Board Matter

January 10, 2012

Town Hall on the Hiring of a New County Executive

Madame Chairman,

With the impending retirement of County Executive Tony Griffin, this board is now beginning in the search to find his successor. Mr. Griffin has dedicated himself to serving our County for the last twelve years and we applaud his hard work and dedication to the people of Fairfax County.  Mr. Griffin’s retirement also presents us with a unique opportunity to search for a new individual that will provide us with a different set of skills as the new County Executive. In considering what individual will be best suited to prepare our county for the fast paced changes that the future will bring I believe that the most important aspect of this process is to have the input of our community.

This is why I sought the input of all County residents on Monday, January 9 with a Town Hall held in the Kings Park Library. The Town Hall included a distinguished panel of business leaders, county employees, and community leaders and produced a great amount of discussion between the panel and audience and generated many insightful suggestions. I would like to therefore submit these suggestions to the Board to assist us as we explore what qualities we would like to see in our new Executive.

• The new County Executive will need to be someone that will continue the tradition that we have established of community involvement.
• The new County Executive must be able to be fiscally responsible. Must be committed to keeping a balanced budget as the county has and also must weigh the needs of all organizations and keep them balanced.
• The new County Executive must be committed to transparency and keeping open communication with not only the community but county employees and Board of Supervisors and School Board.
• The new County Executive must understand that Fairfax County must be able to continue to attract businesses to Fairfax. We must also be able to provide a level of living to those employees so that we retain the best people in Fairfax County.
• The new County Executive cannot be scared of change and must be able to adapt to changes quickly. The county needs a unique person that will bring fresh new ideas forth to deal with the problems in the County.