There will be a virtual community meeting tonight, July 21, from 7 - 8:30 p.m. to receive your input on the Countywide Strategic Plan. I strongly encourage you to attend this meeting online if you are able. You can sign up to attend here.

Your feedback is very important as this plan will be used to determine future budgets and to justify raising your taxes as the priorities adopted in the Strategic Plan will guide future County policies and spending. You can find the full plan as it stands here.

You can take the Countywide Strategic Plan survey here and sign up to receive updates on the plan progress here. You can also share your general feedback by emailing strategicplan@fairfaxcounty.gov.

First, there does not seem to be enough community input yet for a document that is intended to guide all future policies and spending. Most residents I have talked to have not heard of the strategic plan or its community engagement process. With a County of 1.2 million people, I hope we will only adopt a plan that has received feedback from a more significant percent of our population.

Several Board members have gone so far as to say that this tax is less about charging residents and more about “helping” you change your behavior. I do not think most residents will welcome this kind of “help.” Back in my December 2020 newsletter, I shared with you some of my concerns about this tax, which have not changed.

County staff are drafting an ordinance to establish the plastic bag tax and it will come before the Board for approval in September. The General Assembly has granted authority for the plastic bag tax to be up to 5 cents. You will have the opportunity to weigh in during the public hearing once a date is set. You will be able to sign up to testify here and you can also provide testimony to the entire Board via email by sending your message to ClerktotheBOS@fairfaxcounty.gov . I also encourage you to take my 2-minute survey to share your feedback.

In addition, back in April, I asked the Board to consider a successful program from Augusta County called No Charge that tackles both criminal justice reform and litter. This program rehabilitates non-violent, first-time offenders with community service cleaning up litter around the community with no cost to taxpayers. The County would actually save money through this program through diverted court costs, the environment would be cleaner, and the program has a proven track record of dramatically lower recidivism. I am hopeful that programs like these will be a greater benefit to taxpayers and our environment than a tax that will add to the already expensive cost of living in Fairfax County.

I am excited to report that Fairfax County has just adopted a pre-notification 9-1-1 program. Pre-notification 9-1-1 was one of 31 goals under the Fairfax 50+ Community Action Plan to serve the needs of older adults and those with medical conditions and disabilities. I want to thank Tom Bash, my appointee to the Fairfax Area Commission on Aging and Fairfax Area Disability Services Board, for championing this issue and moving it forward. You can find more details on pre-notification 9-1-1 here.

Registration to speak in-person is open on-site between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM. 

The eight summer hearings take place prior to the Commission's receipt of census data and the drawing of proposed redistricting maps. Comments on the map drawing process and defining communities of interest are encouraged. Eight additional regional public hearings will be held in September 2021 to receive public comment after the Commission proposes redistricting maps.

All hearings will be livestreamed and archived on the Commission's website. The Commission will endeavor to accommodate requests for accessibility accommodations, including sign language interpretation, received up to 48 hours prior to the public hearing. Please submit such requests to varedist@dls.virginia.gov or (804) 698-1888.

For payment options and to learn more, visit: https://bit.ly/3etr9IF.

Research has shown that at some point in their caregiving journey, a family caregiver will face the decision of whether to place a loved one in a long-term care facility. This panel conversation will provide information about the different options and resources to inform yourself before making the decision, and how to advocate for your loved one while they are in a long-term care facility.

The panel includes Kristen Lucia, Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, Denise Pitts, Attorney, Legal Services of Northern Virginia, Inc., Tavna Limage, Fairfax Assistant Program Manager, Adult Protective Services. Allison Fitch, Fairfax Adult Protective Services Financial Exploitation Coordinator

Join this virtual panel on July 30 from 2-3PM.

To register, click here: Online Registration — Free Virtual Panel Discussions for Family Caregivers of Older Adults - HSCODE - Fairfax County, Virginia

Low-Cost Rabies Clinics are back! To register, please visit this page.

Apply here.

Registration and sponsor packages are available at this page.

To sign up and learn more, click here.

Here's a map of our cooling centers - find one near you to cool off this summer.

Visit the SBA website for more information including how to apply here.

For more information, please see: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/novel-coronavirus/vaccine/registration

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced that providers across the Commonwealth could begin vaccinating those aged 12-15 following federal approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in adolescents. Previously, this vaccine was only authorized for individuals ages 16 and older.

The announcement follows both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 12-15 earlier this week and a recommendation yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For more information, please see this page.

If you are interested in him, send in a completed adoption questionnaire and we will go from there to share all the info the Animal Shelter has, answer any questions, and schedule a visit! If you have a dog at home already, the Anima Shelter will schedule a dog-to-dog intro as well to see if they get along. All adoption info, steps, and forms can be found online at this link.