Whether the topic is schools, taxes, transportation, development or local politics, Sully and Springfield district residents are intensely interested in what's happening in their communities. People here are savvy and well-educated and not at all shy about expressing their opinions about changes that will affect their way of life.
Since the area construction boom first started in 1988, the once sleepy and rural western Fairfax County has grown and matured into an area of leaders, innovators and award-winners. And new residents from a wide variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds continually add to the mix, enriching and enhancing the local area with their heritage and traditions.
<sh>Demographics
<bt>Between 1990 and 2000, Centreville grew by 83 percent — from 26,585 residents to 48,661 residents. Chantilly increased by 40 percent to 41,041, compared to 29,337 in 1990. Even the Town of Clifton gained nine new townspeople for a 5-percent jump, from 176 to 185 residents.
However, when the 2000 census revealed that Sully had more than 146,000 inhabitants — more people than any of the other nine magisterial districts in Fairfax County — it had to redistrict. Doing so reduced Sully's population to 108,712, but a continual influx of new residents into the area has increased it again to some 115,000 people. Centreville now has 50,347 residents, and Chantilly, 43,134.
Along with the area's fast-paced residential and commercial growth have come more roads, more schools and more things to do. That's why this area is such an exciting and dynamic place to be. The National Air and Space Museum Annex, western Fairfax's first-ever recreation center, various park improvements, new shopping centers, businesses and restaurants are just a few of the many new things on tap for local residents.
<mh>Movers and Shakers
<bt>The Sully District also boasts some outstanding people. For example, both Clifton residents, Robert F. Horan Jr. is the county's commonwealth's attorney and Ray Morrogh is the deputy commonwealth's attorney. Loren Epton, chief of traffic engineering for the Virginia Department of Transportation's (VDOT) Northern Virginia District, lives in lives in Chantilly's Pleasant Valley community. Ho Chang of Union Mill is the county's director of transportation and Ronaldo “Nick” Nicholson of Chantilly is VDOT's project manager for the Wilson Bridge.
Mark McConn of Bull Run Estates is head of the Sully District Council of Citizens Associations, and Jeff Parnes of Chantilly Highlands leads that group's Land-Use and Transportation Committee. Bull Run Estates' Judy Heisinger and Fairfax National Estates' Jeff Flading are Sully District's representatives on the Battlefield Bypass Citizens Advisory Committee. Ted Troscianecki of Virginia Run chairs the West Fairfax County Citizens Association (WFCCA), and Jim Katcham of Centre Ridge Regent serves as WFCCA Land-Use Committee chairman.
Other standouts include: Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) of London Commons; Virginia Run's Sam Clay, head of Fairfax County's library system; Centreville's Ron Koch, Sully District Planning Commissioner; Greenbriar's Hal Strickland, Sully District representative on the county Park Authority; Dorothy Fonow of Oak Hill, executive director of the Western Fairfax Christian Ministries; and Virginia Run's Jim Hart, member of the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals and an at-large Planning Commissioner.
Still more standouts include Poplar Tree Estates' Kathy Smith, chairman of the Fairfax County School Board and Sully District's representative on that board; Crystal Springs' Elaine Wilson, co-founder of The Alliance Theatre; Sully Estates' Georgette Kohler, at-large representative on the county Park Authority; and Poplar Tree Estates' Shirley and Johnny Nelson, founder and president, respectively, of the Chantilly Pyramid Minority Student Achievement Committee.
Thanks to excellent teaching and administrative staffs, plus dedicated community support and concern, our local schools regularly produce students who win county, regional, state and national honors, both academically and athletically. And again this year, all three high schools — Centreville, Chantilly and Westfield — won Cappie awards reflective of their outstanding theater programs.
With all this activity, it's no wonder there's always something doing in the local area.