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Supervisor Kauffman

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Message from the Chairman

Many thanks to Candace Litchford and Megan Griffith for putting together an awesome Easter Egg Hunt. You really did a terrific job, ladies. Thanks so much!

And thanks also to Trish Kobus for again organizing the semi-annual yard sale. Twenty-seven homes participated, including us.  We did well, hope you did too.  We'll do it all over again the first Saturday of October.

I have begun to receive complaints from neighbors regarding stray cats.  Fairfax Animal control will not come out to trap or collect the strays; however; they will accept the strays at the animal shelter.  If you have a pet cat but allow it to roam outside, you should ensure your cat is wearing a collar with an ID.

If it’s May, it must be time for our annual list of Stoneybrooke grads.  If you have a grad this spring, please let me know, along with their plans for the fall.

And if it’s spring time, it must be time for another Stoneybrooke Spring Fling. This year’s event will be Saturday, June 17 on the Stone Mill Place cul-de-sac. See you there!

And if we’re talking about spring, it must be close to the time for the Virginia Hills pool to open. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, give me a shout, and I can get the necessary information to you.

We have a new advertiser this month, Meals My Way. Word is it’s a pretty awesome deal, the food is great, and there’s no clean-up! Many thanks to Meals My Way for advertising and bon appetit!

All for now,
Mike

Message from
Supervisor Kauffman

Have you seen the updated Anticipating the Future, a demographic glimpse into the Fairfax County of the not-too-many-years-down-the-road future? Backing into the future is never the best way to get there and both public and private sectors would do well to study this report. Anticipating the Future outlines 11 trends that are already transforming Fairfax County. These include rapid population growth and urbanization; transformation from a suburban bedroom community to a major employment center; aging population; rapid cultural and ethnic diversification; children and youth; housing trends; patterns of income and wealth; health care issues; rapid technological change; community safety; and community engagement.

For the private sector, this document illustrates not only the potential demographics of the market, but just as importantly, the potential workforce. Following national trends, the aging of the population will have major impacts on workers and work places in Fairfax County. A short excerpt from the report:

“Fairfax County is expected to have stronger job creation than housing development through 2020. The retirement of seniors from the workforce will further aggravate worker shortages. Currently, there are worker shortages in education. Government and nursing… These sectors will be hit even harder as baby boomers begin to retire.

Businesses may need to design strategies to retain older workers and to entice into the labor pool younger adults who are not in the labor market. Worker shortages also may accelerate the globalization of the labor market. Businesses that cannot find local workers may look to employ overseas workers.”

From the public sector perspective, the future is already here. What follows is a sampling of the questions we will have to ask with the County’s FY2007 and for the decade ahead.

1. How do we fairly distribute limited resources among multiple generations in a diverse County where each segment of the community has its own needs, expectations, and fears?
2. When do we say ‘enough is enough’ to a school system when six percent increases are seen as inadequate to support a flattening enrollment and projections that our youth will form a decreasing percentage of our population?
3. To what extent will the melting pot that is today’s Fairfax County actually melt and what are we willing to do to make that happen?
4. In 1960, despite 13 years advance warning, our well-funded schools weren’t ready for the baby boom. We’ve once again been given 13 year’s notice that a significant proportion of our population will be seniors. Will we be again caught flat footed when it comes to local services and programs?
5. As a city in every form but name, how much longer must we be beholden to the State for everything from fire prevention codes to keep our increasingly dense neighborhoods safe to permission to manage the flow of traffic on our neighborhood streets?
6. Can we preserve our impressive neighborhood safety statistics as economic gaps widen and it grows harder to find people willing to take the time to be engaged in our community?

You can read and download Anticipating the Future at the Fairfax County’s web site: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/aboutfairfax.

• The Fairfax County Health Department, in conjunction with the Fairfax County Public Schools and the Fairfax County Police Department, has developed a detailed plan to provide this essential service. However,
• Fairfax County’s capability to implement the above plan and dispense potentially life saving medications during a widespread natural or terrorist event is ENTIRELY dependent upon medical and non-medical volunteers. Volunteer recruitment and training is on going.