Public Affairs

Each year nearly 45,000 Americans die by suicide. On Saturday, Sept. 29, more than 1,500 people from throughout Fairfax County and Fairfax City are expected to come together for the 11^th Annual Fairfax Out of the Darkness Community Walk to help raise awareness and funds that allow the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to invest in new research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy and support survivors of suicide loss.

“Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of death of first responders,” notes Braddock District Supervisor John Cook, who is sponsoring a team for the walk. “For too long, stigma has prevented the efforts needed to push back on suicidal thoughts and tendencies. I am thrilled that a broad team of county leaders is joining me as we fight back against the stigma of suicide and spread the message that we are here to help, not judge. “

The Fairfax Out of the Darkness Walk is one of more than 400 community walks taking place this year around the country. They are expected to unite more than 250,000 walkers and raise millions for suicide prevention efforts. The 2017 Fairfax Out of the Darkness Community Walk included more than 1,100 participants and raised over $142,000.

Registration/check-in begins at 9 a.m. at the Veteran’s Amphitheatre in the City of Fairfax, 10485 Armstrong St., Fairfax. The walk begins at 11 a.m.

Karrie Boswell, who retired from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in 2015 and organizes the Fairfax event, says the cause is one close to her heart as a former first responder. “More firefighters and police officers die annually by suicide than in the line of duty. It’s an epidemic among first responders,” Boswell says.

To register or for more information visit afsp.org/fairfax.

Fairfax County has been honored by multiple organizations for the redesign and implementation of its website, FairfaxCounty.gov. The new website launched in December 2017 after significant research and planning was conducted.

Recent honors include:

• Finalist for "Overall County Government Experience" from the Center for Digital Government.
• Significant Achievement for "Leveraging Open Source Web Content Management System (CMS)" from the Public Technology Institute's 2018 Technology Solutions Awards.
• Gold Award for the Website Redesign under the Electronic Media category from the Hermes Creative Awards.
• Two awards of distinction for “Overall Government Website” and the “Website Redesign Project” from the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts.
• 2018 Achievement Award for "Taking a Citizen First Approach to a Website Redesign" in the category of Civic Education and Public Information from the National Association of Counties.

Successful Partnerships Set a Strong Foundation

The Department of Information Technology and Office of Public Affairs led implementation of the new web content management system, trained county staff, researched best practices, reviewed years of metrics and conducted public outreach, among other project tasks (with vendor support from Virginia Interactive).

The county's expanded partnership with the public includes website user surveys, county review of all direct feedback received and the recent launch of a new Public Website Advisors program, an informal group of people willing to provide occasional feedback to the county on new concepts and features.

New Search, Language and Accessibility Features

Utilizing an open-source (and cost-effective) platform allows FairfaxCounty.gov to stay timely for many years to come. Current features include:

• Customizable search engine powered by Google, offering users a familiar search experience with their preferred method for finding information.
• Responsive design, which automatically presents the website in the best format regardless of user device (phone, tablet or computer).
• Expanded accessibility and language translation controls to help meet the county's commitment to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in all county programs, services and activities.

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Fairfax County will hold two public meetings on Oct. 10 and 11, 2018, to present proposed revisions to industrial use zoning regulations.

The revisions are part of the county’s overall effort to modernize its zoning rules, called zMOD.

The meetings will be held on:

• Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at McNair Elementary School, 2499 Thomas Jefferson Drive in Herndon
• Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at Lee High School, 6540 Franconia Road in Springfield.

The county’s lead consultant, Clarion Associates, will present and lead a discussion on the revisions, including:

• Describing their approach used to make the industrial use regulations more user-friendly.
• Reviewing the scope and purpose of the zMOD project.
• Explaining their approach to modernizing the remainder of the land uses over the next few months.

Presentations will also be made to the Board of Supervisors at its Development Process Committee meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 11 a.m., and the Planning Commission on Oct. 9 at 7:30. These two presentations will be aired live on Channel 16 or can be viewed later online on the Board of Supervisors video archive or Planning Commission video archive.

zMOD’s primary goals are to re-organize the zoning ordinance to make it more user-friendly and combine uses of similar impact into broad categories for consistency and ease of understanding and implementation. The project also includes updating the lists of land uses that are permitted in the various zoning districts in an effort to adapt to changes in how people live and businesses operate.

In order to collect public input and encourage community participation, extensive outreach will be conducted through a series of project meetings, workshops, and public hearings. Public input received to date is posted on the zMOD webpages, along with previous presentations.

For more information, including reasonable ADA accommodations, contact the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization at 703-324-9300, TTY 711.

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Fairfax County is holding two open houses this fall for its downtown McLean planning study to provide information and gather community feedback on the draft vision plan for the area:

• Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, from 7 to 9 p.m., McLean High School Cafeteria, 1633 Davidson Road, McLean. This open house will focus on an initial draft of the vision plan, referred to as a framework plan, which will outline major elements of the vision.
• Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, from 7 to 9 p.m., McLean High School Cafeteria, 1633 Davidson Road, McLean. This open house will focus on a refined draft of the vision plan, which will be an illustrative site plan of downtown McLean incorporating input from the first open house.

The county is working with consultant Streetsense to assist in this visioning process. The firm conducted three public workshops in June that focused on market influences and development decision making; planning, design and placemaking; and community immersion and understanding.

The community’s input from these three sessions shaped the draft plans that will be presented at the upcoming open houses.

Later this fall, a final vision plan will be produced after compiling and analyzing community input received at the open houses. The study’s task force, which is made up of McLean residents, will then work with county staff to translate this vision into recommendations for changes to the Comprehensive Plan. The task force’s monthly meetings are open to the public.

Fairfax County is conducting this community-driven study to examine revitalization opportunities for the downtown holistically.  While downtown McLean has seen some revitalization—such as undergrounding of utilities, landscape and streetscape improvements, and construction of several development projects—it’s been 20 years since the last comprehensive review of the downtown’s land use plan. The process will consider changes to land uses, development intensities, transportation and public facilities.

The study focuses on the 230-acre area that’s called the McLean Community Business Center in the county’s Comprehensive Plan. More commonly called downtown McLean, this is the area centered around the intersection of Chain Bridge Road and Old Dominion Drive. This area has long been planned to serve as a focal point for residents, with a mix of residential and community-serving commercial uses.

For more information about the study, future meetings or reasonable ADA accommodations, contact Katrina Newtson with Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-324-1380 or by email.

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The public is invited to the launch of the Fairfax County Drug Court program on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 2 p.m. in the fourth-floor jury assembly room of the Fairfax County Courthouse, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax. “As we embark on this new and important journey, I encourage the community to join us to find out more about the program, ask questions and share this information,” says Circuit Court Judge Penney S. Azcarate.  

Drug courts are specific docket programs that target criminal defendants who have alcohol and/or other substance use disorders. Fairfax Circuit Court was approved by the Virginia Supreme Court Drug Treatment Court Advisory Committee to establish a drug court in fall 2017. A multidisciplinary Fairfax County Drug Court Team has undergone comprehensive state and national training in preparation for the new docket, which is anticipated to begin in October. Team members include representatives from the following areas: prosecutors, public defenders, Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, probation, judge, clerk, evaluator and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.

The Fairfax County Drug Court is a felony probation violation phase progression model that takes a participant 14 to 24 months to complete. After an eligibility assessment, if selected, the participant will be ordered into drug court with the non-violent felony probation violation dismissed; probation will be terminated on successful completion of the program. This process takes place in lieu of jail.

Recognizing that substance addiction is a chronic and recurring disorder, drug court programs maintain continuous supervision over the recovery process of each participant through frequent court status hearings, urinalysis and reports from the treatment providers to the supervising judge. Drug usage or failures to comply with other conditions of the drug court program are detected and responded to promptly. According to the U.S. Department of Justice drug court evaluations, the recidivism of offenders who have been diverted to drug courts is reduced between 50 percent and 60 percent. Studies also have shown that, even with treatment costs included, drug courts saved localities an overall average of $5,600 to $6,200 per offender.

The Fairfax County Drug Court is one of several new Diversion First initiatives that offer alternatives to incarceration for people with mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance use disorders who come into contact with the criminal justice system. The goal of Diversion First is to intercede whenever possible to provide assessment, treatment or needed supports in order to prevent repeated encounters with the criminal justice system and promote a healthier community.

For further information and reasonable ADA accommodations, contact Drug Court Coordinator Sarah Gary.

Fairfax County provided the seed capital to launch a new regional program to help technology companies in the D.C. region grow.

Called the Tandem Product Academy, the program will assist tech entrepreneurs in the greater Washington region to scale their product-based businesses. The approximately four-month long academy is free for selected companies. Companies may apply now for the 25 spaces available for the first cohort that begins on Oct. 13, 2018.

The Tandem Innovation Alliance, a community of more than 5,000 innovators, entrepreneurs and supporters, announced the academy’s launch today.

“We see tremendous potential to grow many more technology product companies in Fairfax and around the region,” said Eta Nahapetian, Fairfax County’s Economic Success coordinator. “In support of the county's efforts to grow and diversify the economy, we're investing in the Tandem Product Academy to support the region's innovation ecosystem and to galvanize growth in the many existing businesses in our region that would benefit from learning the complex skills required to grow a successful technology product business."

Fairfax County seeks to spur more innovation and entrepreneurship, and its investment in the academy follows other efforts to bolster the region’s innovation economy. This includes the county’s sponsorship of the Fosterly Startup Census and the county’s partnership with other Northern Virginia governments to secure a regional, $737,500 state grant to train, attract and retain workers in cybersecurity, data analytics and computer programing jobs.

The Tandem Innovation Alliance, a community of more than 5,000 innovators, entrepreneurs and supporters, launched the academy. It was founded with regional cooperation from governments, business, technology and economic development organizations, universities and nonprofits in Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia. Partners currently include Fairfax County, Greater Washington Partnership, Greater Washington Board of Trade, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Northern Virginia Technology Council, Prince George's Chamber of Commerce, Virginia CIT, Maryland TEDCO, Robert H. Smith School of Business and AARP.

“Our program will operate downstream from our region's more than 130 accelerators, incubators and co-working communities,” said Jonathan Aberman, founder of the Tandem Innovation Alliance. “It is equally suitable for companies that are looking to pivot from services to products, are creating new technology with federal funding or have received angel capital and would like to get experienced help. We want to be as open as possible and let the market determine where this program is most useful."

Academy participants must be senior leaders of a business that has a technology product ready for customer adoption and whose company, within the last 12 months, has done any of the following:

• Had gross revenue in excess of $500,000
• Obtained at least $500,000 in capital from sources other than the founder's immediate friends and family, or
• Received at least $500,000 in federal research and development funding.

A committee of faculty members and partners will select up to 25 qualifying businesses prior to the first full day of classes on Oct. 13.

The teaching team includes award-winning faculty from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and successful technology entrepreneurs from around the region.

The Tandem Innovation Alliance's mission is to help innovators looking to develop a technology product-based business to answer the question “what comes next?” It brings together the .com, .gov and .edu communities to pool resources and provide opportunities to help innovators grow their businesses through a curated community of events, content and opportunities.

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Fairfax County has received two Governor's Technology Awards, presented during a ceremony at the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium (COVITS) in Richmond on Sept. 5. The awards recognize the use of information technology to drive innovation and protect information, specifically for the county's new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office and next generation cyber security.

Winners were named in nine categories as judged by a panel of Virginia government information technology experts.

“With these awards, we honor the innovative ways that state and local government and universities are using technology to solve problems, increase efficiency and reduce costs,” said Gov. Ralph Northam. “I congratulate our honorees for their leadership and commitment to making government work better for all Virginians.”

Centralized Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) Program Benefits

The first of its kind in Virginia, the county's FOIA program is leading the way by coordinating all incoming FOIA requests to ensure legal compliance, transparency and efficient response. The Countywide FOIA Office was established in March 2017 to act as a single FOIA point of contact to the public; oversee policy, procedures, operations and training; and develop and manage a newly created centralized FOIA request tracking application (VFOIA Tracker). The VFOIA Tracker was implemented in January 2018 and is being utilized by more than 100 staff to efficiently and effectively track all incoming FOIA requests.

Fairfax County receives over 6,000 FOIA requests per year. Since the establishment of the office, benefits include:

• Shorter response times (one day less on average)
• Reduced record request costs through increased fee waivers
• Popular public records proactively made available online in user-friendly formats

“This award highlights how technology and cross-agency collaboration can strengthen the ways that we engage with the public on government business,” said Amanda Kastl, countywide FOIA officer.

Next Generation Cyber Security Protects Private Information

The Next Generation Security Program protects business' and residents' data and sensitive information. This builds upon the county's performance record of maintaining business continuity and service delivery with no data breaches.

In addition to protecting sensitive data, such as tax records and personally identifiable information, the program's mission is to develop and enforce security policies and use artificial intelligence software that constantly evolves to stay on pace with modern and emerging security threats.

Chief Information Security Officer Mike Dent explains that "as data moves both inside and outside the network, our suite of smart security tools is constantly monitoring and learning. This insight allows our dedicated team of information security experts to see beyond the obvious, detect problems and stop them before they can cause any harm."

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Fairfax County’s Health and Human Services Office of Strategy Management has selected Lisa Potter to be the county’s new Diversion First manager.

Potter will work closely with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, senior county leadership, police, fire and rescue, the Sheriff's Office, courts, the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) and community stakeholders to continue the success of the county’s Diversion First initiative. She will be responsible for leading a multi-year, comprehensive cross-systems initiative designed to improve delivery of services and outcomes of the individuals served by the program, while also demonstrating solid economic investment. Potter will also work on implementing cooperative policies and programs across multiple agencies to forward the success of Diversion First.

Diversion First offers alternatives to incarceration for people with mental illness, developmental disabilities and co-occurring substance use disorders who come into contact with the criminal justice system for low-level offenses. The program aims to prevent repeat encounters with the criminal justice system, improve public safety, promote a healthier community, save public dollars and – most importantly – help people who are in crisis recover and take control of their lives. Since Diversion First began in Fairfax County, over 1,000 people were diverted from potential arrest.

Potter has worked for the CSB since 1994 and has held various clinical and administrative positions during her tenure. She has worked as a prevention specialist, clinical supervisor, quality assurance coordinator, quality improvement manager, and most recently, as CSB’s director of strategy and performance management. Potter holds a master’s degree in community agency counseling from George Mason University, and is a certified substance abuse counselor and certified process manager. She has worked as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Education, the Mid-Atlantic Technology Transfer Center and several local universities. Potter has extensive experience in data analysis and evaluation, strategic planning, process improvement, project management, program development and cross-system initiatives, such as Diversion First. 

Potter will assume her role as Diversion First manager on Sept. 1.

The Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) recently announced that Fairfax County Government has received three VACo Achievement Awards, which recognize excellence in local government programs. VACo received a record 106 submissions, the highest in the program's history. Winning entries focused on addressing high-priority issues that challenge counties today.

Fairfax County was recognized for the following programs:

Program Category: Information Technology

Next Generation Security Program
Fairfax County protects businesses and residents' data with regards to taxes, sensitive personal information, business permits, land, critical infrastructure, health and human services and public safety. The Next Generation Security Program  is part of the main Cyber Security program. Its mission is to protect citizen's data, develop and enforce security policies and use technology that best protect data assets that will be on pace with modern and emerging security threats to maintain the county's no data breach, business continuity and service delivery performance record. The program follows a security defense in depth architecture approach by deploying NextGen application aware security technologies to detect, block and alert threats where data moves both inside and outside the network.

Program Category: Health and Human Services

Financial Exploitation Prevention Taskforce
The older adult population is steadily increasing with the addition of the Baby Boomer population over the next 30 years. As people age, the ability to complete day to day tasks like grocery shopping, self-care, or money management may be weakened and the need for assistance increases. This dilemma is the perfect storm for scammers to exploit older adults for their retirement savings and other valuables. Fairfax County noticed an increase of financial exploitation cases and desired to make a change. The Department of Family Services and the Police Department have formed a collaborative approach to address financial exploitation and fraud cases, which  led to the development of the Financial Exploitation Prevention Taskforce and created a network of professionals. The taskforce is a multidisciplinary team that is composed of professionals from private, local, state and federal agencies with a shared focus.

Program Category: Environmental

Revitalize, Restore, Replant!
The Revitalize, Restore, Replant! (R3) program transforms existing Stormwater facilities on Fairfax County Public School campuses into  real-world teaching tools. In this free-of-charge program, stream ecologists from theDepartment of Public Works and Environmental Services introduce students to stormwater and watershed ecosystems management through hands-on native plant installations in existing bioretention or dry pond facilities. Plant species are chosen to complement existing Virginia Standards of Learning requirements. The goal of the program is to encourage students and teachers to use their local stormwater management facility as a long-term outdoor learning classroom without leaving their campus.

For more information, visit the VACo website.
 

Fairfax County helped to lead the effort to create a new regional agreement with Dominion Energy that lights the way for converting existing streetlights to more energy- efficient LEDs.

The agreement makes transitioning to LEDs less expensive for local governments and offers more options in the future.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova’s leadership moved forward this initiative undertaken by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and Northern Virginia’s local governments.

“LED streetlights are longer lasting and more efficient than traditional streetlights,” said Bulova. “Many thanks to all those involved in this effort, including Dominion and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.”

Dominion installs, owns, operates and maintains most of the nearly 58,000 streetlights in Fairfax County. The new agreement presents an opportunity to begin converting these lights to LEDs, according to county officials. The county would be responsible for paying to replace existing high-pressure sodium, metal halide and mercury vapor streetlights with LEDs.

As the negotiations with Dominion were ongoing, the county hired a consultant to consider the best ways to utilize streetlight infrastructure in the future. This study is expected to be completed in the fall, and county staff will develop an associated budget proposal.

New Agreement’s Benefits

The new agreement with Dominion offers many benefits, including:

• Lower costs for converting existing streetlights to LEDs. Dominion will charge $130 to convert what is currently considered a standard, basic, streetlight fixture to either a basic or premium LED light. This upfront cost is recouped in the long run because LEDs are more energy efficient and last longer.
• No-cost, LED conversions for existing streetlight fixtures that fail. Dominion will not charge the county for these conversions.
• Lower monthly costs to operate the LEDs. Previously, Dominion charged about $12 in electricity distribution and supply costs for a basic LED streetlight based on the utility’s rates last year. This cost will be about $7 for a basic LED light under the new agreement.
• More choice in the type and style of LED streetlights. Before, Dominion only offered two LED fixtures. Under the new agreement, up to 18 different fixture styles may be available, although the county would not use all available types.
• Warmer color temperatures. Until now, Dominion only offered 4,000-Kelvin LEDs. Under the agreement, 3,000-Kelvin lights, which produce softer light, will be available.
• Smart technology ready with a “seven-pin capability.” This allows future smart technologies to be added to the lights, such as dimmers, remote monitoring, outage reporting and other sensor arrays. Further discussions with Dominion will be required to begin implementation of these “smart city” applications.

LED streetlights use 40 to 60 percent less electricity when compared to conventional streetlights, and they last up to three to four times longer.

Cities across the nation have begun making the switch to LED streetlights, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The move saves governments money in the long run with lower utility bills, and it also helps the environment through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

LED Conversions in Fairfax County Buildings

The county’s move toward LEDs outside on the street complements its efforts off the street, inside its own buildings. More than 2,277 LED bulbs have been installed in county facilities since last July, reducing utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions. This has resulted in:

• $544,546 in lifetime savings on electricity costs.
• More than 6.8 million kilowatt hours saved in lifetime energy use.

This is equivalent to avoiding the release of 50,607 metric tons in planet-warming, greenhouse gases.

Fairfax County also recently adopted a new, broader operational energy strategy that aims to significantly lower utility bills and carbon emissions. This strategy will cut energy consumption in county buildings and facilities by 20 percent per square foot over 10 years.

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