Apr. 17, 2024 Board of Supervisors Budget Public Hearing

meeting

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors 4h 46m 1 speaker 7 agenda items transcribed 9 hours ago official recording ↗

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What is the opening agenda and speaker lineup for the budget public hearing?

Jeffrey C. McKay 0:06

Good afternoon, everyone. We are uh gonna begin day two of our uh budget public hearings, and I know that uh Supervisor Alcorn, uh I see Supervisor Walkinshaw is here, is uh on his way from COG, so he may be a minute or two late, but he's at the Council of Governments meeting uh this morning representing the county. Uh with that, um as I announced this is day two, April 17th, 2024, of budget testimony. Uh we do have And so if everyone could help us out, uh when I call your name in advance, if you can make your way down closer, there's a lot of seats up here close. Make your way down closer so that when it's your turn to testify, uh you are ready to go and we are ready to go and that will help uh some folks later today who will be here probably late into the night.

Jeffrey C. McKay 0:56

And so if we could all uh play a role in that, that would be appreciated. Um, I am gonna call the first couple speakers. Uh speaker number one is uh Desiree Pitts. Is Desiree Pitts here? If you could come on down, uh Carrie Wilson. Carrie Wilson is here, Roberta Gosling, Roberta Gosling is here, and Alex Stewart. Alex Stewart. If you're uh if I called your name, if you could come down a little bit closer, uh we would appreciate that. And we are gonna begin with speaker number one. Desiree Pitts. Welcome.

Desiree Pitts 1:29

Good afternoon, Chairman McKay, members of the board, and members of the staff. My name is Desiree Pitts. I'm an Animal Protection

Jeffrey C. McKay 1:35

Police Second Lieutenant and I'm also the Fairfax County Chapter Secretary with the PBA, although today I'm speaking as an individual and not as a representative of any group. Thirty seven years ago, my passion for animals began when my grandpa introduced me to his chickens. Then at thirteen, I began volunteering with my local humane society until I went to college where I obtained a bachelors in biology. After that, I worked at a state and national park, having the time of my life catching snakes and

Desiree Pitts 2:02

providing wildlife education programs to the public. Coming from a military and law enforcement background, uh my family that is, I wanted to pursue a career. In a similar field. That is when I found Fairfax County. It was the

Jeffrey C. McKay 2:17

perfect opportunity when I recognized that the law enforcement officers also specialize in animal welfare. Seventeen years later, I stand before you today, advocating for something that I believe is so vital that I, as well as many others, have sacrificed time away from their friends, their families, their pets, and also taken a toll on their mental and physical health to advocate for what we truly believe is the best option for Fairfax County. In a Connect with the County Leaders podcast, our leaders in public

Desiree Pitts 2:46

safety, as well as County Executive Hill. Expressed how important it is to make data informed decisions. One of the reasons for the

Jeffrey C. McKay 2:54

proposal to abolish animal protection police is to be more like our surrounding agencies. Those other agencies are not the largest jurisdiction in Virginia. Those other agencies aren't responsible for overseeing the largest number of registered dangerous dogs in the state. Fairfax County's annual protection police unit is the same size as some of those other agencies' entire police departments. County Executive Hill once said, and I quote, We are doing it the best. Everybody looks at us. When we do our business and here in Fairfax, it is a testament to the women and men of the fire and police departments. It is about us being excellent, end quote. In Fairfax County, we are known for blazing the trail and establishing the best practices, not going backwards.

Jeffrey C. McKay 3:40

I would like to ask the board, how do you hope to achieve enhancing animal services in Fairfax County? Do you form your decision based on those who have continuously modified a proposal as information countering their reasoning has consistently been brought to your attention? Or do you listen to the two dozen animal protection professionals who encounter your community and constituents throughout over eighteen thousand calls for service each year? Or what about your subject matter experts within APP leadership, who are literally begging to simply have the opportunity to communicate with the applicable decision makers in order to work together to expand upon a respected unit?