The Connection

Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read cares about the City, its residents and businesses. She believes she’s helped bring about some positive changes here and wants the chance to finish what she began when elected to this position.

“You can’t get enough accomplished in two years,” she said. “So I believe it’s incumbent upon me to run for another term to see through the things we’ve started during my first term in office.” 

In fact, Read would like Fairfax to adopt four-year, staggered terms for its leaders. That way, three City councilmembers would run in one election, with the three others plus the mayor running in another election.

“Having a turnaround for mayor and council every two years can be destabilizing,” she explained. “And with three current councilmembers not running for reelection this year, there’ll be a dearth of experience and institutional knowledge of this City [on the council]. 

“If I’m reelected, I’d bring it up with the new council and suggest it be put as a referendum on the November 2025 ballot for governor and let the voters decide. If it passes, there’d have to be a change to the City charter in 2026 so it could take effect in November 2026.”

Noting some of her accomplishments since becoming mayor, Read said, “I ran on sidewalks and bathrooms. Safe, connected sidewalks are foundational to a walkable City – which is our goal. It’s only 6.25 square miles. We’ve built the sidewalk connections on the east side of Route 123, and we’re building the sidewalk on the west side of it. And we also have projects for shared-use and pedestrian paths, most of which have been funded by grants.”

As for bathrooms – although Fairfax City’s 25 parks are frequented by parents and children – surprisingly, none of them contained bathrooms until 2023, when Read made it one of her priorities. Now, there are three safe, clean and free Throne bathrooms in high foot-traffic areas without needing utility hookups. They’re in Van Dyck Park, in Thaiss Park near a walking trail, and in Old Town Square – which attracts huge crowds throughout the year to attend the City’s many events held there. 

Throne leverages solar power, internet-connected sensors and mobile technology to provide a more sanitary experience than traditional port-a-johns. The self-locking, ADA accessible units have hands-free toilets and sinks, changing tables, nonslip floors, and floral-patterned walls to discourage graffiti. People enter them via text message and the Throne app or by obtaining an access card through the City’s Parks and Recreation Department.

“These bathrooms have received very high usage,” said Read. “But they’re temporary. Permanent bathrooms will be built at Thaiss, and we already have permanent ones at Draper Drive Park. And we also used some temporary ones in Ratcliffe Park and Providence Park for our children’s summer rec programs. Meanwhile, we’re playing catch-up and are planning, designing, funding and building permanent bathrooms. It’s also an equity issue for women and girls, because port-a-johns are easier for guys to use.”

Regarding trails – which are also important to connectivity within the City – Read said Fairfax is currently trying to build the George Snyder trail, which has been on the drawing board since the 1990s. This shared-use trail would connect Chain Bridge Road (Route 123) to the Wilcoxon Trail at Draper Drive, south of Fairfax Boulevard (Route 50), and would link neighborhoods and local businesses.

“It became ADA-compliant when VDOT gave us concessionaire funding to build it,” said Read. “The conditions were that it had to be 10 feet wide, paved and built at a grade so that everyone of all abilities could use it – and a major, shared-use path should be accessible.”

And although the project has become controversial to some people because it requires extensive tree removal for the trail construction, Read noted that a mom from her opponent, Susan Kuiler’s, own neighborhood spoke in favor of it at the last City Council meeting.

“She said she’s a bicyclist and that she and all the young children in that neighborhood will use that trail,” said Read. “Trails are also a matter of equity because kids need to be able to get home from after-school activities via trails, paths and sidewalks if their parents can’t pick them up.”

At Council meetings, said Read, “We hear from the same people opposed to the trail, over and over. But I don’t believe we’re hearing from the whole community we’re representing. Having more people on a busy, well-used trail makes it safer. And the replacement trees will be native and selected to thrive where they’re planted. At the end of the day, this trail will be better for everyone.”

“And the whole reason the City bought that trail was to protect it from development so people could enjoy nature there,” she continued. “The median age in Fairfax City is 35.7, and people move here because it’s walkable, urban and they want to be able to bike. This trail is funded and can bring so much to the community.”

Read’s also proud that Fairfax recently modified its social-services ordinance. “The two most significant votes I’ve cast to break a [Council] tie were to not cancel the George Snyder Trail and to amend the City’s social-services ordinance,” she said. “We created major and minor categories within it.”

It means that minor, social-service delivery entities may be established by right in a commercial district. These include peer counseling and group therapy. Major social-service providers such as The Lamb Center, a daytime shelter for the homeless, will always require a special-use permit.

“There were no categories before,” explained Read. “Now, some service deliverers don’t need a special-use permit – which is a financial burden on small business to apply for and also requires a Council vote.”

Since the City manager handles Fairfax’s daily operations, the mayor’s job was designed to be part time. But Read says it’s actually “more than full time. I attend regional meetings and events on weekends and do something for the City – such as attending galas and giving presentations – almost every night of the week. And daytimes, there are ribbon cuttings and meetings with staff. But I say yes to it all because I want this City to flourish and its momentum to keep growing. 

“And people are so appreciative when I show up, make remarks, attend their events and am fully present when it’s most important to them or their business, organization or event. It’s meaningful for them to have the mayor there.”

Read said being mayor requires experience and a broad array of skills, such as public speaking, good oral and written communication, an understanding of business development, land use, budgeting and tax rates – and a willingness to always learn something new. And she believes she’s the best-qualified candidate for this job.

With a main focus on economic development, she said the most important issue Fairfax faces is its need to “dramatically increase our commercial tax base. Running a City on real-estate taxes isn’t sustainable over the long term. We’ve got to attract more businesses and generate a lot more revenue because you can’t raise homeowners’ taxes enough to pay for everything.”