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
The Postal Distribution Center in Merrifield has been drawn into a national debate over the future of the United States Postal Service.
In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Congressman Gerald E. Connolly demanded access to mail facilities for himself and all Members of Congress to oversee operations. Connolly serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations
“I write to reiterate my request for immediate access to the Postal Distribution Center in Merrifield, Virginia — as well as access for my Congressional colleagues to other postal facilities,” Connolly wrote. “Oversight of Postal Service operations is more important now than ever, particularly in light of the troubling findings of the Inspector General that actions taken by Postal Service officials slowed postal operations nationwide in the midst of a global pandemic and economic collapse.”
Connolly said in the letter that he requested access after the Inspector General reported slowed operations at the agency.
“This letter follows my October 2, 2020, request for a tour of the Merrifield Postal Distribution Center in my Congressional District, as well as my October 13 letter requesting your new legal analysis of the Hatch Act, which you baselessly claim prevents Members of Congress from visiting Postal Service facilities within 45 days of an election,” Connolly wrote.
The letter continues with a rebuttle to an argument fron DeJoy that the Hatch Act would prevent Connolly from inspecting the USPS facility. According to the letter:
The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the committee of jurisdiction for the Postal Service in the House of Representatives, and the Subcommittee on Government Operations has been charged with overseeing postal operations. As Chairman of the Subcommittee, I have a responsibility to oversee postal operations–which includes having access to postal facilities, managers, and employees–and this responsibility does not cease merely because an election is approaching. I did not seek access to the Merrifield facility in my capacity as a candidate for office, but rather to discharge my official duties as a Member of Congress and a Member of the Oversight Committee.
On October 20, 2020, you sent a letter citing new Postal Service guidance that you claim was approved by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Yet OSC–the principal enforcement agency of the Hatch Act–has made it clear that the Hatch Act does not prohibit federal employees from allowing Members of Congress to tour federal facilities for an official purpose. According to your own letter, the portions of your Hatch Act policies that you claim OSC did not object to did not include your policy of prohibiting Members of Congress from postal facilities.
A spokesperson for the USPS said that they were aware of the pending request from Connolly and planned to respond directly, though what answer they were planning to give was not clarified.
“We are aware of the Congressman’s most recent request and plan to respond again directly,” said Martha Johnson, senior public relations representative for USPS.
In an email to Tysons Reporter, Connolly said inspecting the USPS facility in Merrifield was about restoring public trust.
“The Postmaster General’s partisan and political actions have eroded trust and caused nationwide concern about the USPS,” Connolly said. “Congress has a responsibility and constitutional duty to provide oversight, and that includes seeing on the ground how operations are being affected by Mr. DeJoy’s reckless changes”
Image via Google Maps
(Updated at 10:43 on 10/21/2020)Â Members of the public will get to ride “Relay,” Merrifield’s new autonomous, electric shuttle service, for the first time this Thursday (Oct. 22), the Fairfax County Department of Transportation announced on Monday.
The shuttle will transport its first public riders along its designated route between the Mosaic District and the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro Station at the conclusion of a celebration that will also feature comments by Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D), and other officials.
Face coverings and observance of social distancing protocols will be mandatory for attendees.
“We’re all really excited about it,” Fairfax County Economic Initiatives Coordinator Eta Nahapetian said. “It’s been so hard with the pandemic. It’s so many less people [at the Mosaic District]. All the retail businesses are suffering, and this is actually, hopefully a really good opportunity for some good news.”
The first state-funded, autonomous, electric vehicle designed for public transportation to be tested in Virginia, Relay will operate free of charge from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays.
While the shuttle can accommodate up to 12 passengers, ridership will generally be limited to four people – three passengers and a vehicle safety operator – when it launches to ensure compliance with COVID-19 social distancing protocols.
Nahapetian says the county is considering whether to have some flexibility with the ridership cap for families or other groups who have been staying together in the same household during the pandemic.
Fairfax County first announced that it had partnered with Dominion Energy to pilot a driverless, electric shuttle in the Merrifield area on June 19, 2019.
Other partners on the project include Mosaic District developer EDENS and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, which provided a $250,000 grant matched by $50,000 from Fairfax County. Dominion paid for the shuttle and related charging infrastructure, and Transdev is responsible for managing the operations and maintainance of the vehicle.
Since the Relay shuttle went on its first test run on July 28, Fairfax County and Dominion have tweaked the technology and enhanced the infrastructure along its route, adding more signs and engineering a traffic signal priority at the two intersections where it will cross traffic.
“We’ve been working through all those details during the past several months,” Nahapetian said.
The autonomous electric shuttle demonstration project is expected to last about a year.
In addition to using that time to gauge public opinion of its experiment with driverless vehicles, Fairfax County will gather data on the technology used in the pilot through an independent research study conducted by Virginia Transportation Research Council and Virginia Tech.
The county has also partnered with George Mason University’s School of Business for a separate study on “human factors” of the project, such as how the shuttle is being used and how it affects Merrifield’s economy.
Research on the Relay shuttle’s economic impact could be especially meaningful as it launches amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, which forced many restaurants and retail businesses in the Mosaic District and elsewhere to close earlier this year.
“Hopefully, there will be a lot of interesting technology findings and economic findings that come out of the project,” Nahapetian said. “Can we use this technology as a first-mile/last-mile [option]? We are so single-occupant-vehicle dependent. We need to change that.”
Correction: This article has been edited to state that the company responsible for managing the operations and maintenance of the Relay shuttle is Transdev, not Transurban as previously stated.
Photo courtesy Peggy Fox/Dominion Energy
There’s been some progress on plans to start an autonomous shuttle service between the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station and the Mosaic District, but a large percentage of Americans still have concerns about autonomous vehicles.
The shuttle, operated in a partnership between Fairfax County and Dominion Energy, would be the first driverless public transportation in the region and the first state-funded autonomous transportation project in Virginia. The shuttle would be free to ride.
“The shuttle travel between the Dunn Loring Metrorail station and Mosaic in Merrifield,” Fairfax County said on the project website. “Signage has been installed along the testing route. At the conclusion of testing, the route should remain the same.”
The shuttle started testing in July and word on the grapevine is a new announcement about the shuttle is incoming within the next week.
While autonomous vehicles are generally safe, the few incidents of crashes have been high profile cases.
Since 2015, the United Methodist Church and Montessori School of Cedar Lane has been trying to get inline with local zoning ordinances, and at a County Board meeting the Board of Supervisors granted another extension for the church and school to get their house in order.
The school was approved special exception in 2014, contingent on development conditions, but a staff report on the project said the school and church has been been out of conformance with the Zoning Ordinance.
“The application was approved with a requirement that a Non-Residential Use Permit (Non-RUP) be issued within 24 months of the approval date in order to establish the use,” staff said. “In addition, the development conditions mandated that certain improvements, including approval of a minor site plan (MSP) with parking lot and stormwater improvements, enhanced landscaping, removal of certain gravel surfaces, improvements to the parking lot and recordation of a reservation for future right of way dedication, be satisfied prior to issuance of the Non-RUP.”
An extension was first granted in mid-2016 for 12 months, which was eventually extended to July 2020.
A representative of the church and school said the organization is not experienced in handling development issues, which has resulted in delays.
“The applicant has been working to fulfill all development conditions associated with SE 2013-PR-021,” staff said. Ms. [Lynne] Strobel states that the applicant is a non-profit and inexperienced in the process of obtaining permits and approvals associated with zoning and land use. As a result, the implementation of the approval has taken longer than anticipated.”
Strobel told staff the applicant is working with a civil engineer to get the improvements done as quickly as possible, though the pandemic created additional financial challenges due to the school’s closure. However, staff said the applicant reported that it plans to commence the required work within the next year.
The school was approved for 18 additional months to get the needed work done.
Image via Google Maps
A portion of Dorr Avenue, a street that runs parallel to Gallows Road through a stretch of offices and businesses in Merrifield, will be closed for the next four weeks as crews relocate underground utilities.
The street will be closed off at the intersection with Prosperity Avenue. Traffic to locations along Dorr Avenue, like ArtsFairfax and Prosperity Flats will be redirected to Merrilee Drive one block east.
The closure is expected to start this Thursday, Sept. 24, and last until Thursday, Oct. 22.
“Vehicular traffic from Prosperity Avenue will not be allowed to turn south on to Dorr Avenue,” VDOT said in a press release. “A detour will use Prosperity Avenue, Merrilee Drive, and Merrifield Avenue. Vehicles can access properties along Dorr Avenue from the south during this work, but will not be able to continue through to Prosperity Avenue.”
VDOT said the closure will not impact pedestrian and bicyclist traffic on the sidewalks.
Image via Google Maps, map via VDOT
Finally, for the first time since March, McCabe’s Printing Group has seen a jump in sales.
The Merrifield based shop (8451 Hilltop Road), which typically specializes in promotional materials for schools and banquets, suffered a 50% drop in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to operations manager Chris Ricci.
“Mid-March, everything dropped off the face of the earth in terms of work,” Ricci said. “It was kind of a shock, to say the least.”
But after forming a few new partnerships and changing tactics, Ricci said that the shop finally began to bounce back in August.
“I wanna say that businesses slowly and gradually reopening has definitely played a role in boosting morale,” he said, adding that the shop has seen a large increase for printed materials reminding people of safety procedures to prevent the spread of COVID, such as proper handwashing techniques and PSAs to wear a mask.
“We’ve been lucky,” Ricci said. “A lot of print shops had a lot of difficulties during this time, but the biggest goal is keeping at it.”
When the pandemic first hit, Ricci said that the shop received a federal PPP loan.
“That definitely helped us out, especially during the early months,” Ricci said. “We were one of the first ones to apply and get it.”
The shop is also awaiting a loan from Fairfax County, which Ricci is expecting to hit the accounts sometime next week.
Ricci said that he’s been with the company since he was a “wee little lad,” adding that he has family connections to the business.
For community members who want to keep supporting local and small businesses, Ricci said he wanted to remind people that there is a gap between the drive to support local shop owners in practice vs theory.
“The biggest disconnect that folks have is supporting local businesses but not supporting small business prices,” he said, adding that the printing industry has a very small sales margin to begin with.
Ricci encourages people to chat with the staff when visiting a small business, that way they can form a connection with other community members.
“There are not that many people at small businesses, so when you walk in, you could easily be chatting with the owner,” Ricci said.
Image courtesy McCabe’s Printing Group
F.C. Council Vote on Whole Foods Project to Be Delayed — “The News-Press has learned at plans at present are to delay a vote by the Falls Church City Council at its business meeting this Monday on the proposed Broad at Washington mixed use development process because there is insufficient support on the Council at present to move it forward for evaluation by City boards and commissions.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Improper Disposal Of Smoking Materials Cause Merrifield Condo Fire –“Units arrived on the scene of a four-story, condominium building with fire showing from a third-floor deck.” [Twitter]
Computer Hackers Attack Fairfax County School System –“Hackers attacked the Fairfax County Public Schools computer system and placed ransomware on some of its systems, a school district spokesperson said Friday.” [Washington Post]
Jennifer McLaughlin, owner of the Caboose Brewing Company, is just starting to catch her breath and take a look back at the last few months of the local brewery not only trying to survive, but do some good for their communities.
It has not been an easy road for Caboose, which operates Caboose Tavern in Vienna (520 Mill Street NE) and Caboose Commons in Merrifield (2918 Eskridge Road).
“It’s been quite a whirlwind,” McLaughlin said. “Back in March, when this all went down, we had to let go of a lot of people. They don’t have a ton of resources. It was awful. We were letting go of people we weren’t sure would be able to pay rent and buy food and all those things. We lined them up with resources as best we could but that wasn’t really enough.”
As the pandemic worsened, McLaughlin said they began to hear stories about how hard fresh food was for people to come by. It was difficult for people to get to grocery stores and many food banks carried only canned goods, but McLaughlin said it occurred to them that they could access fresh food supply chains through their own vendors.
“So we started a grassroots effort with local schools and a couple of churches,” McLaughlin said. “At one point, we were doing hundreds of grocery donations a week.”
McLaughlin said Caboose was delivering milk, proteins, and produce to families in need. At its peak, the program was delivering hundreds of grocery boxes. In total, McLaughlin said Caboose has put together and delivered 915 grocery boxes.
The grocery boxes were delivered by volunteers and Caboose received donations, though never enough to fully cover the cost of buying the groceries.
“The numbers are way less than they used to be, ” McLaughlin said. “We’re now down to 10 families, which is down from 40 last week.”
Caboose also donated a total of 869 meals to Inova Hospital.
Caboose Tavern in Vienna was closed for a while when the pandemic started. Caboose Commons at the Mosaic district never closed, but it was also not very active during the worst of it. McLaughlin said the space gave management a chance to take a step back and assess the restaurant’s values and priorities.
Phoenix-based Eduvision, Inc. is looking to expand the Arizona College of Nursing into Virginia with a location in the Fairview Park development.
Eduvision wants to turn the eighth floor of the office building at 3130 Fairview Park Drive into seven classrooms, according to plans submitted to Fairfax County. The office is a part of the Fairview Park development, which is located at the southeastern intersection of Arlington Blvd (Route 50) and I-495.
Eduvision owns and operates the Arizona College of Nursing, which has locations in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Florida, according to Walsh Colucci. This would be the nursing school’s first Virginia location.
Lynne Strobel with Walsh Colucci highlighted in a letter to county planners that the nursing school would be very close to both Inova Fairfax Hospital, which is on the other side of I-495, and the Dunn Loring Metro station.
“[Inova Fairfax] Hospital offers a number of training opportunities and is a potential employer of the applicant’s graduates,” Strobel wrote. In September 2019, the county approved the hospital’s land-use plan as Inova looks to expand and provide more research and academic space at its Merrifield campus.
The Arizona College of Nursing at Fairview Park would have roughly 200 students on-site at any one time and 10 full-time faculty members at full enrollment. Once open, the school would offer classes year-round without summer breaks, according to the plans.
Eduvision is seeking approval from Fairfax County for a “college/university” use at the office building. Fairfax County’s website does not list public hearing dates for the proposal.
Strobel urged county planners to consider the application, saying that the proposed nursing school would fit in with the office building and the Fairview Park development.
“A diversification of the uses at Fairview Park will add to its vibrancy…Â The pond, open space, and trials in the office park are conducive to an educational setting,” Strobel wrote.
Image via Google Maps
