A week ago, the headline at NLS was “Toddy Puller and Scott Surovell Take On Democratic Board in Fairfax County.” The subject of the story was Puller’s and Surovell’s Washington Post op-ed, “A fair shake for Fairfax’s other business corridor.” In sum, Puller and Surovell made the case for Fairfax County to divide up resources more evenly between the Silver Line/Tysons Corner and the Richmond Highway Corridor (U.S. Route 1), asking, “When will the focus — and the money — shift our way?”
Well, today they received their response in the form of another Washington Post op-ed, this one by Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova, plus two other Democratic Supervisors (Jeff McKay, Gerry Hyland). According to Bulova et al., the op-ed by Puller and Surovell was “simply mind-boggling,” “unbelievable,” and “pit[ting] one end of the county against the other, and the county against the state.” As the expression goes, “dem dere’s fightin’ words.”
To the contrary, the Fairfax County Board Democratic members write, “While the transformation of Tysons Corner has received quite a lot of media attention as the Comprehensive Plan Amendment has worked its way through the approval process, there has been no less commitment to other needs in the county, especially in the Richmond Highway Corridor.” They point out that “Fairfax County’s State Secondary Fund allocation has dwindled from $29.4 million in 2004 to a measly $1,989 this year — not even enough to install a traffic light.” And they suggest that Puller and Surovell “turn their attention toward becoming real partners for transportation funding…start[ing] with getting the Virginia Department of Transportation to repave Route 1 and cut the grass in the medians throughout Fairfax County.”
So, the battle is joined in Fairfax County. Anyone else care to weigh in?
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