The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed County Executive Bryan Hill last Tuesday (Feb. 3) to consider ways a number of “placemaking” organizations — including Visit Fairfax, Volunteer Fairfax and the Tysons Community Alliance — could be consolidated or restructured to reduce costs and be more operationally strategic.
“While each provides value, fragmentation and duplicative services dilute impact and reduce efficiency,” board members said in the directive to Hill.
He was told to have a plan in place before July, when the county’s new fiscal year begins.
“We’re really going into a very difficult budget year,” said Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, who sought the review.
She said those three organizations and others have “overlapping missions” related to tourism promotion, business attraction, workforce engagement and place-based development.
“It’s essential — really, more than ever — that we take every single dollar into account,” Palchik said. “We can’t afford to wait any longer.”
Hill said he would come back with serious proposals.
“We do do things duplicatively,” he acknowledged of current practices, calling the requested review “an opportunity … to get us all in the right place.”
Both Palchik and Hill said the directive was not meant as a slap at the groups involved.
“Every organization listed has done great work,” the county executive said.
Some other supervisors asked whether Palchik’s intent was to look primarily at efforts focused on Tysons, or to undertake a broader review.
Palchik said the proposal “really started as a focus on Tysons and grew a little bit.” The directive includes not just the three named organizations, but also any others “deemed appropriate” by supervisors or Hill.
Established in 2022 with the help of $2.5 million in county funding and officially launched in February 2023, the Tysons Community Alliance is tasked with implementing the county’s vision for Tysons. Under an agreement finalized in July 2023, it can request funding from the county annually as part of the local government’s budget process.
Visit Fairfax, a nonprofit designated as the county’s official tourism marketing organization, is funded by transient occupancy or hotel tax revenue, while Volunteer Fairfax is supported by the county’s budget, which contributed $490,290 this fiscal year, and donations.
The organizations involved were informed ahead of time that the review would be requested, according to Palchik.
With the exception of Board Chair Jeff McKay, who was not at the meeting, the vote approving the directive was unanimous.
“Hopefully the outcome can improve everything we do,” Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said.
Centreville Volunteer Fire Dept. celebrated
During their Feb. 3 meeting, county supervisors saluted the Centreville Volunteer Fire Department in honor of its 75th anniversary.
The department has “built a history over time serving the community,” said Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith.
The Centreville department is one of 12 private, nonprofit volunteer fire companies that partner with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. It provides supplemental staffing at two fire stations:
- Fire Station 17 at 5856 Old Centreville Road, where the volunteer department owns the land, building and apparatus
- Fire Station 38 at 6001 O’Day Drive, where the volunteer department owns the ambulances and the county owns the land, building and engine and ladder truck
On hand to receive the honor were a number of department members, including some who had served for three or more decades and some second-generation volunteers.
“It means a lot to our members and our community,” John “Pete” Kirby said, representing the Centreville department.
Kirby noted that the department was founded in 1955 after a business owner learned he could not get insurance due to the lack of nearby fire brigades. At the time, service had to come from Fairfax, Herndon, Chantilly and Gainesville.
Volunteers can serve in either operational or administrative capacities.
“It’s an honor to have been able to serve so long,” Kirby said. “Our partnership [with the county] is long and storied. We’re proud.”
To fund equipment acquisitions, the department holds smoke-free bingo Tuesdays and Saturdays at 6:45 p.m. at Fire Station 417. A total of 200 people can be accommodated for the event, which uses state-of-the-art bingo computers.
Cornerstones CEO lauded as retirement nears
The Board of Supervisors also honored Kerrie Wilson, who soon will retire after 25 years as CEO of Cornerstones, a nonprofit formerly known as Reston Interfaith.
“This is a loss for Fairfax County that you’re retiring,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said, praising Wilson for “the impact that you have made on so many lives.”
“It’s only really starting to sink in that this is happening,” Alcorn said.
Cornerstones provides safety-net services to approximately 26,000 people per year, who receive assistance ranging from emergency shelter and affordable housing to help for day laborers.
Wilson moved to the Herndon area with her family in 1976. “It’s just been such a joy” to serve in the role with Cornerstones since 2001, she said.
She announced her planned departure last summer to give Cornerstones time to search for a successor.
A new CEO is expected to be announced in the spring, and Wilson said she believes her eventual replacement will maintain the organization’s momentum.
“We need to keep going,” she said. “We’re not done yet.”
Founded as Reston Interfaith in 1970 by a number of religious organizations, the group took its new name in 2013 to recognize its expanded mission and geographic service area.
