Traffic congestion, especially on I-66 and the Fairfax County Parkway: I-66 is one of the major reasons the D.C. area was recently ranked first in worst places to commute by Texas A&M University. I have been working with other local and state leaders to move forward solutions including an Express Lanes-like solution that we can accomplish quickly and provide relief as well as transit choices. The Fairfax County Parkway is one of the county’s “main streets” and will see interstate level traffic by 2030. We have been successful with some short-term solutions, converting it to a primary road and last month at my request, the board asked VDOT to commission a “Corridor Improvement Study” to assess solutions to the road’s growing congestion problems. In addition, as we develop throughout the county we need to make sure we focus developers’ contributions into transportation.
Protecting our suburban neighborhoods. As Fairfax County continues to urbanize we need to be careful to protect and preserve one of the things that makes Fairfax County great—our suburban neighborhoods. From keeping our police and fire departments among the best in the country to my successful effort to end the blight of illegal road signs—we need to make sure we maintain the character of our suburban neighborhoods.
Keeping our Schools Number 1: Our great school system is the reason that so many businesses and people decide to locate to Fairfax County. In order to continue to attract the best and the brightest we need to make sure that our schools remain the best in the country; that goes from getting and retaining the best teachers, to making sure that our aging schools get timely renovations, and ensuring that the money we spend on schools is focused on the children, teachers and in the classroom.
Lowering Homeowner Taxes: Between 2000 and 2008 the county doubled homeowner taxes. Over the last two years the county has again begun to raise homeowner taxes. We need to work to make government more efficient, address our growing pension problems and reduce the fiscal burden on our homeowners.
Preparing for the Silver Tsunami: Fairfax will see an 88 percent increase in people over 70 between now and 2030, and by 2030 over 383,000 residents will be over 50. These changes will present enormous challenges to our businesses, residents, and county services. This will be especially true in some of our older suburban neighborhoods. As chair of the Board's 50-plus Committee, I am leading an effort along with the Fairfax Area Commission on Aging to revise our ground breaking 50+ plan and prepare for the county for the Silver Tsunami.