The Connection

Although City Manager Bob Sisson’s May 4 retirement announcement came as a surprise to many Fairfax City residents, he’s been planning it for a while and told the mayor and City Council, the week before.

“I’ll be 68 in September, and I don’t want to do this my whole life,” he said. “And this gives the mayor and new City Council team the opportunity to start the replacement process so they can work together the maximum amount of time.”

Originally from suburban Kansas City, Sisson was assistant city manager in Stillwater and Norman, Okla., before taking the reins in Fairfax in 1991. Then, the City had just undertaken a 2020 project – and now, 27 years later, that date is almost here and Fairfax is looking toward 2035.

When Sisson began here, there was no email, Internet or social media, so communication was slower and less abundant. Today, he said, “We hear from more residents, more frequently. There’s heightened expectation about communicating about a broader list of subjects. Email is more immediate than letters, you can copy others on it and it’s a lot easier to send things quickly back and forth to residents and staff. With the touch of a button, I can communicate with all 400 employees.”

During his tenure, the city has been consistently ranked among the top 10 places to live in the U.S., and recognition for its livability, safety and services has grown steadily. Recently, “U.S. News & World Report” ranked Fairfax the sixth-healthiest place in the nation, based on measures including income, education, life span, access to critical services and proximity to parks.

But, said Sisson, “City managers don’t achieve things by themselves. The credit for community leadership goes to the elected officials who set policy.” However, he admitted he’ll remember and feel satisfaction about several things, such as the redevelopment of Old Town Village.

“It was where the post office, an old gas station and parking lots used to be, and it was decades in the making,” he said. “The City was able to bring all the property owners together. And with [former 11th district representative] Tom Davis’s help, we were able to relocate the post office, construct a new one and assemble the parcels for redevelopment into a better use. It enabled new, commercial buildings to be built to encourage more economic development downtown and to create a more pedestrian-friendly area.”

FAIRFAX also changed its downtown traffic pattern from one-way to two-way and undergrounded the cable, communications and electric-utility lines. And, said Sisson, “That was tremendously complicated.”

Years later, the City rebuilt all the curb and gutters downtown, upgraded the stormwater infrastructure and did new asphalt paving. It also partnered with Fairfax County to build a new library. In addition, the City updated electrical connections in the downtown buildings and constructed the hugely popular Old Town Square – complete with a splash pad and a place for live entertainment and other activities. So, said Sisson, “Our downtown’s appearance and function have dramatically improved since the early days of my tenure.”

He’s also pleased that Fairfax’s bond rating has improved by two categories, from AA to AA+ and then to AAA – the highest rating a city can obtain. It means that Fairfax can pay lower interest rates on any money it borrows. Similarly, the City Fire Department achieved the top rating for municipal fire departments, meaning that residents pay the lowest-price category of insurance premiums.

Both City Hall and the police station were rebuilt in 2006-07, and Fairfax is now preparing to rebuild Fire Station 33. The City also transitioned out of the water business. “It was years in the analysis,” said Sisson. “But it became clear that it was in the City’s best interests to sell it.”

Also during Sisson’s watch, Fairfax underwent significant residential and commercial redevelopment – and it’s continuing today with projects such as Northfax and Scout on the Circle. “In the ’90s, the thinking was that we needed move-in housing, so Farrcroft and Pickett’s Reserve provided larger homes for families,” he said. “There wasn’t a mixture of homes, especially higher-priced ones.”

Now, though, said Sisson, “It’s agreed that the City needs to focus some attention on affordable housing. Some feel like the City is overrun by townhomes, but it’s not a significant percentage of our housing stock. And there were many complaints that empty-nester seniors didn’t have a place to move, so Providence Square and the Enclave are excellent options for them.”

Day to day, his work includes speaking with residents about their complaints and inquiries, monitoring department budgets and meeting with City finance staff to discuss revenues and expenditures. He also deals with personnel issues, including the City’s health, compensation and retirement systems.

TOUGHEST PART of the job, he said, is “Not being able to financially address all the City’s needs. So I appreciate the mayor’s and Council’s priority-setting to help us make those calls.” Sisson said it’s also difficult when the City takes some action and the community is divided in its opinion about it. And, he added, “Temporarily losing the confidence of that segment of the community is unpleasant, until confidence is restored.”

But, he said, “We as a staff have been given the resources by the elected leadership to have the ability to provide first-rate services that benefit the community. Residents like living here, and the City influences that happiness, to a great degree. So whenever I hear somebody say, ‘I love the City,’ it’s like they’re saying to me and to all the City staff members, collectively, ‘You’ve done a great job,’ and that gives me real satisfaction.”

Besides, said Sisson, “There’s a genuine sense of community here, and a fondness for living here that I haven’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. And that’s what’s kept me in this City for this ridiculous amount of time. I have enjoyed every day working for the Fairfax City residents, and I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been offered this position with the City. It’s been the professional highlight of my life.”

Now, though, he wants to travel, help his wife with her business and have the flexibility to no longer be tied to a full-time job. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to be city manager here, and I think the City is in great shape, financially and operationally,” he said. “I’ll [remain here] to enjoy the quality of life we worked to preserve and improve, and to see things come together that our staff helped make happen.”

Aided by an executive-search consultant, Mayor David Meyer and City Council will choose Sisson’s replacement. A new city manager is expected to be hired sometime this fall.

“Bob Sisson has led City staff through nearly three decades of great change for the City of Fairfax,” said Meyer. “We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have Bob as our city manager, and we appreciate his leadership and commitment on behalf of all our citizens.”