This is the last time I'll have the privilege of writing to you as your elected School Board member. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to serve two terms as your representative. For the past eight years, we've been a team. We tackled some pretty impressive challenges and made substantial progress in addressing those problems and improving student achievement in Fairfax County. I've always asked for your input on Fairfax County Public School issues, and you've responded with constructive feedback and informed suggestions. Through the strength of our partnership, we made strides in transforming the philosophy and focus of FCPS for the betterment of our students.
In 2005 when the Board embarked on a new operating structure, Strategic Governance, I met with you in a series of community dialogues. Together, we identified a new set of beliefs, a new vision, and mission. Based on your input, the School Board established Student Achievement Goals, which focused on "the whole child." In addition to academics, we included Essential Life Skills and Responsibility to the Community — skills that would ensure a successful future for our students. I was and continue to be proud of that partnership and accomplishment.
With the opening of South County Secondary School, our community worked through the boundary adjustments to relieve overcrowding, without burdening Hayfield Secondary. Listening to your concerns and wishes helped me prepare for the debate and enabled me to advocate for the best option for all our children, and it made us realize we could do better with the overall boundary determination. To that end, we have made several changes to improve that process.
We successfully implemented full-day kindergarten in every Lee District elementary school, years before it became a county-wide standard. Our youngest students benefited from the increased instruction time. Additionally, we have seen a continued rise in test scores and a decline in the minority student achievement gap that has widened in many other places throughout the country - and we've done all of this during very difficult budgetary times.
These are just the highlights of our accomplishments over the past two terms; there were many more, too numerous to list. Without your support, your commitment to our students and schools, and your willingness to step forward when needed, none of this would have been possible. I leave the Board knowing we have made great strides and that the new Board has the opportunity to build upon those successes to do even more for the children of Fairfax County. Thank you, once again! I wish you and your family a successful future.
- Brad Center
The following are the official results for the Virginia Hills precinct for the November 8 general election. These results include voters from Wilton Woods who now vote in Virginia Hills. Turnout was 30.7%.
* indicates County-wide or District-wide winner
| State Senator, 30th District | |
|---|---|
| McGhee | 95 |
| Ebbin* |
113 |
| State Senator, 36th District | |
| Frederick | 133 |
| Puller* |
235 |
| Fairfax County Sheriff | |
| Cooper | 235 |
| Berry* |
304 |
| Chairman, Board of Supervisors | |
| Williams | 166 |
| Bulova* | 325 |
| DeCarlo | 38 |
| Radle |
12 |
| Soil and Water Conservation Director (3 elected) | |
| Cranmer | 199 |
| Gagnon* | 264 |
| Lamb* | 297 |
| Marchetti | 126 |
| Peterson* |
245 |
| School Board at Large (3 elected) | |
| Brown-Kaplin | 231 |
| Kendall | 155 |
| Mancheno-Smoak | 170 |
| McElveen* | 253 |
| Moon* | 247 |
| Stuban | 138 |
| Velkoff* |
230 |
| School Bonds | |
| Yes* | 379 |
| No | 182 |
Also unopposed on the ballot, and therefore elected, were Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay, Delegate Mark Sickles, and Lee District School Board candidate Tamara Derenak Kaufax.
Upcoming elections include the Republican presidential primary on March 6, 2012 and primaries for senator and member of the House of Representatives, if the parties choose to have them, on June 12, 2012.
As many of you may have noticed, this issue of the Echo is slightly different. The Virginia Hills Citizens Association (VHCA) inserted a letter from our Membership Director, Mr. Warren Suyderhoud, along with a self-addressed envelope. The purpose of the letter is less about raising money and more about raising awareness and encouraging you to join us. For those of you that were once active members, we are asking you to come back. For those of you that have never been members, we are welcoming you to join us. In either case, we are hoping to bring together a group of people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to transform our neighborhood into a community.
So what are the benefits of joining? Well, there are no tricks or gimmicks. Those who join are not required to do anything, but are always encouraged to be active. Like with any endeavor, it is what you personally make of it. For some, it is the satisfaction of just donating some money toward a worthy cause. For others it is a chance to volunteer and help their fellow neighbor. And yet for others, it is merely the chance to meet and talk with their neighbors at our bi-monthly meeting. In any case, we ask you to join.
Of course the holidays times are rapidly approaching, and from our families to yours, we wish you the best and that the new year brings you and your much love, health, and happiness.
– President Ralph Zecca
Various residents have asked The Echo to mention the following items concerning pets outdoors.
All dogs must be leashed when outside. If you want to let your dog play "off-leash" with other dogs, try the County's Grist Mill Park, not to be confused with Mount Vernon's Washington's Grist Mill area. The dog park is at 4710 Mt. Vernon Memorial Hwy.
Please clean up after your dog when you walk him/her.
Foxes and coyotes are out in Virginia Hills and they have attacked, killed, and eaten cats left out at night. Consider keeping your cats indoors at night.
If a pet is outdoors, by law, it must be provided with shelter. The pet's house should be elevated off the ground to prevent moisture accumulation and have a door of some kind to keep out winter winds, sleet, and snow. Shelters should be insulated or heated. In severely cold or inclement weather, no pet should be kept outside!
Other tips to keep pets safe include:
Thieves are always looking for opportunities for easy pickings, and the holiday season offers them some added benefits. Wrapped presents, purses, cell phones, and tablets are just too tempting. Never leave any valuables in plain sight in your car. If you can't take them with you, lock them in your trunk.
As we've written here before, lock your car! Even when you're in your own driveway, an unlocked car is the easiest target for thieves. If a car is locked and nothing of value is visible, most thieves won't break in.
Park in well-lit places where lots of people are present. Thieves will not break car windows if they're being observed. The reason valuables in your car aren't safe in your driveway at night is that no one is around at 3:00 in the morning to see the thief breaking in, no matter how well lit the driveway is.
Some days, you don't know whether to laugh, cry, or move to a town with a population of 50. We're living through those days right now, especially concerning Route 1 and BRAC where there's both good and bad news to report.
It's no secret that Route 1, traffic-choked on the best of days, has been gridlocked since before BRAC implementation. The problem has been growing since September 2001 when Woodlawn Road, the connector between Telegraph Road and Route 1, was closed for security reasons. We've been counting on the opening of a new connector road - Mulligan Road - to relieve some of the congestion. Construction began last year, only to be halted by two bid protests. Federal procurement law gives the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 100 days to issue a decision on the protest, and, should FHWA adhere to that schedule, we'll have needlessly lost more than a year of construction time and countless hours of lost productivity and revitalization opportunities.
Mulligan Road is a critical connection for the region and the South County area and road construction can't be held hostage to a chain of bid protests that appear without merit. At the November 1 Board of Supervisors meeting, Chairman Bulova, Supervisor Hyland, and I presented a board matter asking the County to send a letter to the FHWA urging it to minimize any further construction delays. My motion was unanimously approved and we are now working with our federal elected representatives to obtain relief.
Then, there's the good news. We've just learned that thanks to Representative Jim Moran's efforts, Virginia will receive a federal grant of $180 million to widen Route 1 from two lanes in each direction to six lanes between Telegraph Road and Mount Vernon Highway. Today, this portion of Route 1 carries 56,000 vehicles a day. Not surprisingly, it has one of the highest accident rates in Northern Virginia. Construction on this 3.5 mile section of the road should begin in 2013 and be completed in 2016. While that's several more years of congestion to endure, at least there's hope.