January 28, 2021
Dear Neighbor,
The Board of Supervisors held the first full Board Meeting of 2021 on Tuesday. We recognized retiring Police Chief Ed Roessler for his decades of service to the county and appointed Deputy County Executive for Public Safety, David M. Rohrer, to serve as interim police chief while the search for our permanent chief continues. If you have not yet done so, please provide your input on what you would like to see in our next chief of police. The survey will end this Sunday, January 31, 2021.
I introduced three joint board matters yesterday, including one with Chairman Jeff McKay and Supervisor Pat Herrity to recognize Sharon Stark, Congressman Gerry Connolly’s retiring District Director. Sharon recently retired after more than a decade of service to Fairfax and Prince William County residents. You can watch and listen to my board matters at 1:46:05 of the recording.
Yesterday, Governor Northam held a vaccine briefing and announced a revised dashboard with increased clarity in an effort to improve transparency on vaccine distribution. Residents are now able to see where doses have been delivered, where they are stored, the vaccinated population, and even a breakdown of vaccinations per 100,000 people in localities. Governor Northam also asked the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to create a statewide vaccine registry system to help shepherd registrations. I’ll make sure to send any updates I receive regarding this statewide system.
I've included below a detailed update on vaccine supplies in Fairfax County. Unfortunately, due to a change in the method used to allocate doses by the Virginia Department of Health, we expect our local supply of vaccine doses to be limited for several more weeks. This is a disappointing development and, led by Chairman Jeff McKay, we will continue to push both the federal and state governments to increase the supply of vaccine doses to Fairfax County.
On a final note, the very first episode of Braddock Voices — a regular podcast where we talk to Braddock District and Fairfax County residents and leaders working to make our wonderful community even better — has officially launched! We started strong with former Braddock Supervisors Sharon Bulova and John Cook as our first guests. I really enjoyed chatting with them and learning from their experience.
You can watch the podcast slideshow on Youtube or listen to the podcast while you're on the move on Soundcloud. We hope you enjoy and share it with a friend!
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Supervisor James Walkinshaw |
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P.S. Forward this message to your neighbors in the Braddock District! Residents can use our sign up feature or email [email protected] to subscribe to the monthly Braddock Beacon newsletter and Advisories like this. |
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The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) expects to receive 105,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine each week starting this week and will be initiating a per capita distribution to jurisdictions. With this new process, the Health Department will be responsible for distributing vaccine to providers in our health district. The overall decrease in Virginia’s vaccine allocation is a result of limited supplies nationally. |
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Vaccine Supply is Limited Until at Least March
The Fairfax County Health Department has currently vaccinated approximately 35,200 individuals since receiving its first shipment of the vaccine in late December 2020. Due to allocations that go into effect this week, the pace of incoming doses is not expected to increase until March. This means the health department has limited vaccine supply for at least several more weeks. They are working expeditiously to schedule vaccination appointments each week in the order that the registrations had been received based on the amount of vaccine they have available.
Vaccine Distribution
Beginning this week, Virginia’s primary distribution of doses is allocated by the Virginia Department of Health to Local Health Districts, in proportion to each district’s population. Local Health Districts then allocate supply for all the entities that are providing vaccinations in the district.
The Fairfax Health District includes Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Herndon and Vienna. When the Fairfax Health District receives its allocation from the state, the Health Department keeps some of it to vaccinate those eligible in the 1a and 1b priority groups, and distributes the rest to other vaccine providers in the district, including Inova hospital.
They work closely with these partners to ensure that the priority groups are being vaccinated based on people’s eligibility and when they registered to get an appointment. This includes their commitment to K-12 public and private school teachers and staff, who are currently being vaccinated by Inova. In addition, they are working with Inova to develop a verification and vaccination process for childcare providers.
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Braddock Voices Podcast Has Launched |
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The first episode of Braddock Voices — a regular podcast where we talk to Braddock District and Fairfax County residents and leaders who make our wonderful community even better — is now available on Youtube and Soundcloud. We started strong with former Braddock Supervisors Sharon Bulova and John C. Cook as our first guests.
We covered how they made tough decisions, how they balanced family life with the demands of public service, and their favorite hidden gems of Braddock.
Be notified for future releases by signing up for Braddock District’s email list! Subscribe today.
Need/prefer to watch with Closed Captioning (CC)? Send us an email at [email protected] and we will share a subtitled video link. |
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Tune into the Podcast now! |
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Upcoming Stuff the Bus Food Drive |
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Supervisor Walkinshaw and Stuff the Bus workers collecting Food Donations. |
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A quick reminder that this upcoming Saturday, January 30, from 10:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. is our first Stuff the Bus Food Drive of the year. The Braddock District received a record-breaking amount of donations from concerned residents in 2020 -- can I count on you again?
Consider stopping by and donating to help our local families in need. I hope to see you there
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Braddock School Board Member
Megan McLaughlin's Virtual Town Hall
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Tonight, January 28, from 7:00 p.m. through 8:30 p.m., Braddock District School Board Member Megan McLaughlin will be hosting a virtual town hall. The town hall will be conducted in the format of an open discussion so you can join in at any time during the town hall.
Questions and comments from community members can be submitted regardless if you attend. Participant remarks will be limited to 2 minutes.
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Last Chance to Complete Survey for
Chief of Police Search
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Did you know that Fairfax County Government is searching for a new Chief of Police? There's still time to provide your input on what characteristics, traits, and skills you would like to see in Fairfax County Police Department's new Chief. All Fairfax County residents and businesses can participate. The survey ends this Sunday, January 31, 2021.
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Friends of Lake Accotink Park
Dredging Project Update
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Join Supervisor Walkinshaw, Project Director Charles Smith, and the Friends of Lake Accotink (FLAP) for an in-depth briefing, and question and answer session on the Lake Accotink Park Dredging project tonight, Thursday, January 28, at 6:30 p.m.
You can also call (301) 715- 8592, use Meeting ID: 925 4923 3558, and enter passcode: 175937, to listen in.
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zMOD Update Community
Meeting Recording Available
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Supervisor Walkinshaw held a virtual community meeting to discuss the changes proposed in the Zoning Ordinance Modernization Project, or zMOD, on Monday, January 25. If you missed the meeting, you can still watch the recording of the meeting below. |
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Recorded zMOD Video Recording |
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Public hearings on the consolidated zMOD draft will be held before the Planning Commission tonight, January 28, 2021, at 7:30 p.m., and before the full Board at its March 9, 2021 meeting.
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Fairfax County Encourages
Businesses to Apply to this Program
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Halcyon, a Georgetown-based business incubator, is offering start-up or new entrepreneurial businesses based in the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) a chance to join its new Opportunity Intensive incubator program. Fairfax County is a strong supporter of this project as a means to grow and expand its start-up entrepreneurial business base and encourages all eligible county businesses to apply. Applications are open through February 11, 2021.
The Opportunity Intensive program is a 10-month program designed to equip early-stage entrepreneurs with the support they need to transform their ideas into scalable and sustainable ventures. To be eligible to join the cohort, ventures must have a for-profit component, be located in or primarily serve an opportunity zone, and demonstrate social impact. Applications for the 2021 Opportunity Intensive Fellowship are due on February 11, 2021.
Halcyon provides social entrepreneurs and changemakers critical support to grow and scale their ventures through pro-bono legal support, a $5,000 stipend, mentoring, leadership coaching, and access to potential investors. Halcyon takes 0% equity for participating in the program. More information about the program benefits, eligibility, and selection criteria can be found on their website.
Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives (DEI) leverages county resources and develops policy recommendations to foster economic development and position Fairfax to be an economically competitive and prosperous community. It also works closely with small, local businesses to advise and guide them as they grow.
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Long Branch Central Watershed Management Area Project
Community Meeting
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Supervisor Walkinshaw and the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services invite you to attend an upcoming community meeting on the Long Branch Central Watershed Management Area Project on Thursday, February 11, at 7:00 p.m. This meeting will provide an update on the project, solicit input about the watershed condition, introduce the work plan to be developed late spring, 2021, and introduce some of the project partners. Use this virtual meeting link to join the community meeting.
The primary goals of the project are to:
• Meet the Long Branch Central waste load reduction requirements
• Improve water quality within the Long Branch Central Watershed
• Improve habitat and environmental health
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Metro, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announce wireless service in rail tunnels |
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Transit riders and visitors to the nation’s capital now enjoy one of the most connected wireless experiences of any rail system in the U.S. with coverage available in all tunnels. The nation's major wireless carriers—AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon —and Metro today officially announced the final milestone, more than a decade in the making, to provide wireless service for those who use the Metrorail system.
Metro and the wireless carriers worked closely with the region’s Congressional delegation on the project, including U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA).
“This is something we’ve been working with Metro and the carriers on for years, because it will improve safety for Metro riders and workers,” said Senator Warner, “The federal government and the region have made substantial investments in making this system safer and more reliable, from rebuilding tracks to introducing new rail cars, and now passengers will be able to use their cellphones underground throughout the system.”
Completion of the underground portion of the Metrorail system adds to the customer experience that already included wireless service in all below ground stations and free Wi-Fi at all 91 stations.
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