Joint Board Matter With Supervisor Gross
October 30, 2012

Retirement of Diane Hoffman

Madame Chairman,

Community Service is one of the things that makes our community so strong. Very few people have served Fairfax County like Diane Hoffman. A Braddock and Red Fox Forest resident, Diane devoted over 30 years as staff to the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, retiring as the Executive Director.

Diane began her work at the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District in November of 1980.  Other than a two year absence, when she moved with her children and Naval officer husband to the island of Guam, Diane has worked diligently for the District for the duration of her tenure. In her many years of service, she moved from answering phones at the front desk to managing the entire office.  The Conservation District transitioned with her, becoming an invaluable asset to both county agencies and county citizens concerned about protecting Fairfax's natural resources.

In Diane's early work years, the District staff concentrated heavily on erosion and sediment pollution, and helped to train county inspectors to conduct compliance reviews at construction sites.  After county staff took ownership of that responsibility, Diane refocused the District on the next big environmental topic: stormwater management. 

In addition to her many stream restoration projects, under Diane's leadership the District has worked with the county to:  install a rain garden, permeable paving, and underground stormwater storage in the parking lot of the Providence Fire Station and Supervisor's Office; build and maintain multiple rain gardens on the grounds of the Cub Run, Wakefield, and George Washington recreations centers; complete the mapping of nearly 30,000 acres of soil in the eastern part of the county and much, much more. She has provided staffing and coordination for the Potomac Watershed Roundtable, of which Supervisor Gross is the chair, and for several years, worked with residents from Alexandria to Westmoreland County, and has done a magnificent job "wrangling" all the stakeholders and encouraging partnerships wherever possible.

Therefore, we ask without objection, Madame Chairman that Diane Hoffman be brought before the BOS to receive our thanks for her many years of faithful service.