Author: Scott McCaffrey

A Northern Virginia native, Scott McCaffrey has four decades of reporting, editing and newsroom experience in the local area plus Florida, South Carolina and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He spent 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. For Local News Now, he covers government and civic issues in Arlington, Fairfax County and Falls Church.

News

Falls Church leaders aim to collaborate with Fairfax on Beyer redevelopment

By Scott McCaffrey
Beyer site concept plan (via Fairfax County)

Falls Church city officials are hoping for a collaborative effort with their Fairfax County colleagues as redevelopment takes place in the Gordon Road Triangle straddling the two communities.

“We have demonstrated we can work well with Fairfax County,” Falls Church Vice Mayor Debora Schantz-Hiscott said as city leaders on Sept. 15 began planning for the 20-acre parcel located within the locality’s borders.

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News

County budget head says more ‘difficult choices’ loom as FY27 planning nears

By Scott McCaffrey
Department of Management and Budget director Philip Hagen (screenshot via Fairfax County)

Uncertainty remains as county leaders and budget staff begin looking toward the fiscal 2027 budget process.

“Overall, we’re kind of sitting in the same place,” said Philip Hagen, director of the county’s Department of Management and Budget. He was briefing members of the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Policy Committee on Sept. 16.

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News

County board irked by sluggish pace of pedestrian, bicyclist improvements

By Scott McCaffrey
The Pedal with Petals Family Bike Ride returned to Tysons in 2024 for its second year (courtesy Tysons Community Alliance)

County supervisors reacted unhappily to how little of their approved funding for pedestrian and bicyclist improvements has filtered down to completed projects.

“How completely unacceptable — it has to change,” said Dranesville Supervisor Jimmy Bierman to the news that only about $12 million of the $82.1 million approved for improvements has been encumbered or spent.

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News

County executive presses FCPS leaders to submit a ‘budget of reality’ for FY27

By Scott McCaffrey
County Executive Bryan Hill (courtesy photo)

County leaders have now joined School Board members in pushing for more early budget collaboration, to avoid repeating an impasse that soured relationships last spring.

At a Sept. 16 meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Policy Committee, County Executive Bryan Hill said school leaders needed to develop a “budget of reality” for fiscal 2027.

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News

Fairfax brings most competitors to 2025 Senior Olympics competition

By Scott McCaffrey
1600-meter run competition at 2025 Senior Olympics (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Fairfax County again leads the region in the number of participants in the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics.

Those competitors are among a record contingent of 1,200 taking part in the 2025 event, which runs Sept. 13-Oct. 1 at venues across the region.

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Countywide

Fairfax County supervisors seek to reduce red tape around affordable housing

By Scott McCaffrey
Fairfax County officials in 2025 broke ground on an affordable housing project at 2990 Telestar Court in Merrifield (staff photo by Jared Serre)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed staff last Tuesday (Sept. 9) to take a six-month-long deep dive into current housing policies, hoping to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles hampering the creation of more affordable units across the community.

“This is absolutely an essential part of our economic strategy,” said Board Chairman Jeff McKay, who proposed the action. “It comes up in every conversation with the public.”

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Countywide

Metro looks to improve bus service after reliability dropped last year

By Scott McCaffrey
A Metrobus in Seven Corners (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

On-time Metrobus performance declined in fiscal year 2025 from the previous two years, leading transit leaders to plan more aggressive moves to keep the buses on schedule.

“We’ll be focusing on things in our direct control,” said Jordan Holt, senior director of performance, benchmarking and customer service at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) at the Sept. 11 meeting of WMATA’s safety and operations committee.

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Countywide

Fairfax homes for sale lingering on market for increasing amounts of time

By Scott McCaffrey
Sign for a home under contract (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The number of days on the market for homes that sold across Fairfax County in August was up 50% from a year before, according to new data.

The average of 24 days between listing and ratified sales contract — up from 16 in August 2024 — is a more modest jump than what D.C.’s closer-in suburbs have seen, but it still suggests prospective buyers are taking their time.

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Countywide

Fairfax County adopts new guidelines to support displaced affordable housing tenants

By Scott McCaffrey
One University affordable housing development in Fairfax (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Sept. 9) adopted a package of new guidelines for relocating tenants when affordable apartments are slated for redevelopment, acquisition or condominium conversion.

“The overarching goal is to assist displaced tenants in moving to safe and affordable replacement housing convenient to their employment or school, while facilitating tenants’ return to preserved affordable units to the greatest extent possible,” county staff said in the report’s overview.

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News

Fairfax school board aims to improve collaboration with supervisors on next budget

By Scott McCaffrey
School Board member Melanie Meren (screenshot via FCPS)

Some Fairfax County School Board members hope closer collaboration with their Board of Supervisors’ counterparts will make for smoother future budget processes than was experienced earlier this year.

Fairfax County Public Schools needs to convince local elected officials and the broader community that “we are being as strategic as possible with every dollar,” Mason District School Board member Ricardy Anderson said during a school board work session on Tuesday (Sept. 9) about budget planning and communications strategies.

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