Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, sometimes abbreviated as FCBS, is the governing body of Fairfax County; a county of over a million in Northern Virginia. The board has nine districts, and one at-large district which is always occupied by the Chair. Members are elected to an unlimited number of four year terms, as there are no term limits.^[1]

The chair presides at all meetings, and has all of the powers of a member, including one vote. The chair, however, does not have the power to veto legislation. The Vice Chair is elected amongst the members annually at the first meeting of the year in January.^[1]

Responsibilities

The Board is responsible for setting local tax policy, approving land use plans and appointing officials to various countywide positions; including a County Executive who prepares the annual budget, and carries out laws enacted by the Board. The Board is the creator, and also in charge of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.^[2] The Board of Supervisors acts within the limits set forth by the Virginia General Assembly.^[3] The Board usually meets two Tuesdays every month in the Board Auditorium at the Fairfax County Government Center near Fairfax, Virginia. Members of the public are invited to attend these meetings.

History

The Board of Supervisors has been in existence since at least the 1890s. It operated under an urban county executive form of government until the mid 1960s, after which the position of Chairman was created. Frederick Babson was the first person to hold the chairmanship from 1966 to 1970. In recent years, the chairmanship has acted as a stepping stone to offices of higher political power; Gerry Connolly, the chairman from 2003 to 2007, now serves in the U.S. House of Representatives; as did Tom Davis, who was Chairman in the early 1990s, and Katherine Hanley, who served from the late 1990s to early 2000s, and has since served as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Jack Herrity served as Chairman during Fairfax County's period of growth during the 1980s, when the County, previously known as a quiet suburb of Washington, D.C.; became the high population center of the Dulles Technology Corridor that it is known as presently. During that period of growth, the Board advocated for the construction of Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway and for the Dulles Toll Road, as well as for a major expansion of Tysons Corner, Virginia, which now is home to many employers in the information technology industry.^[4]

Membership

The board is currently controlled by Democrats^[5], who have seven out of the ten seats, and currently control both the Chairmanship and Vice Chairmanship. The board districts are divided so as to give every member an equal population to represent. The current districts and their Supervisors are:

In the most recent elections in 2011, all the incumbent supervisors won re-election.

See also

• Board of supervisors
• Fairfax County Government Center

References

External links

• District Maps
• County website