October 4 – 10, 2007
Fairfax County Executive Anthony Griffin Honored
Fairfax County Executive Anthony H. Griffin has been elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and will formally be inducted during the academy’s fall meeting on Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. Criteria for selection as a fellow include “a sustained and outstanding contribution to the field of public administration.” Griffin joins 500 current and former public managers, scholars, business executives, labor leaders, cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors, state legislators and diplomats who “provide insight and experience as they oversee NAPA projects and provide general guidance.” Griffin has been the county executive for Fairfax County since 2000. In the late 1980s he was City Manager of Falls Church, and maintained a residence in Falls Church until the mid-1990s. He was also a deputy county manager for Arlington County.
Moran Reacts to Bush Veto of Children’s Health Bill
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, who represents the 8th District of Northern Virginia, assailed President Bush’s veto yesterday of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program bill. “The president’s priorities are clear,” he said in a statement. “When faced with a choice between providing health care for low income American children and funding a war in a foreign land, he has put war first.” He added, “SCHIP is a bipartisan, popular program that gives children from low income families an opportunity to lead a happy, healthy and productive life. Instead of providing for our future generations, the President’s veto threatens to strip health insurance for six million American children, 211,000 living in Virginia. For $3.50 a day, we can ensure a child has access to a primary care physician. Contrast that with the cost to taxpayers of an emergency room visit for an indigent child and the cost effectiveness of SCHIP becomes clear. This veto brings into sharp contrast President Bush’s misguided priorities.”
Sen. Webb Conducts Hearing on Incarceration Rates
Today at the Senate Hart Building Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Jim Webb will chair a Joint Economic Committee hearing to explore the consequences of the steep increase in the U.S. prison population. The hearing is entitled, “Mass Incarceration in the United States: At What Cost?” Experts are slated to testify on the reasons behind the growth in the prison population, whether it correlates with decreases in crime, the economic costs of maintaining the prison system and the long-term labor market and social costs of mass incarceration. The hearing will explore whether the prison system responds to the public’s needs for law and order while also treating fairly those who are in the system.
F.C. Leaf Collection Begins Monday, Oct. 15
Falls Church City crews will begin vacuum-collection of loose leaves on Monday, Oct. 15 and will continue through Dec. 14. Residents who wish to have their loose leaves collected by the City are advised to rake their leaves to the curb, but avoid gutters and sidewalks wherever possible. The leaves that are collected will be processed into high-quality leaf mulch and offered back to the citizens in January.
