My Council Colleague Joan Cross

Tonight my Council colleague Joan Cross resigned due to illness, effective June 30, 2011. She will be greatly missed by all of us on Council and the community as a whole.

Joan is someone I truly admire as a person who stuck to her principles, her word and her convictions. She is also one of the kindest people I know. As I said from the dais tonight, Joan always, always asked me how Kerry and the kids were doing. It is how she is - putting others before her self, concerned with others' well-being. It's what made her a great public servant and what makes her a wonderful person.

When I first ran in 2008, people always told me, "You need to be like Joan - accessible and responsive." And it's true, without a beat Joan was always there to help her constituents with whatever issue they faced, no matter the size or scale.

I will truly miss my colleague and pray that she returns to full health. My thoughts and prayers go to her, her husband Ron and family as they work to overcome her illness. I ask that you also keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Tonight the council had the somber duty of appointing someone to fill Joan's term until it expires on June 30, 2012. The person Council unanimously appointed is former Councilman R. Scott Silverthorne. According to our charter he will fulfill the remainder of Joan's term. The Council also unanimously agreed to, in keeping with state law, ask the Fairfax Circuit Court to set May 1, 2012 as the election to fill Joan's seat. This is the same day as the general election for City Council.