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Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Posted by:
Race for Fairfax Mayor
()
Date: April 29, 2014 07:14AM
Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Incumbent Silverthorne points to success on water, zoning fronts
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140424/NEWS/140429568/1076/Two-candidates-vie-for-Fairfax-mayor&template=fairfaxTimes
One-term City of Fairfax mayor and longtime councilman Scott Silverthorne is facing a challenge from political newcomer in his bid for re-election.
John Norce, an insurance agent who has lived in the city for 12 years, said he was motivated to run because he doesn’t believe the city is making enough forward progress.
ABOUT THE OFFICE
City of Fairfax Mayor
Description: The mayor of Fairfax City is a two-year term with a salary of $6,500 per year. The mayor presides over council meetings; has veto power that may be over ridden by a two-thirds vote of the council; represents the city for ceremonial purposes; and votes only to resolve ties.
Questions:
Q: What do you believe is the most pressing ISSUE for the City of Fairfax? What solutions would you propose to address it?
Q: Do you believe that the City should amend its charter to provide FOUR-YEAR TERMS of office for the Mayor and members of the City Council and School Board? Why or why not?
Q: What do you believe is the most important area for improvement in the City’s LAND USE regulations and procedures?
Norce said he is asking voters to consider, “What has the city done in the last two years?”
“I don’t feel like enough has been done,” he said.
Norce said he would use the leadership approaches he has successfully used as a businessman and a baseball coach to move the city forward.
For his part, Silverthorne lists off several items that he considers major accomplishments of his first term.
The sale of the city’s water system to Fairfax County’s water utility, Fairfax Water, will ultimately bring significant savings to city water customers, cutting bills nearly in half, he said.
The council has also initiated the first major overhaul of the city’s zoning ordinances in decades.
“The goal is to streamline our regulatory processes,” Silverthorne said, making it easier and more efficient for businesses in the city.
Growing the city’s economy is a top priority for both candidates.
Norce said he wants to promote a “Fairfax first” purchasing mentality, encouraging people to purchase as much as possible from businesses located within the city. He would extend this to city government as well, he said.
“The backbone of any community is the business community,”
Norce would work to improve the city’s business climate by lowering business taxes and making it easier to do business with the city, such as streamlining zoning review processes.
The rates for the city’s business professional and occupational licenses, which officials often refer to as BPOL taxes, are among the highest in the state and therefore serve as a disincentive to locate in Fairfax, he said.
“We need to bring it in line with the surrounding counties,” he said.
Silverthorne wants to continue efforts to spur redevelopment of the Route 50 corridor, known as Fairfax Boulevard in the city, that began several years ago. While the city is revising its zoning code, he said, “it is time to dust off the master plan for Route 50” that the city developed with stakeholder groups.
He also believes that the footprint for the city’s downtown, which is just a few blocks, is now too small. Silverthorne wants to launch a new planning process, working with residents and businesses, to develop a new master plan for that area that could include redeveloping a shopping center and some parking areas with retail and housing.
“Right now it is just too small of a downtown footprint to compete with other areas,” Silverthorne said, such as Fairfax Corner and Merrifield, which have seen significant new development in recent years.
In addition to making Fairfax more attractive to businesses, Norce said he also believes the city needs to compete by lowering its real estate tax rate.
A lower tax rate “is an incentive for you to move here,” he said. While the city’s rate is still slightly lower than Fairfax County, Norce said increasing city taxes over the past few years mean that “we no longer have a competitive edge.”
Silverthorne said that the growth in the real estate tax rate the last two years was primarily driven by factors outside of the city council’s control, such as increasing costs for schools. The city contracts with Fairfax County Public Schools and does not run its own school system or control costs.
He also noted that city residents receive more direct services from their tax dollars, such as trash pickup, than they do in other jurisdictions.
You get a good value for your dollar here in the city,” he said.
City of Fairfax elections take place May 6.
Scott Silverthorne and John Norce
Attachments:
Incumbent Silverthorne points to success on water, zoning fronts
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20140424/NEWS/140429568/1076/Two-candidates-vie-for-Fairfax-mayor&template=fairfaxTimes
One-term City of Fairfax mayor and longtime councilman Scott Silverthorne is facing a challenge from political newcomer in his bid for re-election.
John Norce, an insurance agent who has lived in the city for 12 years, said he was motivated to run because he doesn’t believe the city is making enough forward progress.
ABOUT THE OFFICE
City of Fairfax Mayor
Description: The mayor of Fairfax City is a two-year term with a salary of $6,500 per year. The mayor presides over council meetings; has veto power that may be over ridden by a two-thirds vote of the council; represents the city for ceremonial purposes; and votes only to resolve ties.
Questions:
Q: What do you believe is the most pressing ISSUE for the City of Fairfax? What solutions would you propose to address it?
Q: Do you believe that the City should amend its charter to provide FOUR-YEAR TERMS of office for the Mayor and members of the City Council and School Board? Why or why not?
Q: What do you believe is the most important area for improvement in the City’s LAND USE regulations and procedures?
Norce said he is asking voters to consider, “What has the city done in the last two years?”
“I don’t feel like enough has been done,” he said.
Norce said he would use the leadership approaches he has successfully used as a businessman and a baseball coach to move the city forward.
For his part, Silverthorne lists off several items that he considers major accomplishments of his first term.
The sale of the city’s water system to Fairfax County’s water utility, Fairfax Water, will ultimately bring significant savings to city water customers, cutting bills nearly in half, he said.
The council has also initiated the first major overhaul of the city’s zoning ordinances in decades.
“The goal is to streamline our regulatory processes,” Silverthorne said, making it easier and more efficient for businesses in the city.
Growing the city’s economy is a top priority for both candidates.
Norce said he wants to promote a “Fairfax first” purchasing mentality, encouraging people to purchase as much as possible from businesses located within the city. He would extend this to city government as well, he said.
“The backbone of any community is the business community,”
Norce would work to improve the city’s business climate by lowering business taxes and making it easier to do business with the city, such as streamlining zoning review processes.
The rates for the city’s business professional and occupational licenses, which officials often refer to as BPOL taxes, are among the highest in the state and therefore serve as a disincentive to locate in Fairfax, he said.
“We need to bring it in line with the surrounding counties,” he said.
Silverthorne wants to continue efforts to spur redevelopment of the Route 50 corridor, known as Fairfax Boulevard in the city, that began several years ago. While the city is revising its zoning code, he said, “it is time to dust off the master plan for Route 50” that the city developed with stakeholder groups.
He also believes that the footprint for the city’s downtown, which is just a few blocks, is now too small. Silverthorne wants to launch a new planning process, working with residents and businesses, to develop a new master plan for that area that could include redeveloping a shopping center and some parking areas with retail and housing.
“Right now it is just too small of a downtown footprint to compete with other areas,” Silverthorne said, such as Fairfax Corner and Merrifield, which have seen significant new development in recent years.
In addition to making Fairfax more attractive to businesses, Norce said he also believes the city needs to compete by lowering its real estate tax rate.
A lower tax rate “is an incentive for you to move here,” he said. While the city’s rate is still slightly lower than Fairfax County, Norce said increasing city taxes over the past few years mean that “we no longer have a competitive edge.”
Silverthorne said that the growth in the real estate tax rate the last two years was primarily driven by factors outside of the city council’s control, such as increasing costs for schools. The city contracts with Fairfax County Public Schools and does not run its own school system or control costs.
He also noted that city residents receive more direct services from their tax dollars, such as trash pickup, than they do in other jurisdictions.
You get a good value for your dollar here in the city,” he said.
City of Fairfax elections take place May 6.
Scott Silverthorne and John Norce
Attachments:
Re: Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Posted by:
Stephen
()
Date: April 29, 2014 09:28AM
Silverthorne is the better choice.
Re: Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Posted by:
Hizzoner
()
Date: April 29, 2014 11:34AM
What are their political affiliations? That's really all that matters around here.
Re: Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Posted by:
Bonus Income
()
Date: April 29, 2014 02:29PM
The salary for mayor isn't a big draw, but how much could a mayor typically expect to haul in via bribes and kickbacks? Are we talking six or seven figures? More?
Re: Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Posted by:
Almost Over
()
Date: April 29, 2014 02:32PM
Norce has on his website that he's a member of "be heard" which is a right wing Republican group. Also heard he is a member of the City's Republican Committee.
My understanding is Silverthorne is a Democrat but isn't a member of either committee. Apparently tries to govern as a centrist. Republican Stombres is silverthorne's biggest financial supporter according to the campaign disclosures.
My understanding is Silverthorne is a Democrat but isn't a member of either committee. Apparently tries to govern as a centrist. Republican Stombres is silverthorne's biggest financial supporter according to the campaign disclosures.
Re: Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Posted by:
6U9bw
()
Date: April 29, 2014 07:48PM
Description: The mayor of Fairfax City is a two-year term with a salary of $6,500 per year.
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i'm pretty sure that number is wrong your talking about people who will throw out $45,000 / yr to have a single field mowed to some fucking friend foreigner WHILE an old watchdog is face to face telling them not to and on tv
first thing i'm doing as mayor is finding who's lying about $6,500 / yr or if the bank is ruptured, to chase after the mother fuckers
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i'm pretty sure that number is wrong your talking about people who will throw out $45,000 / yr to have a single field mowed to some fucking friend foreigner WHILE an old watchdog is face to face telling them not to and on tv
first thing i'm doing as mayor is finding who's lying about $6,500 / yr or if the bank is ruptured, to chase after the mother fuckers
Re: Two candidates vie for Fairfax mayor
Posted by:
iffivv
()
Date: May 05, 2014 10:29PM
What does the Mayor of Fairfax do? does he work full time or on call or part time?