By Brian Trompeter
Following the Vienna Town Council’s November elections in odd-numbered years, newly elected members will be sworn in at 6 p.m. at Town Hall the first business day of the new year.
Council members voted 6-1 Jan. 8 to approve that new arrangement, which was used for the first time this year. The new policy did not require a town-code amendment and may be altered by subsequent Councils.
The Council rejected two other alternatives: having members sworn in at the last meeting of December after the election or at the first regular meeting in January.
Newly elected Council member Sandra Allen, participating in her first regular meeting, cast the only vote against the proposal. She preferred having members sworn in at the last meeting in December, saying this would afford them more time to get up to speed.
“It would give the new members the ability to catch up and be better prepared for [their first] session,” said Allen, who added that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors also swears in its members in December before their terms officially start Jan. 1.
But the rest of the Council favored holding the swearing-in ceremony as early as possible in January, saying that arrangement had worked out well this year. Member Howard Springsteen opposed having the ceremony in December, adding that the Council would “shoot ourselves in the foot” if that meeting had to be canceled for some reason.
Mayor Linda Colbert agreed, saying new Council members don’t officially take office until January and cannot access their town e-mail accounts before then.
Vienna’s swearing-in procedures have assumed a variety of forms in recent years. For many years, newly elected members were sworn in at the start of the first Council meeting in July, following that May’s election. On some occasions, they took their oaths of office right before that meeting began or on other dates.
In July 2020, after a May election delayed by two weeks because of the pandemic, the town invited the community to a special swearing-in ceremony in the new gymnasium at the Vienna Community Center. That venue’s larger space allowed for the social distancing then in vogue.
The Council this year held a swearing-in ceremony Jan. 2, conducted by Town Clerk Melanie Clark. Those sworn in, which because of the new November election schedule for the first time included all six Council members and the mayor, immediately went into a meeting offering instruction on parliamentary procedure.
“I like the idea of being sworn in and going straight to parliamentary training. We probably should do it every week,” joked Council member Charles Anderson. This year’s ceremony dovetailed nicely with the body’s required non-business organizational meeting, he added.
Council to Set 7:30 p.m. as Default Meeting Time: For many years, the Vienna Town Council’s meetings have begun at 8 p.m. and its work sessions usually earlier. But plenty of exceptions have occurred in recent years – so many that longtime watchers learned to double-check the town’s Website each week to confirm when upcoming meetings would start.
The Town Council on Jan. 8 voted 7-0 to instill a bit of regularity to that schedule –and with luck, get members home a little earlier – by signaling its intention to adopt 7:30 p.m. as the default start time for its regular meetings. That vote will occur Jan. 29.
Council members at the meeting also decided vote on Jan. 29 to revert from using the term “conference sessions” back to the former appellation “work sessions” to describe their meetings where no formal voting occurs and public feedback is not accepted.
The town switched to the term “conference sessions” several years ago, but the GazetteLeader – stubbornly adhering to the example set by its staff’s unchanging hair and fashion choices – elected throughout this period to keep calling the confabs “work sessions.” Eventually, the terminology came full-circle.
Council to Discuss Vienna’s Strategic Plan: The Vienna Town Council decided Jan. 8 to convene on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m. at Vienna Town Hall to review the town’s strategic plan.
Council member Howard Springsteen urged against hiring a consultant to facilitate the proceedings, saying Town Manager Mercury Payton could perform the task and “would have a vested interest in moving things along.”
Town Council Members Assigned to Groups, Committees: Serving on boards, commissions and other groups is part of being a Vienna Town Council member. Such work divvies up the labor and allows Council members to gather information and form beneficial relationships.
The Council on Jan. 8 approved the following 11 assignments for the next two years:
• Mayor Linda Colbert will represent the town on the Tysons Community Alliance (which in an earlier incarnation was the Tysons Partnership) and on the Northern Virginia Transit Authority’s Planning Coordination Advisory Committee.
• Council member Sandra Allen will serve on the Hunter Mill Budget Committee.
• Council member Charles Anderson will serve as the town’s liaison to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NOVA Parks).
• Council member Roy Baldwin will represent the town on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
• Council member Ray Brill Jr. will serve on the Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition.
• Council member Jessica Ramakis will represent the town on the Hunter Mill Land Use Committee and serve as liaison to the Fairfax County Park Authority.
• Council member Howard Springsteen will serve on the Hunter Mill District Transportation Advisory Council and the Town Employee Retirement Committee.
In addition, the Council voted to have Anderson serve as mayor pro tempore in 2024 and have Ramakis fill that role in 2025.
