Delegate Jim Scott's Richmond Report
In less than one week the 2005 session of the Virginia General Assembly will begin. I will leave for Richmond on Tuesday, Jan. 11. As in the past my office will be in Room 406 in the General Assembly Building (also known as the G.A.B.—a very appropriate acronym according to some). My phone number remains 804-698-1053 and my Richmond mailing address is General Assembly Building, 910 Capitol Street, Room 405, Richmond, Va. 23218. Opportunities for Input Beginning on Jan. 8 with the public hearing held by the Northern Virginia Delegation at 9 a.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center, there will be several opportunities for citizen comments and suggestions. The following Saturday, January 15, I have scheduled my annual town meetings in McLean and Falls Church. The McLean event at 10 a.m. in the McLean Community Center will be held jointly with Delegate Vince Callahan and Senator Janet Howell. The Falls Church meeting will be held at 1 p.m. in the Falls Church Community Center. I always look forward to both events. Often they produce ideas for legislation. Affordable Housing on the front burner in Fairfax County Chairman Gerry Connolly asked me to co-chair his Affordable Housing Preservation Action Committee. The Committee was charged with making recommendations on policies and actions the Board of Supervisors could consider to preserve a minimum of 1000 units of existing affordable housing in the County before the end of 2007. The Committee basically completed its work in less than 90 days. The recommendations will be finalized in approximately 2 weeks and forwarded to the Board for action. As in Falls Church, affordable housing has once again become an important issue. Without a stronger commitment to producing and preserving housing for our workforce, as George Mason University’s Richard Florida has argued, our economic development efforts may stagnate. I congratulate Chairman Connolly on his farsighted leadership on this issue. I am optimistic that the Board of Supervisors will approve most of our recommendations and that the Chairman’s goal will be met. In my backyard I am pleased to note that one of Fairfax County’s creative affordable housing initiatives will be celebrated this Saturday. Habitat for Humanity is sponsoring a celebration of the beginning of construction of Briarwood Trace, new homes for moderate-income families adjacent to new $600,000 homes in my own community of Briarwood. Congratulations to Habitat and to Supervisor Linda Smyth, also a resident of Briarwood, who made this celebration possible. More congratulations: 2 New Eagles Last Wednesday at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church, I was pleased to participate in Boy Scout Troop 895’s Court of Honor recognizing the accomplishments of Dan Burkey and Alex Nette. Both George Mason High School seniors formally became Eagle Scouts that evening. Troop 895 has an exemplary record of producing Eagles, scouting’s highest rank. I have been honored to participate in previous Troop 895 Eagle ceremonies. As a former Scout (who did not achieve Eagle status), I am always somewhat awe-struck by the accomplishments of the young men who complete that difficult journey. My congratulations to them, their families and their Troop. Delegate Jim Scott may be emailed at deljscott@aol.com |