Summer Nights in the City

This is the last weekend to see a free concert and movie in Old Town Fairfax.

This Saturday, August 29 come to North Street (right between where Old Town Village and the shops are) in between Chain Bridge Road and University Drive and see a great movie on a big screen and hear some good music.

At 7 p.m. The Electeds kick it off with a little country and a little rock (full disclosure: I'm the drummer!)

And then at 8 p.m. see the latest Indiana Jones movie.

All of this is free. So bring your family and lawn chair and have a party!

A Kid's View of the FBI

The Washington Post magazine this morning has a delightful story about a boy who once wrote to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover asking that his father get some help in his Kansas field office.

As many know, my grandfather was an FBI agent and this story certainly brought back many fond memories of my Pop-Pop. From driving on his lap (and me steering) a car to shooting my .22 at a police station firing range, my grandfather made sure that I had fun while sharing with me important life lessons.

Even though he passed away, he still lives on in the many stories I tell to my children, his good looks like that are reflected in my children and of course his grandson who continues to live up to his standards.

Passing through ...

Kerry, the two boys and I came home today after a great week in Duck. (Sadie's still with the grandparents).

Of course I was on the lookout for rest stops that were closed. Sure enough there were two of them. One on I-64 and the other on I-95. And I loved one of the signs that said before one rest stop: "Next Stop 101 miles away" (or something to that end). Maybe it's me, but if you have two boys in the car do you want to wait almost two hours (assuming the cars are moving) for a possible pitstop?

I don't think so.

Let's reopen the rest stops. I'll throw in ten bucks to help keep em going.

Shop in Fairfax City this Weekend ... Tax Free

Need school supplies? Want to save money? Now is the weekend to do it.

From today, August 7 through Sunday, August 9 you can shop tax-free on sales of qualifying school supplies $20 or less per item and purchases of qualifying clothing & footwear $100 or less per item.

Make sure you shop in the City!

Info www.tax.virginia.gov.

Keep the Rest Stops Awake

I'm on vacation in Duck, NC this week. We'll be packing up and heading back to Fairfax on Sunday. When we do, we will drive along I-64 and I-95 and see, just as we did heading down, signs of a down economy: closed rest stops in Virginia.

What we're also seeing is a failure to invest in our transportation system. Not pointing fingers, all of those responsible for providing resources for state roads are to blame. It's a state responsibility.

As this editorial in the Washington Post notes, when we close rest stops to save a couple million bucks, we are truly at a point of desperation.Not only does it look bad, create safety issues for weary drivers, cause headaches for cranky parents and kids who have to go, but closing the rest stops is a bad idea. It sends the wrong signal that we're giving up.

I mean the state is saving a whopping $9 million by closing the rest stops. Are you kidding me? We can't find $9 million in the state budget? This is causing major PR problems, too, for the state as it is seen as nibbling around the edges and not addressing the real problem: lack of adequate funding and an antiquated funding formula based on a 1930s-era law.

I say let's reopen the rest stops and take the money from somewhere else in the budget. Maybe we don't have wildflowers on the highway or we increase the price of a soda or maybe we have a collection taken at the rest stops, similar to what some parks do in addition to charging a fee. I'm sure that parents like me would happily drop a buck in a bucket.

Providing a solid transportation system means having rest stops along the public's roads. We shouldn't require people to buy a Big Mac to use a bathroom, which is what was suggested by VDOT when they said people could go to a restaurant. No, they can't. Those are private businesses. They are not required by law to open up their bathrooms. In fact, many businesses require customers purchase something to get the key to their bathroom. Is that where we want to be as a state, forcing people to buy food or other knick-knacks so they can then stand in line to use the bathroom? I think not. Re-open the rest stops.

The Fairfax Rap is Here

This space is usually reserved for serious matters, but a friend of mine forwarded a YouTube video dubbed "The Fairfax Rap," which is quite funny. Our fair City of Fairfax is featured quite prominently.

Thanks to Senator Chap Petersen for posting it on his blog,Ox Road South.

Click here for for video - The Fairfax Rap

Alphabet Soup of Government

Right now I'm at the MWCOG leadership retreat in Cambridge, MD. What is MWCOG you ask and why am I - a Fairfax City guy - here. Well, MWCOG, which stands for the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments - is a quasi-governmental body whose members are comprised of all the jursidictions in the D.C. metro area. The City is obviously included and I serve as the City's representative on the organization's Board of Directors. Good people.

Now how is it important to the City of Fairfax. In short, MWCOG - along with the subcommittee known as the Transportation Planning Board (I serve on that, too) - is part of the alphabet soup of government and governing.

To the average voter who is, and should be, focused on what's important in their lives, government is there when you need it (social services, police, fire and rescue) and is also an afterthought. For instance, you assume the traffic lights will work, that the trash will be picked up and that the median will be mowed. Local government does that.

COG is an organization focused on developing both short and long term solutions for the region. And while it is a mouthful to say, COG is important to the City. For instance we are being included in a regional grant application for a bike sharing program. Thanks to Douglas Stewart pointing to the grant and our request, the City will recieve funding if the federal grant is approved.

So the alphabet soup of government can be complex but with great staff, colleagues and organizations like COG, we can effectively serve you and make the City an even better place to live.