April 16, 2026 Board of Supervisors Budget Public Hearing - Apr 16, 2026

meeting

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors 2h 35m 1 speaker 7 agenda items transcribed 2 months ago official recording ↗

▲ 0

Transcript

jump: agenda · speakers · find in transcript

Transcript

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

How does the Board open the April 16, 2026 budget hearing and respond to a local tragedy?

Jeffrey C. McKay 0:05

good afternoon and welcome everyone to our third day of budget public hearings it is April 16th 2026 and before we move into our public hearings obviously today is a tough day for Fairfax County and I want to express my heartfelt condolences and those of the board to those impacted by the tragic event that took place this morning involving Dr. Serena Wanzer and former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. And I want to remind folks in our community that we live in a place that has resources available for people who are suffering. If someone you love is experiencing domestic violence, we urge individuals to contact the Fairfax County Domestic and Sexual Violence 24-Hour Hotline, which is on the screen before you.

Jeffrey C. McKay 0:59

If you're facing mental health challenges or in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the suicide and crisis lifeline. And I say that because people who are facing insurmountable challenges sometimes feel like they're alone. And I just want to reiterate that you are never alone. alone in Fairfax County. And we have world class resources, partnerships with nonprofits and professionals to help residents in our community that are facing challenges. And so I know our hearts and minds right now are on the Fairfax family, especially the two children of Justin and Dr. Serena. And we keep them in our thoughts and prayers, as well as the first responders, who obviously are traumatized whenever they respond.

Jeffrey C. McKay 1:46

to an incident like this. And so with that, we did start our meeting on Tuesday morning with a moment of silence. And I'm going to ask, because this has occurred since that time, that for those who are able, that at this time we all rise for a moment of silence.

Jeffrey C. McKay 2:38

Thank you for that. And our world-class police department and support services will continue to support the Fairfax family as they would any family that is faced with the challenges that we heard about early this morning. With that, we are going to begin our third day of public hearings on the 2027 Advertised Budget Plan, the FY2027 to FY2031 Advertised Capital Improvement Program. with future fiscal years to 2036 and to amend the current appropriation level of the FY2026 revised budget plan as proposed in the FY2026 third quarter review. With that, I do want to remind folks that this is the last night of our public hearings. However, if you have not registered to speak, you can still do that to the clerk off to my right.

Jeffrey C. McKay 3:31

If you can see him, if you have not signed up to speak and wish to speak, at the end of all the scheduled speakers that I have already on the speakers list, we will entertain speakers who either missed their slot over the last couple days and didn't get a chance to testify, who are present in the auditorium, or who wish to call in to provide us testimony before we close the public hearings. And with that, I am going to call the first couple speakers, and if I call your name, please come down close to the front. There's rows of seats down here in the front, plenty of open spots. We don't want to have to watch you walk long distances and down these stairs and run the risk of tripping or falling while you're trying to get to the podium.

Jeffrey C. McKay 4:16

So if I call your name, please be ready to testify. If you miss your slot, those slots will be at the end of the speaker's list, and we will get to those at that time. So that's why I call several speakers at the same time to give you time to prepare. With that, our first speaker is Jolly Fernando, to be followed by Irv Katz, Paul Thomas, and Michelle Menapace. If I've called your names, please come down and be close and ready to testify. Speaker number one is Ali Fernando. Welcome. Good afternoon, County Board of Supervisors. Thank you for this opportunity to weigh in on the county budget. I'm Hallie Fernando, Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts or MORE, a local trail advocacy organization that stewards 980 miles of natural surface trails in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

Jeffrey C. McKay 5:14

In Fairfax County, we help maintain trails in Wakefield, Lake Akatink, Brookfield Park, Lake Fairfax, Laurel Hill, Mount Vernon District Park, and the Jerry Connolly Cross Country Trail.