Pat Herrity announces his bid for 2023 Springfield Supervisor

West Springfield, VA – Today, Supervisor Pat Herrity announced his reelection campaign for Springfield District Supervisor on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
 
Herrity said, “Since I last ran for office, we have faced unfathomable challenges; from a global pandemic to historic unemployment, unprecedented obstacles for our business owners, interrupted education and record-setting inflation…we live in a different world than we did four years ago and I can’t think of a more critical time to need strong, experienced leadership on the Board of Supervisors.
 
That’s why I’m announcing today my campaign to run for reelection for Springfield District Supervisor on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.”
 
Pat Herrity has been serving on the Board since 2008 after 25 years of active business, sports, and civic community leadership. He was raised in Fairfax County, a 1978 graduate of West Springfield High School with an accounting degree from Virginia Tech.
 
During his time on the Board, he has time and time again proven that he is a “go-getter” with a singular focus on bettering the lives of Fairfax County residents. From transportation to education to business and responsible development, Pat’s record speaks for itself. Full details of selected accomplishments, key issues, experience as well as his business, community, and civic resume can be found on his website at PatHerrity.org.
 
Herrity continued, “This campaign is about you, the residents of Fairfax County, and the trials we have faced the past four years. We need someone representing us who has the experience and track record to keep getting results for the County. I humbly consider myself the most qualified to serve our community. I proudly stood as a check on the excesses of the Board, and made sure that each decision made considered the impact it would have on every single one of our county’s residents. I look forward to meeting you and your families on the campaign trail the next ten months as we look ahead to continuing the great work we have accomplished thus far.”
 
The election for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will take place on November 7, 2023. Pat will be making himself available for questions surrounding the announcement this afternoon, please contact [email protected] to schedule a time. For more information about Pat Herrity, please visit PatHerrity.org. See his announcement speech below. 
 

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Pat Herrity
Announcement Speech
January 26, 2023

“Welcome. Thank you for joining me here this morning at West Springfield High School. As most of you know, this is home to me. This is where it all started, I grew up right down Rolling Road on Portree Court.

That is where I learned about the County from one of its great leaders and my Dad, former Chairman of the Board Jack Herrity.  I not only learned about the County and its issues but about leadership and most importantly about public service.
My Dad loved this county – he actually watched Board of Supervisors meetings right up until the day he died. I share his great passion for public service and for the County we so dearly love.

I began my public service early in life and during my successful business career.  I was recognized by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Virginia Technology Council with its highest leadership awards. I organized a sports league and coached a number of sports teams.  I was also a leader in my local civic associations.

Sixteen years ago, I made the decision to take that public service to a higher level and run to become Springfield District Supervisor because I did not like the direction the County was heading.  Taxes had doubled in 8 short years from $2,400 to $4,800, our teachers’ salaries were slipping and we were mired in congestion.

The citizens of Springfield District had faith in me and elected me their Supervisor in 2007. They reelected me in 2011, 2015 and 2019. Since I last ran for office, we have faced unfathomable challenges; from a global pandemic to historic unemployment, unprecedented obstacles for our business owners, interrupted education and record-setting inflation…we live in a different world than we did four years ago and I can’t think of a more critical time to need strong, experienced leadership on the Board of Supervisors.

Over those years we have accomplished a lot to make Springfield District and Fairfax County a better place:

• I led two rounds of pension reform efforts to address the county’s unsustainable pension plans and balance our compensation program.
• I was the only Supervisor to call for reopening schools as other communities were successfully doing across the country.
• I am leading the effort to address rising crime and the public safety staffing crisis by calling for increased pay and recruiting befits for our officers.
• As Chair of the Board’s Older Adults Committee, I led the development of Fairfax County’s award-winning 50+ Committee Action Plan to make the County a better place for our older adults.
• I led the effort that took the first steps toward addressing senior tax relief.
• I initiated the Older Adults COVID Response Plan. With 95 percent of Fairfax County’s COVID-related deaths being adults over age 50, older adults were the most impacted demographic in our community. The plan was developed with feedback from online focus groups to address key issues of social isolation, lack of technology access, and wellness among our older adults. 
• I led the successful effort to stop the 10% tax on meals that was overwhelmingly defeated by Fairfax County voters.
• I am the only Supervisor to recommend efficiencies and budget reductions to address the 50% increase in homeowners’ taxes over the last ten years.
• I led the effort to reduce the County’s Machinery and Tools tax that was four times our surrounding jurisdictions and unfairly taxing our small manufacturers and breweries.
• As I did in 2016, in 2022 I asked the Board to again reaffirm our commitment to the protection of the environmentally sensitive Occoquan watershed.
• I am the only Supervisor to ever receive the President’s Award from the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers for my leadership in improving teachers’ salaries.
• I led the effort to get this very school behind us (West Springfield High School) renovated after it was overlooked in the renovation queue.
• I led efforts to reform the county’s zoning and permitting process to reform siloed processes and a culture of “no”.
• We renovated Pohick Library, we have an exciting new driving range and clubhouse at Burke Lake Park, and you can Go Ape on the ropes course at South Run Park. I am currently funding a number of trail and other improvements at Burke Lake Park that have led to additional investments by the Park Foundation.
• Every year I work with my colleagues on the Board to host Teen Job and Opportunity Fairs across the county.
• I have been honored to be recognized by the Sun Gazette for the last six years as Fairfax County’s Best Public Servant.
• I created and am leading the County’s Sports Tourism Task Force to diversify the county’s revenue stream with tourism dollars and build high quality sports venues for our community. I am looking forward to the county’s first sports tourism facility Patriot Park North which will be opening this year and am continuing to move the indoor downhill ski facility on the side of the I-95 Landfill forward.
• Each summer, I host a free concert series at Burke Lake Park – the largest series of any district in the county.
• I led the effort to remove the blight of illegal signs from our roadways
• I am leading the effort to address Panhandling as a public safety issue in the County.I could list many more.  

I could list many more.

I still have the passion to get things done that make Fairfax County a better place.  Sixteen years later, I also still have the passion to use my business skills and knowledge of the County to get spending under control and stop the ever-increasing tax burden on our residents.  Taxes on the average homeowner have increased over 50% in the last 10 years – 6.7% just last year despite over $1 Billion in federal COVID funding – a rate that is not sustainable. I consistently remind the Board of our policy and the bonding agency’s guidance against spending one-time funds for recurring expenditures. I will continue to provide opportunities to set priorities, improve efficiencies and get cost under control. 

Too many of our graduates and seniors are leaving the county. I still have the passion to grow jobs and our economy so our children will have high paying jobs and will stay and raise their families in Fairfax County. We need to continue to improve our zoning, permitting and regulatory environment so we can create and grow businesses in the County, reduce the cost of living, provide affordable housing and create places that will keep our graduates and seniors here.

I still have the passion to make our school system the best in the nation by funneling resources into the classroom and on the teachers and students, not on administrators and administrative burdens. To support our teachers who are dealing with the impacts of two years without in person learning on our students. To return the focus to academics so that all of our children have the opportunity to succeed in life. We need to be celebrating achievement and excellence not punishing it.

I still have the passion to protect our suburban neighborhoods from blight, crime and gangs.  We have much more to do in battling the increasing crime rates, the opioid/fentanyl public health crisis, human trafficking and gangs. We need to give our police department the resources and support it needs to attract, train and retain the best officers to make our community the safest jurisdiction of its size in the country. I want to lead the development of the follow-on plan to the award-winning 50+ Community Action Plan with achievable, actionable and affordable initiatives to improve the lives of our older adults. I want to continue my efforts with the Sports Tourism Task Force to diversify our tax base, economy and bring the county exciting new sports venues like an indoor track and indoor downhill skiing.

I still have the passion to address transportation congestion that keeps our residents from enjoying the quality of life they deserve. We have over $600M in transportation improvements moving forward in the Springfield District including the widening of Fairfax County Parkway (with a grade separated interchange at the dangerous Popes Head Road intersection); building the Shirley Gate Road extension; widening of Route 28, 29, and Rolling Road; adding turn lanes (including at 50 and Waples Mill Road); the Rolling Road VRE parking lot expansion; intersection improvements (including Post Forrest Drive and Random Hills Road); and safety improvements like the Burke Road curve realignment and Orange Hunt safe routes to school improvements. 

I want to ensure the County focuses transportation funding on projects that relieve congestion for our residents. I want to see through the safety improvements we are working on Lee Chapel Road and the Fairfax County Parkway. I was honored to appointed last year to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority where I will have a voice in where $6B in state and local transportation funds are spent.

I also still have the passion to stand as a backstop and a check on the excesses of the Board majority, and make sure that each decision made considers the impact it will have on every single one of our county’s residents. It is important that all sides of a decision are considered as open honest dialogue always gets you to a better answer.

There is a lot of change coming to the Fairfax County, with the retirement of Supervisor Foust and Supervisor Gross, economic challenges, the possibility of a recession, rising crime rates, falling school enrollment, etc. The need for an experienced voice on the Board is clear.  

As I weighed my decision to run for reelection or to run for Chairman of the Board, I reached out to constituents across the county.  What I heard loud and clear from both Republicans and Democrats was the need for balance, the need for a common sense, fiscal conservative voice, the need for experience, the need for a public servant focused on local issues instead of divisive national issues. 

Public service is not about what you want to do, it’s about doing what is right for the community. 

For me, this county will always be vitally important, but the Springfield District is my home. It’s such an important part of the fabric of my life, of my family’s life, of our past, our present and our future. 

That’s why I will be asking the residents of the Springfield District to give me the opportunity to finish the many things we have underway here in the Springfield District, the opportunity to help shape the direction of Fairfax County by being the common-sense voice on the Board, and to reelect me as their Springfield District Supervisor.

This campaign is about you, the residents of Fairfax County, and the trials we have faced the past four years. We need someone representing us who has the experience and track record to keep getting results for the County. I humbly consider myself the most qualified to serve our community. I proudly stand as a check on the excesses of the Board majority to make sure decisions are made with all sides considered. I look forward to meeting you and your families on the campaign trail over the next ten months as we look ahead to continuing the great work we have accomplished thus far.

Thank you again for being here. And thank you for putting your trust in me. I’m counting on you all to help, and I solemnly promise to be a public servant with your best interest at heart.”