee ballots.
Fairfax County public information officer Brian Worthy told Tysons Reporter on Tuesday that the county was anticipating around 40,000 absentee ballots to remain uncounted by 11:00 p.m., when the Virginia Department of Elections is instructing local officials to report absentee results. That number includes ballots put in drop boxes on Election Day as well as any ballots that are still being returned by mail.
“Ballots must [be] postmarked today but will be counted if they’re received by the Office of Elections by noon on this Friday,” Worthy said.
The Associated Press projected by 8:30 p.m. that Biden would win Virginia and that Warner and Beyer would be reelected.
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
