Home LifeLifeStyleStyle Page 10 Mount Vernon’s Hometown Newspaper • A Connection Newspaper February 11, 2016 Proffers In Danger? Photo by Photo wrote Sharon Bulova, chairman of State seeks to the board. rein in county’s The board detailed the way the Tim Peterson Tim county works with developers to balance the impact of new devel- power. opment with “added demand for By Ken Moore county services and public facili- The Gazette ties that result from that develop- /The Gazette ment.” ichmond caught the atten- “We do that through the proffer Rtion of the Fairfax County system, which provides an oppor- Board of Supervisors this tunity for developers to work with week specifically with House Bill the county to address community The Board of Supervisors’ Public Safety Committee met Feb. 9 to go over a basic 770 (Gilbert) and Senate B 549 concerns related to the increased plan “matrix” for implementing recommendations from the Ad Hoc Police Prac- (Obenshain), bills Sharon Bulova density of such development,” ac- tices Review Commission of 2015. says will place “significant restric- cording to the Board of Supervi- tions” on development, specifically sors. “In Fairfax County, our col- citing “unreasonable proffers.” laboration with our partners in the The Board of development The Police-Changing Matrix Supervisors community has drafted an “What businesses led to success- Public Safety Committee meets to discuss police emergency let- ful, innovative ter during its have repeatedly plans such as review recommendations, Diversion First initiative. board meeting the redesign of Feb. 2 to the told me about being Tysons, con- By Tim Peterson dation contained sub-recommendations that Fairfax County able to work with struction of the The Gazette ought to be considered independently from the delegation to Mosaic District, parent. Including those, the matrix contains just the General As- the government, and the revital- ust over a year since Natasha McKenna over 200 items, according to Deputy County Ex- sembly oppos- ization of died following multiple shocks from a ecutive Dave Rohrer. ing the two whether it’s zoning, Springfield.” Jtaser, while in custody at the Fairfax The matrix is intended to help with potentially bills. The board ap- County Adult Detention center, her name implementing recommendations and eliminate “Please op- procurement, proved drafting was never raised during the Feb. 9 meeting of the redundancies with the PERF report assessing pose HB 770/ the letter dur- Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Public Safety Fairfax County Police’s use of force policy. “Many SB 549, or seek public-private ing its regularly Committee meeting. Two audience members stood of the recommendations are solid,” Rohrer said, amendments to scheduled on one side of the Government Center conference and some are “already being used by the police safeguard partnerships, etc., meeting on Feb. room, holding posters bearing a picture of department in making changes.” Fairfax County’s is that they need to 2. McKenna’s face and text including “Black Lives Rohrer said the force has, since the final rec- proffer author- Matter.” ommendations of the commis- ity,” according have fairness, THE HOUSE The committee met to hear sion, worked on its use of force to the letter. OF DEL- overviews of a matrix of recom- “As we go through policy and helped bring about “Virtually all predictability, and EGATES mendations from the Ad Hoc Diversion First. development in passed the bill Police Practices Review Com- this, we need to be According to Rohrer, an the county is systems that work.” later that day, mission that met in 2015, as implementation committee in- infill develop- — State Sen. 68-27. Local well as Diversion First, a col- cluding members of the 2015 cautious and do ment. In these Scott Surovell (D-36) delegates vot- laborative initiative to help of- Ad Hoc Commission will meet types of cases, ing in favor of fenders with mental illness be this right.” to help the Board of Supervi- proffers are the bill restrict- directed to proper intake, — Brad Carruthers, sors work through the recom- critical in meeting infrastructure ing local proffer authority in- evaluation and treatment ser- President, Fairfax Fraternal mendations. and compatibility needs of sur- cluded Dave Albo (R-42), Eileen vices rather than simply be Chief of Police Edwin C. Filler-Corn (D-41), Charniele Her- Order of Police, Lodge 77 rounding areas. If enacted, these dumped at the jail or emer- Roessler followed Rohrer with bills may require us to rewrite en- ring (D-46), Patrick Hope (D-47), gency room. a brief presentation on updat- tire sections of our Comprehensive Tim Hugo (R-40), Paul Krizek (D- When the Ad Hoc Commission presented its 142 ing the department’s use of force policy. Plan and Zoning Ordinance,” See State Seeks, Page 6 final recommendations to the Board of Supervi- Focusing on the three areas of the force’s mis- sors last fall, county staff transformed the list into sion to protect and serve, developing a culture of a spreadsheet organizing each recommendation safety and keeping pace with urbanization, “law 2/12/16 Requested in home in Requested beside its lead agency, other stakeholders, cross- enforcement profession needs to re-engineer it- material. over with prior recommendations from the Police self,” Roessler said. Time-sensitive Postmaster: Executive Research Forum (PERF), any required “Things are changing. In the last two years, there Attention legal review and the ultimate authority that would were gaps in policing.” #482 Permit Alexandria, VA Alexandria, give approval of the change. Of changes already in the works, Roessler PAID See Working, Page 6 Postage U.S. In some cases, staff determined one recommen- STD PRSRT www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ February 11-17, 2016 ❖ 1 2 ❖ Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ February 11-17, 2016 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Mount Vernon Gazette Editor Steven Mauren News 703-778-9415 or [email protected] School Board Approves $2.67 Billion ‘No Cuts’ Budget Calls for general salary raises and additional $40 million for teachers, lowering elementary class size. By Tim Peterson The Gazette Photos courtesy of Fairf courtesy Photos embers of the Fairfax County School Board have M taken the next step in re- alizing Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza’s vision of no additional cuts in the Fiscal Year 2017 school system oper- ating budget. The $2.67 billion budget, a $121 million or 4.8 percent increase over the FY 2016 approved budget was sup- ax County Public Sch ported unanimously at the board’s Feb. 4 regular business meeting. Highlights of the new budget include a step and one percent market scale adjust- ment salary increase for all FCPS employ- ees, as well as another $40 million ear- marked for making teacher salaries more ools competitive and reducing class sizes in el- ementary schools. The School Board approved the $2.67 billion advertised budget it will present to the Board of Supervisors “The Superintendent’s Budget Task Force April 5. spent many hours over several weeks last summer and fall developing a list of poten- the revenue our schools need.” overall strength and reputation of Fairfax Schultz, who went on to address the Food tial program cuts and new fees,” Board County.” and Nutrition Services aspect of the amend- Chairman Pat Hynes said in a statement. BUDGET COMMITTEE chair and School At-large member Jeanette Hough, a new ment: “This is an incredibly modest way to “Those cuts and fees are not in the Adver- Board member Janie Strauss introduced the addition to the board, presented a lone recognize a self-sustaining fund that num- tised Budget because they would fundamen- motion to approve the budget. amendment to the advertised budget. She bers bear out over time is already provided tally change the quality and character of “This budget reflects the basic needs of proposed reducing the transfer request from for in the budget. FCPS. I did not leave the classroom to serve our schools and is critical to maintaining Fairfax County by $4.3 million, in part “The best face we can put forward is that on the School Board so that I could preside an essential quality education for our chil- through recognizing additional funding we have done all the appropropriate things over the dismantling of this world class dren,” she said in a statement. “Commu- from the Commonwealth of Virginia and to recognize savings when we can,” Schultz school system. Potential cuts will, sadly, nity support for this budget is critical to the also absorbing some employee living wage added. have to be considered should we not receive future of our schools, our children, and the expenditures into the Food and Nutrition Hough defended her work, explaining Services fund. with regards to the change in revenue from Increased funding from the state, a po- the Commonwealth, that based on compar- tential $3.2 million, is part of Gov. Terry ing projected and actual funding, it wasn’t McAuliffe’s proposed budget, which the unreasonable to reflect the Governor’s pro- General Assembly has yet to approve. This posal in the budget. uncertainty caused most other board mem- “The whole budget process is based on bers to vote against the motion. assumptions that may not come to fruition,” “It’s still a proposal of the Governor’s, not she said. “I do think that when we look at in hand by any means,” said Vice Chairman what this $3.2 million is, it’s just another and Mason District representative Sandy assumption we’re basing our budget on.” Evans. “It’s also a best case scenario. These In discounting the amendment, other chickens are far from hatching.” board members explained that this prelimi- There was also concern over the effect nary approval vote is just the first part in a Hough’s proposal would have on develop- multi-step process.