2009 Fairfax County Awards

Fairfax County is often recognized for its outstanding programs, services and public servants. The county also honors individuals and organizations.

December

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors presented the Lawrence V. Fowler Award to Bill G. Evans at its meeting. The award recognizes the distinguished service of a longstanding member of a Fairfax County board, authority, commission or committee (BAC) whose exceptional service contributed to the overall quality of life in the community.
The Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) was named a 2009 "Pioneering Housing Strategies" Award finalist by the National Housing Conference for its partnership efforts to create the Partnership for Permanent Housing program.

Fairfax County’s public Web site, fairfaxcounty.gov, has been honored as one of the top county government sites in the nation. It was recognized by the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, the Center for Digital Government, and the Digital Counties Survey.

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International recognized the Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) as the recipient of the inaugural Horizon Award (Large Center). This award recognizes overall excellence in operations, practices, programs, technology and innovations. It acknowledges the efforts of communications centers that have proactively assessed and met the technological and operational needs of their center, employees and service population. DPSC Director Steve Souder was also recognized as the 2009 9-1-1 Public Safety Communications Center Director of the Year.
The Consumer Affairs Branch of the Fairfax County Department of Cable Communications and Consumer Protection has received the Achievement in Consumer Education (ACE) award from the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA).

The Fairfax County Citizens Police Academy has been recognized as the best program of its type in the country by the National Neighborhood Citizens Police Academy Association. The program seeks to give residents a better understanding of police work and a greater awareness of the daily challenges faced by police officers.
Fairfax County received two Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) 2009 Achievement Awards recognizing innovative county programs. The ART Conference received a Organizational Development Award for its developmental training for the largest segment of the county's employee population. The Road DAWG (Don't Associate with Gangs) received a Criminal Justice/Public Safety Award for its prevention and intervention programs aimed at reaching youths before they are drawn into gangs.

Fairfax County received eight National Association of Counties (NACo) 2009 Achievement Awards recognizing innovative county programs. Three of the awards are for Best in Category, the most received by any county nationwide. The NACo awards went to Fairfax County’s Office of the County Executive; Public Library and Public Schools; Park Authority; Department of Information Technology and Courts; Department of Public Works and Environmental Services and Facilities Management Department; Department of Housing and Community Development; and Department of Systems Management for Human Services.
The Fairfax County Park Authority recently received communications awards for three publications. The February 2009 edition of “Park News” was the recipient of the Gold 2009 Hermes Creative Award in the publications/newsletter category by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals. The “Invasive Management ID and Control Handbook” received an Award of Excellence in the brochure handbook category and “Exploring the Possibilities,” the Park Authority's annual report, was the recipient of an Award of Excellence for Overall Design by the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

The Fairfax County Courthouse and the DPWES Capital Planning and Design Division have been recognized by The City of Fairfax Community Appearance Committee as commercial properties that exemplify the superior appearance of the city.