(Updated at 1 a.m. on 6/21/2023) The Fairfax County Democratic Committee has congratulated incumbent Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano as its nominee in one of the most closely watched races in the 2023 Democratic primary.
Descano received about 55.4% of the vote over challenger Ed Nuttall, who ended with 44.6% after shrinking a larger early deficit, according to the Virginia Department of Elections’ unofficial results.
With 75% of the vote, Sheriff Stacey Kincaid has been congratulated by the FCDC as its nominee, putting her on track for a third full term. The county’s first female sheriff, she faced a challenge by former D.C. police officer and Herndon High School football coach Kelvin Garcia.
Incumbents Jeff McKay and Dan Storck also snagged nominations, respectively, for the chair and Mount Vernon District seats on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
In the Dranesville District, the FCDC has declared its former Democratic committee chair, Jimmy Bierman, as its nominee to succeed longtime Supervisor John Foust, who is retiring after this year. Bierman bested McLean Citizens Association board member David R. Fiske with about 70% of the vote.
The Mason District supervisor race — the most crowded local contest on the ballot — is leaning toward Mason District Planning Commissioner Andres Jimenez, who has just 134 more votes than the next-highest candidate, local business owner Reid Voss.
Vying for the chance to challenge incumbent Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, the board’s only Republican, tech entrepreneur Albert Vega has 55% of the vote so far compared to 44.9% for Fairfax County firefighter John Nowadly.
Looking at the Virginia General Assembly, some upsets may be in store for the 36th and 37th Senate Districts.
In the 36th District, Sully District school board representative Stella Pekarsky currently has just a 394-vote lead over George Barker, who has served in the state Senate since 2008 but was one of several local senators affected by redistricting in 2021.
In the 37th District, challenger Saddam Azlan Salim has a 592-vote lead over incumbent Chap Petersen, who has represented the Vienna and Fairfax City area for 16 years. Salim campaigned as “progressive” alternative to Petersen, who sometimes deviates from the party line and joined forces with Kincaid and Nuttall as a “common sense team.”
Incumbent state Sen. Dave Marsden is poised to win in the 35th District, while one-time gubernatorial Jennifer Carroll Foy looks likely to beat former lieutenant governor candidate Hala Ayala for the Senate District 33 nomination.
In a four-way race to succeed longtime Del. Ken Plum for the 7th House District, at-large Fairfax County School Board member Karen Keys-Gamarra is ahead with 36.5% of the vote, followed in order by Air Force veteran Shyamali Roy Hauth, teacher Paul Berry and systems engineer Mary Barthelson.
Retiring after 44 years in office, Plum endorsed Keys-Gamarra as his successor earlier this year, stating that she “reflects the progressive Democratic values I have always represented.”
Finally, Springfield District school board representative Laura Jane Cohen has been declared the nominee for the 15th House District after securing 68% of the vote.
“When I decided to run for the House of Delegates I promised that I would stand up to Governor Youngkin and the far right to defend public education, reproductive freedom, voting rights, our environment, and the progress we’ve made on gun violence prevention,” Cohen said in a message to supporters. “I maintain that promise, and am honored that the people of the 15th district have chosen me to be their Democratic nominee.”
Voter turnout for today’s Democratic primary has been more of a trickle than a stream, despite some pivotal races appearing on the ballot in Fairfax County.
By 1 p.m., just 2.6% of registered voters had cast a ballot today, the Fairfax County Office of Elections reported. That put the total turnout for the primary at an estimated 7.2%, including early in-person and mail voting.
Vienna’s Cunningham Park Elementary School was creeping past 180 voters around 1:30 p.m. The precinct hoped to reach 300 voters for the day, according to a volunteer handing out pamphlets for 37th Senate District candidate Saddam Azlan Salim, who’s challenging incumbent Chap Petersen.
Over in Bailey’s Crossroads, the Bailey’s Community Center had counted just 91 voters by that time.
In our 2nd report for the day, estimated turnout at the polls has now reached 2.6% for today's Democratic primary. So far, the total turnout for this election is estimated at 7.2% when including the #votebymail & early votes cast before today. pic.twitter.com/g2u74LT88Q
— Fairfax County Votes (@fairfaxvotes) June 20, 2023
With the county leaning decidedly Democratic in recent years, the primary results could determine the ultimate winners of key local and state elections, including Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney, where incumbent Steve Descano is in a heated battle with defense attorney Ed Nuttall. No Republican candidates for the office have emerged so far.
Other races in today’s primary include county sheriff, five Fairfax County Board of Supervisors seats and seven seats in the Virginia General Assembly. The full Board of Supervisors and General Assembly, along with the Fairfax County School Board, will be on the ballot in November’s general election.
Today’s turnout will need to double by the time polls close at 7 p.m. for the percentage to match the last Democratic primary with the same races on the ballot. The June 11, 2019 primary recorded a 10.3% turnout, per county records.
Notably, the number of active, registered voters in the county was actually higher four years ago at 721,716 people. The county currently has 717,116 active, registered voters, according to an Office of Elections spokesperson.
The exact reason for the drop is unclear, but the county’s population growth has slowed since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, declining in 2021 for the first time since 1840 before a slight uptick last year.
Vienna residents can get a look at their library’s past and future next week at a book talk that will double as a reveal of the planned design for the new facility.
Design plans for the upcoming Patrick Henry Library renovation will be unveiled to the public for the first time at a “Liberty and Libraries” event at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street SE) on Wednesday, June 28, according to the event page.
Fairfax County Public Library Director Jessica Hudson and a member of the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services’ Capital Improvement Program (CIP) team will be in attendance.
In addition to the design unveiling, the event will feature a talk by local librarians Chris Barbuschak and Suzanne LaPierre about their book “Desegregation in Northern Virginia Libraries,” which delves into the racist practices deployed by FCPL and other public library systems when they emerged in the 1930s and the subsequent fight to integrate them.
“The [authors] will speak about the major civil rights activists who successfully desegregated local public libraries during the Jim Crow era,” the event page says. “The talk will highlight parts of the story that include the Vienna community and the establishment of the Patrick Henry Library.”
Set to run from 6:30-8 p.m., the event is free, but registration is encouraged.
“Liberty and Libraries” is part of Vienna’s Liberty Amendments Month festivities, which kicked off on Saturday (June 17) with a Juneteenth Celebration. Dubbed “Library Week,” the week of June 25 to July 1 will focus on the 14th Amendment that granted citizenship to everyone born or naturalized in the U.S., overturning the Dred Scott decision that denied citizenship to Black people.
While this will be the first public presentation of the new Patrick Henry Library designs, earlier concepts were reviewed by the Vienna Town Council last year.
The county has proposed replacing the existing 13,817-square-foot community library at 101 Maple Avenue East with a roughly 18,000-square-foot facility accompanied by a parking garage. Planned features of the new library include a larger children’s section, technology upgrades and an outdoor plaza.
When presented with a concept last summer, the council feared the garage will dwarf the actual library, questioning whether a garage level could be moved underground or a second story could be added to the library to allow more open space on the 1.4-acre lot.
A more detailed concept presented in September appeared to allay those concerns, revising the parking garage from four levels to three with an open top deck featuring solar panels. The garage will have 209 spaces: 125 dedicated to the library and 84 available to the Town of Vienna for general use.
As homelessness increases in Fairfax County, affected residents can use revamped county resources to cope with extreme summer heat.
The county will activate its extreme heat response when the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory, excessive heat watch or excessive heat warning.
As part of the response, 47 county facilities are now designated as cooling centers and will provide supplies, such as water, sunscreen, insect repellant, body wipes, and bus passes, according to a presentation to the Board of Supervisors’ health and human services committee last week.
“Like in previous years, all county facilities that are open to the public can be used by residents to come in for cooling,” Jill Clark, health and human services policy and planning manager with Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services, said in the presentation.
The cooling center facilities include all libraries and community centers. In those locations, staff will be prepared to welcome residents in need, and there will be supplies and seating in designated spaces.
Supplies will also be available at shelters and drop-in centers and from outreach workers. Most of the supplies are single-use and/or lightweight and portable. The decision to supply single-use items, among other parts of the plan, came from feedback from a September 2022 survey of 81 unsheltered residents.
“In the responses, you could hear the challenges they experienced both in terms of discomfort and real negative health effects from the extreme heat, including nausea, shortness of breath, exhaustion, asthma attacks, inability to eat as well as sunburns and rashes,” said Tom Barnett, deputy director of housing and community development in the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness.
The county will also aim to better notify unsheltered residents about heat advisories by using a new dedicated channel of Fairfax Alerts.
“We learned through the unsheltered residents survey that most respondents actually have a phone with internet access, and actually prefer getting information about resources and heat alerts via text messages and emails,” Barnett said.
To help residents get to cooling centers, drop-in centers or weather-related overflow sites, the county will offer free Fairfax Connector bus passes in the form of 3,000 postcards that cover two rides each. In addition, the county will provide pre-loaded Transportation Options, Programs & Services (TOPS) cards to assist unsheltered residents who cannot access Fairfax Connector buses.
These changes came out of recommendations from a workgroup that formed in August 2022 in response to concerns raised by the Fairfax County NAACP. The board received the workgroup’s recommendations in a March memorandum.
“The work group and its four committees included a robust membership across many different county departments as well as key partners and representatives from the homeless service providers, the faith community and advocates,” Barnett said.
Fairfax County wants to bridge the gap between employers and qualified talent through a work-based learning opportunity initiative.
Talent Up will match local employers facing hiring challenges with qualified talent through paid temporary-to-permanent work-based learning internships, staff explained to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at an economic initiatives committee meeting last week.
According to the presentation, Talent Up will offer a variety of solutions to employers facing hiring challenges:
- Targets hard-to-fill, entry-level professional gateway jobs
- Repositions work-based learning as low-risk temporary to permanent hiring on-ramp
- Incentivizes employer participation by underwriting work-based learning wages
- Advises employers on revising job descriptions to focus on skills-based hiring, increasing the pool of qualified applicants by up to 50%
- Easy access to hundreds of candidates via talent development partners
“There’s a lot of movement going on in the workforce space right now — movement towards skills-based hiring, and we believe that this can dramatically accelerate that movement,” Bill Browning, workforce innovation manager at the Fairfax County Department of Family Services, said of the initiative.
The focus will be on gateway jobs such as information technology specialists, accounting clerks, sales representatives, and office administrative support.
“These are entry-level professional jobs, where there’s reams of data showing that they’re great springboards for future advancement and career advancement for candidates,” Browning added.
According to his presentation, Fairfax County had more than 67,000 job openings in May of this year, and 71% of employers in Northern Virginia reported it being more difficult to fill jobs now than last year, or even just a few months ago.
The initiative will also address what Browning called the “missing middle.”
“We’re looking at middle-skilled jobs that require some skills beyond high school, but perhaps not a college degree,” he said. “And we’re also looking at some of those midsize employers that don’t have some of the advantages large employers have.”
How it works:
- Business outreach: Initial focus on small to medium-sized employers
- Advise: Address hard to fill occupations and sponsor new temporary-to-permanent internships
- Match: Talent partners’ referrals to generate qualified candidates to interview
- Choose: Employers select interns
- Support: Coaching and training support during internship to increase success rates
- Success: Convert internships into full-time offers or place interns into new jobs
Theresa Benincasa, manager of economic mobility with the Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives, said the plan is to get started right away with the board’s approval.
“We’re going to just go ahead and do a launch event in the fall with board approval. We’ll start doing events with workers to communicate, we’ll do some one-to-one engagement,” she continued.
To be eligible for Talent Up, employers must have a physical presence in Fairfax County and be ready to establish a work-based learning internship.
Job seekers must be county residents, meet the skills requirements of an open internship and be impacted by pandemic-related unemployment, underemployed or seeking greater economic mobility.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay voiced support for the initiative, saying it builds resilience.
“If you can help some folks move into these jobs, not only do we help our employers, we help those individuals. But it’s a resilience thing where their lives can change dramatically for the better,” he said.
The program will seek the board’s approval at the July 11 meeting.
Photo via Eric Prouzet/Unsplash
The senior living component of Falls Church City’s mixed-use West Falls development has hit a snag, even as construction continues on other pieces of the future gateway to the city.
WF Developer, the development team led by Hoffman & Associates, informed city leaders in April that Trammel Crow had withdrawn from its contract to build the project’s 217-unit senior housing facility, according to a staff report.
Negotiations are underway with a new developer, but a 13-month extension is needed on the June 13 deadline to transfer the site’s ground lease, Hoffman Senior Vice President of Development Mary Beth Avedesian told the Falls Church City Council on June 12.
The council approved an extension that pushed the closing deadline back to July 15, 2024 and the deadline for substantial completion of construction from May 13, 2029 to July 15, 2031.
“Frankly, when you’re past 2025, it’s almost like fake dates,” Vice Mayor Letty Hardi said, expressing hope that the senior living building will be finished “well before” the new deadline. “…I would hate this to start running into the phase 2 commitments.”
In exchange for the extension, WF Developer agreed to several new commitments, according to Deputy City Manager Cindy Mester, including:
- Cover up to $5,000 of the city’s legal fees
- Install a temporary flashing pedestrian signal at Mustang Alley and Haycock Road three weeks before the new school year begins on Aug. 21
- Identify the new preferred senior living developer to the council by Sept. 30
- Begin construction on the senior living facility within 60 months of closing a deal, which would be July 15, 2029 at the latest
- Add and maintain a “decorative treatment” on the blank, concrete wall of a parking garage on Haycock that’s currently under construction
The temporary pedestrian signal is expected to be replaced by a permanent one by the end of this calendar year, according to city staff.
Approved on Oct. 24, the site plan for the senior living facility envisioned a 15-story, 267,700-square-foot building with 140 independent living units, 55 assisted living units, 22 memory care studio units and 7,700 square feet of ground-floor retail uses.
Located on the nearly 10-acre former George Mason High School site, the West Falls development will also deliver approximately 647 apartment and condominium units, a 146-room hotel, 326,100 square feet of office space, about 14,000 square feet of civic space, and 142,100 square feet of retail, including a potential 40,000-square-foot grocer that has yet to be identified.
The project broke ground in May 2022 and will transform the area around the West Falls Church Metro station in conjunction with a planned redevelopment of the station’s parking lot and an expansion of Virginia Tech’s neighboring Northern Virginia Center campus.
The first phase — which includes two parking garages, a medical office building by Trammel Crow, the hotel, a multifamily condo building, and an apartment building with the grocery store — is on track to be substantially complete in January 2025, according to Avedesian.
The first structure expected is a parking garage to serve the medical office building. Avedesian said the garage should be finished this summer.
“I think they’re expecting to be done towards the end of this year,” she said of the office building. “They’re negotiating directly with tenants, and I understand they have a deed on some very good tenants, medical tenants that will take a good portion of that building.”
The senior living facility was originally included in the first phase of the development but is now being considered “phase 1B,” Avedesian said. Phase 2 will bring additional retail and office space, as well as a second condo building.
City Manager Wyatt Shields said phase 2 could start in 2029, but Hoffman’s agreement with the city allows it to pay for up to three one-year extensions, meaning construction could begin as late as 2032.
Polls Open for Democratic Primary — “Tuesday, June 20 is primary election day, though early voting began in early May. While the general election is set for November, the county is overwhelmingly Democratic, so the candidates who win the primaries will be favored this fall.” [FFXnow]
Five People Attacked by Dogs in Oakton — “Two dogs are in Animal Protection Police custody after they bit & attacked five people to include 2 officers. Incident occurred in 3100 blk Elmendorf Dr, Oakton. Dog owner has been located. All parties being treated for injuries not believed to be life threatening. Preliminarily, dogs have been identified as pitbull mixes.” [FCPD/Twitter]
Three Displaced by Belle Haven House Fire — “On Friday, June 9, at 8:31 p.m., units from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched for a house fire in the 2300 blk of Windsor Road.” Investigators determined the fire was accidentally ignited in the basement by an overheated surge protector. It caused about $100,000 in damages. [FCFRD]
Lawsuit Over McLean Bible Church Election Revived — “The Court of Appeals of Virginia says members of a Tysons Corner megachurch can continue part of their lawsuit over a disputed 2021 leadership election…The suit was filed by five church members who alleged senior pastor David Platt and the board of elders violated the church’s constitution by wrongfully deeming members ‘inactive’ and therefore deprived of them of their right to vote in a regular election for three elder positions in June 2021.” [WUSA9]
Dead Body Subject of Fairfax Homicide Investigation — “City of Fairfax Police identified city resident Luis Barahona Reyes, 50, on Friday, as the deceased adult found [June 4] morning in a dumpster at a strip mall on Fairfax Boulevard. Reyes’ death is being investigated as a homicide.” [Patch]
FCPS Apologizes for Phishing Test Email to Staff — “The email was seemingly sent from the school district — complete with a Fairfax County Public Schools logo — thanking employees for their work and offering gift cards as a sign of appreciation…But teachers who clicked the link didn’t get a gift card. They had just been phished — sort of.” [The Washington Post]
Fairfax Kids Raise Money for Animal Rescue — “It’s time to get uplifted with 9-year-old Ashley and 8-year-old’s Caroline and Harper — three friends who have been hard at work raising money for Homeward Trails Animal Rescue by selling lemonade and pastries. This is the second year that they’ve set up shop, and business is booming.” [WUSA9]
Local Residents Share Owl Sightings — “Some people in Fairfax County, Virginia, are spotting more and more owls, right in their backyards. ‘Be happy you got the chance to see an owl, you don’t get to see them everyday,’ Fairfax County Ecologist David Lawlor said.” [WTOP]
It’s Tuesday — A slight chance of rain after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 80. East wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. [Weather.gov]
Assault charges could be on deck for a Vienna man who allegedly chased and grabbed a boy during a youth baseball game earlier this week.
Vienna police officers were called to 133 Maple Avenue East at 8 p.m. on Wednesday (June 14) after getting a report of a man grabbing a juvenile at Waters Field (300 Cherry Street), according to the police department’s crime round-up for the week of June 9-15.
Identifying himself as being “with” the local Babe Ruth Baseball League, the man told police that the league has faced “an ongoing issue with the games being interrupted by juveniles.”
“The man explained there was a game in progress at Water’s Field when a group of boys ran onto the field and interrupted the game,” the Vienna Police Department said in the report. “He stated that he chased them off the field, grabbing one of them in an attempt to bring him to the police station.”
When contacted by police, the boys said they were at Vienna Inn (120 Maple Avenue East) with their soccer team when they decided to go to Waters Field and “climb the fence onto the ballfield.”
“They advised they did not realize they were interrupting a game until a man began chasing them,” the police recap says. “The father of the juvenile who was grabbed was advised of the incident and will decide if he wishes to pursue assault charges.”
In an unrelated incident, the VPD is investigating a spate of reported vehicle break-ins that occurred at the Westwood Country Club yesterday (Thursday) afternoon:
Grand Larceny 23-005642
Westwood Country Club
800 Maple Avenue, East
June 15 2:49 p.m.
A citizen reported someone entered his unlocked vehicle and stole his Titleist bag which contained clothes, a toiletries bag, and a therapy massage gun.Grand Larceny 23-005638
Westwood Country Club
800 Maple Avenue, East
June 15 between 2:50 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
A citizen reported she left her purse in her locked vehicle in the parking lot while dropping her son off at the country club. An unknown person smashed the window and stole her purse which contained U.S. currency, credit cards, gift cards, and other various paperwork and belongings.Grand Larceny 23-005640
Westwood Country Club
800 Maple Avenue, East
June 15 3:49 p.m.
An employee reported someone smashed the driver’s side window of his vehicle and stole his wallet containing various identification, credit, and debit cards.
The Mosaic District is hanging up its roller and ice skating plans — at least for now.
The Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) agreed Wednesday (June 14) to indefinitely defer Rink Management Services Corporation’s request for a special permit that would allow it to operate a skating rink in the Merrifield neighborhood on a seasonal basis.
This is the sixth deferral of a decision on the application since the board held a public hearing on July 13.
“This case has been a bit of a moving target,” said Brent Krasner with the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development. “…At this point, after conversations with the applicant, I think they are reevaluating their plans for these types of activities, both the winter ice skating and summer roller skating activities. Essentially, their plans are not settled yet, and so they agreed that an indefinite deferral was the best route.”
First submitted back in April 2022, the proposal from Rink Management and EDENS — the developer that owns the Mosaic District — sought to turn the Mosaic Skateland roller rink that popped up during the past two summers into an annual occurrence.
Going forward, roller skating would be provided for 90 days each year from April to the end of June. During the winter months, an ice skating rink would be provided instead.
The operator estimated that the rink would draw approximately 15,000 skaters each season, according to the application.
However, at the public hearing, community members raised concerns about noise, traffic and access to their homes, and the BZA suggested the applicants’ public outreach efforts were insufficient.
Earlier this year, county staff confirmed to the BZA that Mosaic Skateland wasn’t going to return this summer, but Rink Management and EDENS left open the possibility of ice skating. Now, that has also been taken off the table.
“If they decide they’re going to go ahead this winter, they would let us know and reactivate [the application] — or next spring for example — but at this point, they don’t have any immediate plans,” Krasner said.
(Updated at 12:25 p.m.) Tuesday could be among the most consequential days in recent Fairfax County election history.
Tuesday, June 20 is primary election day, though early voting began in early May. While the general election is set for November, the county is overwhelmingly Democratic, so the candidates who win the primaries will be favored this fall.
With five Board of Supervisors seats, Commonwealth’s Attorney, sheriff, and a number of Virginia General Assembly seats on Tuesday’s ballot, the primary could set the course for the county for years to come.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
While five supervisor seats are on the primary ballot, the two open seats are getting the most attention.
Last August, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust announced he won’t run for reelection this year, opening the door for two candidates who have emerged to take his place. Jimmy Bierman formerly chaired the Dranesville District Democratic Committee, and David Fiske is on the McLean Citizens Association board. In March, Foust endorsed Bierman for the seat.
Late last year, longtime Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross also said she will retire. Now, four candidates are vying for the vacant seat. They include Congressional staffer Jeremy Allen, Mason District Planning Commissioner Andres Jimenez, local business owner Steve Lee, and local business owner Reid Voss.
Jimenez is currently considered the frontrunner for the seat, winning a straw poll by Fairfax County Democratic Committee straw poll in March. His endorsements include actor Jane Fonda, whose political action committee also weighed in on three local General Assembly races yesterday (Thursday).
However, Voss supporters have accused him of being absent from his duties on the planning commission.
In other races, Board Chairman Jeff McKay is facing a primary challenge from retired CIA staffer Lisa Downing, while incumbent Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck is on the ballot against grassroots leader Martiza Zermeno.
In addition, two candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination to take on Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity in November. Herrity, the board’s only current Republican, doesn’t have a primary challenger.
County firefighter John Nowadly has a number of notable endorsements, including from McKay, Rep. Gerry Connolly and several local state senators. Local tech entrepreneur Albert Vega is endorsed by Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who is facing his own challenge on Tuesday.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney and Sheriff
The primary race between Descano and prosecutor-turned-defense attorney challenger Ed Nuttall for the Commonwealth’s Attorney may be the most hotly contested on this year’s ballot.
Since announcing his candidacy back in February, Nuttall has criticized how Descano manages the office as well as not appropriately supporting victims of crimes. During a joint appearance on the WAMU show The Politics Hour, Descano accused his opponent of associating with “MAGA, antisemitic conspiracy theorists,” while Nuttall responded by calling the incumbent “incompetent” and a “liar.”
The Washington Post has endorsed Nuttall, while Descano has endorsements from Connelly, Rep. Don Beyer, former governor Terry McAuliffe, and five county supervisors, per his website. He also has the support of musician John Legend.
Another notable race on the ballot is for Fairfax County sheriff, where former D.C. police officer and current Herndon High School football coach Kelvin Garcia is challenging Stacey Kincaid, the county’s first female sheriff. Read More
