Board of County Supervisors Meeting - Organizational Meeting - Jan 09, 2024

meeting

Prince William County Board of Supervisors 1h 56m 5 speakers 8 agenda items transcribed 1 day ago official recording ↗

▲ 0

Transcript

jump: agenda · speakers · find in transcript

Transcript

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What agenda items were approved at the start of the meeting?

Deshundra Jefferson 31:44

2024. Please join me for a moment of silence. Thank you. All rise for the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Deshundra Jefferson 32:22

All right, thank you. Please be seated. We are now on agenda item three with the approval of the meeting minutes from December 2nd and from December 19th, 2023. I will now entertain a motion to approve agenda items 3A and 3B. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Any discussion? All right, please vote.

Andrea Smith 33:05

Vote unanimous. Supervisor Gordy abstaining from vote. Supervisor Franklin absent from vote.

Deshundra Jefferson 33:12

All right, thank you. We are now gonna move on to agenda item four, which consists of five items. We are gonna begin with my annual remarks. All right. I kind of hope to do it from the podium, but I'll do it from the day of this because we're not properly set up today. My name is DeShondra Jefferson. I am the chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. I want to begin by wishing everyone a happy and prosperous start to the new year. As this is my first opportunity to address the community as your new chair, I would like to take a moment to share my vision for the future and what I hope to accomplish during my tenure as your chair. Hope is a powerful word. It is a word full of promise, a word full of goodwill, a word full of excitement of what may come.

Deshundra Jefferson 34:06

I am very hopeful about the future of Prince William and the future of this board. I am hopeful that we will come together to collaborate so that we may better govern and lead in a way that encourages dialogue while respecting each other's opinions in a way that best serves the needs of the people. I strongly believe if we can collectively commit to working together, we can achieve great things for our community and be the positive change makers that our residents and businesses need us to be. I can say confidently that I am committed to working with each and every one of my colleagues to navigate what's ahead of us and to collaborate on solutions that will support the greater good of this community.

What vision did Chair DeShondra Jefferson share for the new term?

Deshundra Jefferson 34:48

A community can be defined as a feeling of fellowship with others. It is a feeling, but one that gives us a collective sense of purpose. It binds us together from the very eastern end of the county to the farthest stretches of the western end of the county. That's why I'm also confident that we as a board can work together to find solutions for responsible growth so that we can meet the needs of our growing population and guard against incompatible land use, to find solutions to diversify our tax base in a way that takes the financial burden off of our residents, and to find solutions to assist our most vulnerable neighbors by investing in affordable housing, public safety, and other much needed services.

Deshundra Jefferson 35:31

We must also find solutions to ensure the safety and security for all members of our community. I've often said that Prince William County is a hidden gem, thanks to our proximity to our nation's capital, our strong school system, and our cultural diversity. So I am hopeful that we will continue our strong partnership with the school system to ensure that we are providing the best possible education to our students who are truly the future of Prince William County. I am also hopeful that we'll find ways to celebrate our cultural diversity and our differences. We're actually more alike than different in our shared existence. We can learn from each other and how truly interconnected we are and how special our community is because of it.

Deshundra Jefferson 36:15

If we can do all of these things, If we can foster a culture of unity and resilience, if we can be the catalyst of positive change, then we will leave a legacy of progress and shape a better future for our children and all those who come after us. Prince William County is indeed a gem. It is a very special place. All of us on the Board of County Supervisors and many of you know that and believe that. That is why it is truly an honor to serve you and this community. Those of you who attended or watched the swearing-in ceremony last week heard the words of our poet laureate, hope is the hardest love we carry, but when we choose to carry it together, the weight feels lighter, more bearable, less burdensome.