This is an op-ed submitted by George Mason University student Jalen Stubblefield. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
I grew up in Alexandria, VA and have lived here the vast majority of my life. I graduated from Edison High School in 2012, and will graduate from George Mason University this December. I am a Democrat and I oppose the Fairfax County Meals Tax. Here is why.
First and foremost, I understand that enrollment in schools has risen, and that teachers are severely underpaid. I understand the important role public education plays in America, ensuring that every child that works hard has the opportunity to succeed. What I do not understand is a Meals Tax.
Attending school at Edison, I had a number of friends that were growing up without parents in their household. No, the parents had not left them. They were working from early in the morning, sometimes before school started, to late at night, sometimes long after their children had slept.
Take my friend, we’ll call him Josh, his parents would drop him off long before school began, and he would walk home in the afternoon because his parents were working. For food, he was on the free-and-reduced meals program, and his parents would give him $5 for dinner since there was no time for them to cook during the week.
Josh’s story is typical. According to a report by the Commonwealth Institute, 8 percent of school-age children are growing up in poverty and 28 percent are on the free-and-reduced meals program. Read More
On Fridays we take a moment to thank our advertisers and sponsors:
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the business community for the vibrant region.
Matthew A. Cash, financial advisor at Baird’s Private Wealth Management in Reston.
BLVD, Comstock’s apartments at Reston Station.
AKG Design Studio, boutique design firm specializing in kitchen, bathroom designs and cabinetry sales.
Berry & Berry, PLLC, Reston law firm specializing in federal employment, retirement, labor union, and security clearance matters.
Reston Real Estate, Eve Thompson of Long & Foster Real Estate specializes in Reston homes.
Reston Carpet Cleaning, local cleaning service.
Becky’s Pet Care, offering friendly pet services in Northern Virginia.
Reston Community Center, serving Reston’s recreational and cultural needs.
MakeOffices, shared work spaces with five area locations, including Reston.
Boofie O’Gorman, Top Producer Realtor at Long & Foster Reston.
Goldfish Swim School, specializing in children’s swim lessons year-round.
Small Change Consignment, serving Reston’s kids for more than 30 years.
Smilezone Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, Reston dentist Dr. Mahathi Nanduri
A Cleaning Service, professional residential and commercial cleaning.
Reston Montessori, private co-educational school for children ages 3 months to sixth grade.
Kalypso’s Sports Tavern, providing great food and drink at Lake Anne Plaza.
All Spice Cafe & Catering, bringing flavor to your events.
Oatlands Historic House & Gardens
Towns of Lansdowne Square, luxury townhomes in downtown Landsdowne.
Bright Horizons at Commerce Metro Center, new child care facility in Reston.
Susannah Palik, residential Sales Agent with Long & Foster Real Estate.
Inform Fitness, personal training studio that offers results with 20-minute workout.
Knutson at Brambleton, urban townhomes in downtown Brambleton.
The Metropolitan Village at Leesburg, distinctive apartments.
Knutson Crescent Place, new townhomes in walkable Leesburg.
HCA Virginia’s Reston Hospital Center has achieved designation as a Level II Trauma Center by the Virginia Department of Health’s State Health Commissioner, hospital officials announced.
Reston Hospital Center is the first Level II Trauma Center serving Northern Virginia to open in over a decade. It is one of 17 trauma centers in the state.
Reston Hospital Center’s Level II designation will provide additional access to lifesaving trauma care and allows emergency responders a new location to transfer patients to a trauma center within the critical “golden hour” during which treatment is most effective, says a release from HCA.
“This designation is a direct result of Reston Hospital’s focus on continuously enhancing the level of care that we are able to provide to our community,” Dr. Ranjit Pullarkat, Medical Director of Reston Hospital Center’s Trauma Services, said in a statement. “Every resident in Northern Virginia needs and deserves local access to quality trauma care, particularly when minutes may make the difference between life and death.
Mindy Carter, Director of Trauma Services, says the new designation will allow the facility will be able to initiate definitive trauma care for all patients by providing 24/7 on-site trauma surgeons.
“As the population of Northern Virginia grows exponentially, and in uncertain times, it is vital that more hospitals are prepared for individual and large-scale disasters,” she said.
In addition to having trauma surgeons on-site, around the clock, trauma experts specializing in orthopedics, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, plastic and facial trauma, thoracic, gynecological/obstetrical, cardiac, and other surgical specialties are on call and immediately available 24/7, hospital reps said.
This is an occasional series from Fun in Fairfax, a blog written by Reston resident Julie McCool that spotlights places to go and things to do in Fairfax and slightly beyond.
Scenic drives are a fun pastime throughout the year, but the return of fall color makes leisurely exploring of local sites even more appealing. Colorful foliage adds a beautiful dimension to the roadways, and summer crowds are gone.
One of our favorite destinations for scenic drives are the country roads of Loudoun County. Our favorite routes are perfect for a leisurely outing, but we also include several stops and activities along the way for hiking, history, dining, drinks, and more local fun.
Drive the Snickersville Turnpike (SR 734) from Aldie to Bluemont to enjoy beautiful scenery and interesting history. The Snickersville Turnpike is a quiet, two-lane road, that passes farms and fields, and preserves much of it’s early character. George Washington travelled the road as a surveyor, and by 1786 it was the first operating turnpike in America, praised by Thomas Jefferson as a success.
Closer to DC, we suggest a scenic drive on Georgetown Pike or the George Washington Parkway. Though they aren’t much fun during a busy commute, both historic roads offer beautiful scenery and excellent parks and hikes along the drive. Both roads offer stops that will impress visiting friends, or entertain the family on a staycation outing.
Whichever drive you choose, remember to relax, take it slow, and enjoy the journey.
Read more about scenic drives in Northern Virginia on Fun in Fairfax.
Photo: Scenic Snickersville/Fun in Fairfax
This is an op-ed from Reston resident and Reston 2020 member Terry Maynard. It does not represent the opinion of Reston Now. Something on your mind? Send a letter to [email protected]. The editor reserves to make edits for style and clarity or reject submissions.
The Reston Association Board of Directors is in the midst of considering the RA budget for 2017 and will have a special meeting Wednesday (6:30 p.m. at RA headquarters).
The three key points to take away from the materials presented to the Board in recent months and in the package to be presented to the Board this month are this:
- There is not one single place where RA has proposed a reduction in next year’s operating budget, much less elimination of a program, position, or activity; only additions of varying sizes need be considered by the Board. Apparently, everything RA is now doing or plans to do is absolutely essential and must be done again next year–with additions for inflation and new staffing, programs, and activities.
- The proposed $2.9 million appropriation for the Repair & Replacement Reserve Fund (RRRF) is being driven by a simplistic, but reversible, policy prescription in the face of consultant advice that more than $1 million less is needed, the proposed capital spending next year is less than two-thirds of what the policy calls for appropriating to the fund, and existing RRRF reserves far exceed any RA requirement.
- As a result, RA staff is proposing (and the Board appears to be favoring) a budget that would require Restonians’ assessment fees to jump by 8.3 percent from $657 in 2016 to $712 in 2017, a $55 increase. That’s the largest annual increase in homeowner assessment fees in the history of Reston Association.
How ridiculous!
Not unexpectedly, one of the key drivers of the increased budget is personnel costs. In fact, over the last five years, RA data show added personnel costs have comprised 45 percent of RA assessment fee increases — about $75 per household or $15 per year.
This year’s budget proposal includes the addition of six new staff positions to RA at a cost of $557,000, three of which costing $216,000 were in this year’s budget but dropped to help offset the near tripling of Tetra renovation expenses.
Despite its key role in RA expenses, personnel cost growth has never added more than $350,000 to the RA budget in any of the last five years according to RA. We see no reason that threshold should be exceeded now. Read More
On Fridays we take a moment to thank our advertisers and sponsors:
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the business community for the vibrant region.
Matthew A. Cash, financial advisor at Baird’s Private Wealth Management in Reston.
BLVD, Comstock’s apartments at Reston Station.
AKG Design Studio, boutique design firm specializing in kitchen, bathroom designs and cabinetry sales.
Berry & Berry, PLLC, Reston law firm specializing in federal employment, retirement, labor union, and security clearance matters.
Reston Real Estate, Eve Thompson of Long & Foster Real Estate specializes in Reston homes.
Reston Carpet Cleaning, local cleaning service.
Becky’s Pet Care, offering friendly pet services in Northern Virginia.
Reston Community Center, serving Reston’s recreational and cultural needs.
MakeOffices, shared work spaces with five area locations, including Reston.
Boofie O’Gorman, Top Producer Realtor at Long & Foster Reston.
Goldfish Swim School, specializing in children’s swim lessons year-round.
Small Change Consignment, serving Reston’s kids for more than 30 years.
Smilezone Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, Reston dentist Dr. Mahathi Nanduri
A Cleaning Service, professional residential and commercial cleaning.
Reston Montessori, private co-educational school for children ages 3 months to sixth grade.
Kalypso’s Sports Tavern, providing great food and drink at Lake Anne Plaza.
All Spice Cafe & Catering, bringing flavor to your events.
Oatlands Historic House & Gardens
Towns of Lansdowne Square, luxury townhomes in downtown Landsdowne.
Bright Horizons at Commerce Metro Center, new child care facility in Reston.
Susannah Palik, residential Sales Agent with Long & Foster Real Estate.
Inform Fitness, personal training studio that offers results with 20-minute workout.
Neurology Center of Fairfax, medical specialists with offices in Fairfax and Reston.
Reston Children’s Center, quality preschool, kindergarten and childcare in Reston since 1966.
Knutson Crescent Place, new townhomes in walkable Leesburg.
William A. Young III of Millsboro, DE, formerly of Reston, passed away peacefully, after suffering a stroke, at DE Hospice on Sunday, Sept. 25.
William “Bill” Young was born in Philadelphia, PA on July 6, 1942. He was the son of William A. Young, Jr. and Lenora Stephens Young. Bill graduated from Central High School in 1960.
He went on to Bates College in Lewiston, ME graduating with his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 1964. He then moved to New York to attend Columbia University, earning his MBA in 1966. Bill then started his own company, Boone, Young and Associates with another Bates College graduate, David Boone. Read More
This is a sponsored post from Becky’s Pet Care, a professional pet care service in Northern Virginia.
Meet this week’s Reston Pet of the Week – Mae. She is a Boxer mix and is looking for a new home. Here is what her friends at the Humane Society of Fairfax County have to say about her:
Looking for unconditional love? Look no further! Mae is a total lover girl who will practically turn herself inside out to get your attention.
This super lady is a white and tan Boxer mix who is only 2 years old. She’s so smart, is good with other dogs and people of all ages. You must send your application in quickly if 37 pounds of sweetness is on your must-have list.
For more information or to see Mae, submit an online dog adoption application. Staff will contact you — typically within 48 hours — to make an appointment to visit the farm where our dogs and horses are kept.
Are you and Mae a match? If so, let us know and our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, will send you some treats and prizes.
Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week?
Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks.
Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.
Gather the kids and their costumes and head to Herndon’s Frying Pan Park Thursday for some Halloween fun.
The non-spooky event for children ages 3 to 8 will be chance to show off your Halloween costume and get a jump on treats in “trick or treat.”
The party is from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 13 in the indoor barn area. There will be games. wagon rides, and a small pumpkin to take home.
The cost is $10 per child. Reservations are required. Sign up online.
Frying Pan Farm Park is located at 2709 West Ox Rd, Herndon, VA. For more information, call 703-437-9101 or visit Frying Pan Farm Park.
Photos courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority
On Fridays we take a moment to thank our advertisers and sponsors:
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the business community for the vibrant region.
Matthew A. Cash, financial advisor at Baird’s Private Wealth Management in Reston.
BLVD, Comstock’s apartments at Reston Station.
AKG Design Studio, boutique design firm specializing in kitchen, bathroom designs and cabinetry sales.
Berry & Berry, PLLC, Reston law firm specializing in federal employment, retirement, labor union, and security clearance matters.
Reston Real Estate, Eve Thompson of Long & Foster Real Estate specializes in Reston homes.
Reston Carpet Cleaning, local cleaning service.
Becky’s Pet Care, offering friendly pet services in Northern Virginia.
Reston Community Center, serving Reston’s recreational and cultural needs.
MakeOffices, shared work spaces with five area locations, including Reston.
Boofie O’Gorman, Top Producer Realtor at Long & Foster Reston.
Goldfish Swim School, specializing in children’s swim lessons year-round.
Small Change Consignment, serving Reston’s kids for more than 30 years.
Smilezone Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, Reston dentist Dr. Mahathi Nanduri
A Cleaning Service, professional residential and commercial cleaning.
Reston Montessori, private co-educational school for children ages 3 months to sixth grade.
Kalypso’s Sports Tavern, providing great food and drink at Lake Anne Plaza.
All Spice Cafe & Catering, bringing flavor to your events.
Oatlands Historic House & Gardens
Towns of Lansdowne Square, luxury townhomes in downtown Landsdowne.
Bright Horizons at Commerce Metro Center, new child care facility in Reston.
Susannah Palik, residential Sales Agent with Long & Foster Real Estate.
Inform Fitness, personal training studio that offers results with 20-minute workout.
Neurology Center of Fairfax, medical specialists with offices in Fairfax and Reston.
Reston Children’s Center, quality preschool, kindergarten and childcare in Reston since 1966.
Knutson Crescent Place, new townhomes in walkable Leesburg.
This is a bi-weekly lifestyle column from Reston resident Julie McCool, who blogs about local parks, hikes, bike trails, historic sites, restaurants, wineries, breweries, events, and getaways on her Northern Virginia travel blog FuninFairfaxVA.com.
Reston residents are fortunate to have easy access to paved and natural trails throughout town that are ideal for outdoor fun. When your family outing includes a stroller, however, the choices narrow.
We’ve identified several stroller friendly paths in Northern Virginia that are easy to navigate and provide interesting diversions whether you’re inside or behind the stroller. Most of the paths are paved, but we’ve also found dirt trails that are navigable with a sturdy stroller.
The Glade Stream Valley Trail in south Reston follows a paved path through The Glade, a stream that has been restored to reduce flooding and erosion.
We recommend the section between Twin Branches Road and Soapstone Drive, which is mostly shady with pretty stream and woodland views. Start at the Twin Branches end if you want a hilly workout, begin at Soapstone for a level stretch, or include both in a nearly four-mile circuit with a stop at the Walker Nature Center.
Nearby, Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna offers another paved path with a mix of steep and gentle hills, and lots of appeal for every age. Children love to watch koi from the gazebo and play in the children’s garden.
You can also explore a unique hemi-marsh from dirt trails and boardwalks at the Huntley Meadows Park, a hidden gem in Alexandria.
Read about more stroller-friendly trails on Fun in Fairfax.
Photo: Huntley Meadows Park/Credit: Julie McCool
This is an op-ed by Tony Shivers, Vice President of Advocacy for the
Fairfax County Council of PTAs (FCCPTA). It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
As Vice President of Advocacy of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs, I urge my fellow parents, residents, and business owners to vote YES for the non-partisan meals tax on Nov. 8.
For just a few pennies more:
- A 4-percent tax on prepared meals will generate $100 million for schools and county services, with $28 million being paid by tourists and visitors to Fairfax;
- FCPS will receive 70 percent of those revenues to help stem the loss of our best teachers and address classroom size;
- County services will receive 30 percent of net revenues to address unmet public safety needs and those of our libraries and parks;
- Fairfax County can diversify its tax base and relieve property tax pressure on homeowners while maintaining its AAA bond rating; and capture revenue from travelers and non-resident workers that utilize County programs and services.
Why a meals tax, rather than a tax on cigarettes or alcohol? The answer is simple. Virginia state law strictly limits the taxing authority of its counties — a meals tax is the only option at this level of government.
Why not pursue state funding? The short answer is that our children will be grown by the time state funding is brought to an appropriate level for Fairfax County. The state continues to push more of the cost of K-12 education back to localities. Fairfax County estimates that the shortfall in state funding for K-12 education has climbed to more than $1 billion annually since 2009.
In fact, the reliability of the state money promised to education is now in question. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently advised the state legislature that that Commonwealth may experience as much as a $1.5 billion revenue shortfall in its two-year budget.
Historically, PTA is an advocacy organization, and the efforts of parents have resulted in immunizations, school lunches, child labor laws, among other accomplishments. PTAs do not promote candidates for election, but they do promote issues which benefit children.
Virginia PTA supports any meals tax where 50 percent of the revenue goes to public schools. Here in Fairfax the proposed meals tax would do far more.
The PTA’s motto is “Every Child. One Voice.” All Fairfax County children need the best education our community can deliver. Parents, please vote yes for your children. Vote yes for the meals tax.
Tony Shivers
Vice President of Advocacy
Herndon, VA
This is an Op-Ed from Pat Hynes, Fairfax County Public School Board’s Hunter Mill representative, about the Meals Tax referendum that will put to county voters on Nov. 8. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
If you had told me, when I was running for school board five years ago, that I would spend so much time talking about money and taxes, I might have been a little discouraged. But advocating for revenue is part of the job — the people of this community expect excellent schools with world-class curricular and extracurricular programs, and we’re smart enough to know that you get what you pay for in this life.
I learned early on that school funding in Virginia has some serious structural challenges — we send at least three times as much revenue down to Richmond as we get back for our schools and other critical public services. And then Richmond ties our hands when it comes to raising revenue locally for local needs.
A meals tax is one of very few options available to local governments, which is why two-thirds of Virginia counties — and most towns and cities — have adopted a meals tax to help balance their reliance on property taxes.
Local revenue since 2008 has not kept pace with growing population and rising costs. That is certainly true for the school system. Between 2008 and 2015, the gap between revenue and needs was so wide that by fiscal year 2015 the school system was spending $1000 less per child — in real dollars — than in 2008. We got there by freezing teacher pay and raising class sizes several times, and annual cuts to central office. Read More
This is an op-ed by Reston resident Ed Abbott. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.
During the regularly scheduled Reston Association Board meeting on Sept. 22, RA CEO Cate Fulkerson presented items for the board to consider as they prepare RA’s 2017 “draft” budget. According to the presentation, members’ annual assessments may increase from $657 to $712 next year.
There are numerous problems with this, the least of which is the assessment increase. Let’s take these one at a time.
There is no such thing as a “draft budget” in the second year of a biennial budget. The board passed the 2017 budget in November 2015. Once the Board approves the biennial budget, the budget is final. By creating a 2017 draft budget at this stage, the budget process is morphing into an annual budget review and approval process in clear violation of the governing documents, which specify a biennial budget process.
Budget information is not presented to the Board in an organized and intelligible manner. The latest budget presentation by CEO Cate Fulkerson and Board Treasurer Danielle LaRosa is a good example. It starts out well with a “Back to Basics” slide that should tie the budget items back to RA’s mission statement, but this never happens. Instead, the presentation includes a confusing and incoherent array of tables and graphs. Read More
On Fridays we take a moment to thank our advertisers and sponsors:
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the business community for the vibrant region.
Matthew A. Cash, financial advisor at Baird’s Private Wealth Management in Reston.
BLVD, Comstock’s apartments at Reston Station.
AKG Design Studio, boutique design firm specializing in kitchen, bathroom designs and cabinetry sales.
Berry & Berry, PLLC, Reston law firm specializing in federal employment, retirement, labor union, and security clearance matters.
Reston Real Estate, Eve Thompson of Long & Foster Real Estate specializes in Reston homes.
Reston Carpet Cleaning, local cleaning service.
Becky’s Pet Care, offering friendly pet services in Northern Virginia.
Reston Community Center, serving Reston’s recreational and cultural needs.
MakeOffices, shared work spaces with five area locations, including Reston.
Boofie O’Gorman, Top Producer Realtor at Long & Foster Reston.
Goldfish Swim School, specializing in children’s swim lessons year-round.
Small Change Consignment, serving Reston’s kids for more than 30 years.
Smilezone Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, Reston dentist Dr. Mahathi Nanduri
A Cleaning Service, professional residential and commercial cleaning.
Reston Montessori, private co-educational school for children ages 3 months to sixth grade.
Kalypso’s Sports Tavern, providing great food and drink at Lake Anne Plaza.
All Spice Cafe & Catering, bringing flavor to your events.
PetMAC Pet Nutrition Center, for all your pet food needs at Lake Anne Plaza.
Berthold Academy for the Gifted and Talented, new Montessori school in Reston for Grades 1-8.
Oatlands Historic House & Gardens
Towns of Lansdowne Square, luxury townhomes in downtown Landsdowne.
Bright Horizons at Commerce Metro Center, new child care facility in Reston.
Susannah Palik, residential Sales Agent with Long & Foster Real Estate.
Inform Fitness, personal training studio that offers results with 20-minute workout.
Neurology Center of Fairfax, medical specialists with offices in Fairfax and Reston.
Reston Children’s Center, quality preschool, kindergarten and childcare in Reston since 1966.
Downtown Brambleton, new homes by Knutson.
