By Susan Laume: Springfield District citizens reacted strongly to gun violence and transportation issues during Monday night’s debate between their Fairfax County Board of Supervisor candidates Linda Sperling, Democrat, and incumbent, Pat Herrity, Republican. The audience, most wearing candidate T-shirts or stickers, selected seats in a partisan divide in the Rolling Valley Elementary School cafeteria, Monday evening, Oct 14. They…
By Alicia Plerhoples: Alicia Plerhoples is a candidate for chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in the Democratic primary on June 11. Fairfax County is one of the best educated and wealthiest communities in the country. Fairfax voters are also increasingly progressive in outlook, with a desire to enable equity to provide opportunities for a better future for…
By Brad Swanson: The four Democratic Party candidates for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chair met on Friday, May 24, to debate the issues and found themselves largely agreeing on the need for affordable housing, universal pre-kindergarten, school trailer elimination, and mass transit expansion. The candidates differed less on the goals and more on who could accomplish them best. Jeff…
By Diane Burkley Alejandro: After this year’s elections, Fairfax County may finally have a board of supervisors ready to stop voluntary cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has made our region a national leader in deportations. This would benefit not only immigrant families, but our community as a whole, as crime is statistically significantly lower in jurisdictions…
Affordable housing and social and racial equity are the most important issues facing Fairfax County, according to the Democratic candidates for chair of the county Board of Supervisors. The four candidates, who will face off in a primary on June 11, met at a forum sponsored by the Fairfax County NAACP on May 11 at the Heritage Fellowship Church in…
By Susan Laume: Linda Sperling knows first-hand how ordinary citizens can strengthen democracy by serving on one or more of the 85 advisory groups run by Fairfax County government. Sperling, a candidate for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from Springfield District, knows this because she has been a member of the Transportation Advisory Commission since 2017. As a Commission member,…
By Alicia Plerhoples: I often tell my daughters that they are not growing up like I grew up. As a child, I experienced housing instability and food insecurity, just as many hardworking Fairfax County families do today. I was 9 when my father lost his job. Without his income, we were evicted from our home. I spent much of my…
Democrats got a premonition of winners and losers in upcoming northern Virginia elections at a straw poll on Mar. 31 with over 500 in attendance. Far from a scientific survey, the event, called “Pick Your Pony, ” was billed primarily as a fundraiser – at $30 per ticket—and an opportunity to sample craft beer at Mustang Sally Brewing Company in…
Ed Note: We invite all Democrats running for office in northern Virginia to submit an individual statement, maximum 500 words. This one comes from Parker Messick, a candidate for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Hunter Mill District. The primary election for this race will take place on June 11th. By Parker Messick. The Hunter Mill district is a dynamic community…
By Sharon Bulova: I read with shock and disappointment the Nov. 29 report by Ms. Diane Burkley Alejandro, Special Report: Local police may be helping ICE make Fairfax a national leader in immigrant detention. This report uses data to draw a number of false or misleading conclusions meant to stoke fear in a community already under immense pressure from the…
By Matthew Dunne: The policy governing roles and responsibilities of armed police officers who patrol the hallways of every public middle and high school in Fairfax County is about to be improved, after a community panel submitted more than 50 pages of comments in a wide-ranging review. Although universal agreement was not reached, the policy review, the first in several…
By Jim O’Connell: Steve Descano goes out night after night looking for trouble. Not trying to start some, he’s trying to resolve it. Descano is a member of the Fairfax County Police Civilian Review Panel, which reviews complaints of abuse or unprofessional conduct by officers. With 1,400 officers in a county of more than a million people where more than…