While McLean residents are mostly satisfied with what’s in this year’s county budget proposal, the McLean Citizens Association (MCA) takes issue with one item that isn’t: body worn cameras.
A pilot program for body-worn cameras was implemented through 2018 and a report on the findings of the program are expected sometime this spring, but funding for the program is not included in the police budget for FY 2020.
At tonight’s MCA meeting, the board will vote on a resolution to recommend body worn cameras be included in the budget.
Equipping police officers with body worn cameras is beneficial to both police and the community. [Body-worn cameras] can accurately record law enforcement actions and thereby capture evidence pursuant to investigations, reduce the number of complaints filed against officers, and provide additional safety for our officers as they patrol the streets. The cameras also increase transparency, accountability, and trust between the police and community, which has been an issue nationwide over the last several years and is particularly relevant to our community with the recent killing of Bijan Ghaisar by U.S. Park Police.
The killing of Bijan Ghaisar was controversial partly because videos from dashboard cameras released by Fairfax County Police that seemed to show no threat to U.S. Park Police when they shot Ghaisar.
Last year, on the anniversary of the shooting, the MCA approved a resolution pushing for more transparency in the investigation and praising the Fairfax County Police for releasing the video.
This isn’t the first time body-worn cameras have come up in budget discussions. At an earlier Board of Supervisors meeting on the budget, several board members expressed concern there was no funding identified for the program. Staff said at the meeting that they were waiting for the results of the pilot evaluation to add funding.
“The program has broad support, but actual implementation continues to drift to the right,” the MCA said in the resolution. “It is time to implement the program and, following completion of the [evaluation], we urge a cost-conscious [body-worn camera] implementation.”
Photo via Fairfax County Police
A meeting on Thursday (Feb. 28) will take a look at how the county budget will impact McLean.
The McLean Citizens Association (MCA) is hosting the meeting in the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave.) and put together a list of top issues facing the area. The rundown includes items that are McLean specific and issues like the long-term economic viability of the Metro system.
According to the MCA, questions up for discussion include:
– Trade-offs between self-imposed county bond limits, county operating expenditures, and local taxes?
– The impact of development and demographic trends on costs for county-provided services, including schools?
– Below market salaries for many teachers?
– Unusually generous pension plans for county and school system employees?
– Overcrowding at McLean High School and other schools?
– Metro and other transit maintenance, repairs and expansion, especially in future years?
The budget, which was presented as a draft to the Board of Supervisors earlier this month, highlighted the growth and challenges associated with new development in Tysons and the surrounding localities.
One of the topics of discussion, the overcrowding of McLean High School, has been particularly contentious. The School Board killed a proposal to redistrict McLean High School to send some students to the under-capacity Langley High School.
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust and County Chief Financial Officer Joe Mondoro are planned to be in attendance to discuss the budget.
Tysons is quickly becoming one of the largest contributors to, and one of the largest demands on, the Fairfax County budget.
The FY 2020 Fairfax County Advertised Budget, presented at a Board of Supervisors meeting today (Tuesday), was met with praise from supervisors for keeping the county steady without raising the tax rate.
The budget will maintain the real estate tax rate of $1.15 per $100 of assessed value. The average Fairfax resident will see their tax bill increase by approximately $149.
But the county still experienced $162.83 million in revenue growth at the current 3.04 percent tax rate, much of which was driven by growth in Tysons.
The budget noted that prime real estate markets in Fairfax are spaces near the Silver Line, which has helped position Tysons as a financial powerhouse of the county. The completion of the 975,000-square-foot Capital One headquarters building was the majority of the County’s 1,191,000 square foot increase over 2017’s office space inventory. According to the budget documents:
Lease rates for new space are adjusting to market conditions as many tenants are taking advantage of favorable rates, and others are looking to capitalize on market conditions by consolidating operations in newer space near Metro stations. Submarkets along and near the Silver Line – Tysons Corner, Reston and the Herndon area – are especially well-positioned to take advantage of this trend. More than 54 million square feet of new office space is in the development pipeline countywide.
But the budget documents also show some of the demands Tysons is putting on the budget.
The Fairfax County Police Department is facing internal budget struggles, particularly as it works to adapt to urbanizing areas like Tysons. According to the report:
Keeping pace with urbanization to include Tysons, the Metro Silver Line extension, Springfield Town Center, South County development, and other micro-urban development countywide, will continue to challenge the Department for decades to come. Providing basic police service in urbanized areas requires different policing modes and resources than traditional methods in the suburban model the Department has been using for many decades
The report said that the department’s five-year staffing plan will include meeting the urbanization demands in Tysons with expanded police services. The budget has 16 additional uniformed positions planned for FY 2021 in the county’s long-term staffing plan.
One area of disappointment from supervisors was the lack of funding for body-worn cameras. A pilot program was implemented through 2018 and a report on the findings is expected in the first quarter of FY 2019, but officials expressed concerns that the program was not in the police budget for FY 2020.
The increasing population and density in Tysons are also putting a strain on the local parks. According to the budget:
Collectively, the major rezoning applications approved in Tysons since 2010 generate a need for eight new athletic fields under the maximum approved development levels. The equivalent of two athletic fields have been built and currently serve Tysons area users.
The budget does note, however, that new athletic fields have been proffered — funded by developers as a condition of approval — including a baseball diamond near Westgate Elementary School and a 2.3-acre park near the Tysons Galleria.
While the growth in Tysons is likely to put some strain on Fairfax County Public Schools, plans to address that overcrowding are currently not funded.
Each supervisor said they will be holding budget meetings in their communities over the next few weeks. Supervisor John Foust from the Dranesville District said the McLean discussion will be held on Feb. 28 at the McLean Community Center at 7 p.m.
The budget is scheduled to be adopted on May 7.
School Board Advertises $3 Billion Budget — “The Fairfax County School Board has adopted the FY 2020 Advertised Budget of $3.0 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent, or $117.4 million, over the FY 2019 Approved Budget. The FY 2020 budget prioritizes employee compensation with a $55.2 million investment in teacher salary scales that includes a 1.0 percent market scale adjustment.” [Connection Newspapers]
Auditions for Vienna Theater — The Vienna Theatre Company is holding auditions tonight for its upcoming production of “Ripcord.” [Facebook]
Author Talk at Tysons Book Store — Bestselling fantasy novelist Larry Correia will be holding a book discussion and signing tonight at the Barnes & Noble store in Tysons. [Instagram]
