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Date: 2/8/2025
Subject: February MCA - In The News
From: McLean Citizens Association


NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 2025
From the President
MCA: Making the Casino go Away
URGENT - WE NEED YOUR HELP TO KILL THE CASINO BILL!
 
This might be our last opportunity to influence the path of the Casino Bill. We need every VOTER in the county to take action. Please forward this email to everyone you know! Hope to see you on the Bus to Richmond on Tuesday, February 11.
 
SB982 - Casino gaming; eligible host localities, has made its way through the Senate and is expected to be on the schedule for the ABC/Gaming Subcommittee in the House on Tuesday, February 11, starting 30 minutes after the House adjourns - no earlier than 11:30AM in House Committee Room B-205.
We need to show our strength in numbers at this meeting.
 
COME WITH US TO RICHMOND
 
Go to our TAKE ACTION page to RESERVE YOUR SEAT ON THE BUS. Then arrive at the Hartke Building in Reston at 8:45 am for a 9:00 am departure by bus charter. We hope to return by 6:00 pm or earlier. Be flexible -- we have a few legislators to meet with after the meeting.
 
IF YOU CAN'T COME, TELL RICHMOND WHAT YOU THINK
  • Comment on bills in the House of Delegates Committee using the House "SPEAK" web application.
  • View video of House meetings.
  • Provide written comments for bills in this Committee (SB982 is near the end of the list, after the House bills).
  • View all House Committee meetings and signup to speak at them or provide written feedback by visiting the House Meeting Schedule.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
 
Go to our TAKE ACTION page:
  • SEND an email -- we have a new message for you to send
  • SIGN the Petition
  • ASK a friend to SIGN the Petition
  • DONATE to help fund our activities
Have questions? Email us.

Thank you! Together we can KILL THE BILL!
 
If you are not already an MCA member, please lend us your voice!  JOIN NOW!
 
--Linda Walsh, President
Education & Youth
Budget & Taxation

MCA Urges Reconsideration of Planned Dunn Loring ES

 

The Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for Fiscal Years 2026-30, released on January 10, 2025, includes construction of a new elementary school on the site of the former Dunn Loring Elementary School and current FCPS Dunn Loring Administrative Center (at Gallows and Idylwood Roads). Construction is planned to commence in FY 2026 and be completed in FY 2029, at an estimated cost of $80 million.

 

In a letter addressed to Fairfax County School Board members, MCA urged deferral of the Dunn Loring ES construction project and a reallocation of funds to more urgent needs throughout Fairfax County. Based on CIP enrollment data and projections that show substantial excess capacity in the elementary schools near the Dunn Loring site and long-term projections of increased surplus capacity, the letter argued that spending $80 million to construct a school runs counter to FCPS facilities planning guidelines and is an ineffective use of public funds that limits FCPS's system-wide flexibility to meet future capital needs.
MCA's Education & Youth and Budget & Taxation Committees are also beginning their review of the FCPS budget (FCPS presentation slides).
Summer Job Fair
for High School Students
 
 
Saturday, March 15th
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
  
McLean Community Center
Community Hall

With support from McLean, Langley, and Marshall High Schools,
MCA is proud to host the annual McLean-area summer job fair. 

No sign-up needed. Just walk in!
Over twenty businesses represented.
Students will have the opportunity to fill out applications on the spot - or leave behind a resume.

Questions? Send us an email.
Planning & Zoning
MCA President Linda Walsh presents former Dranesville Planning Commissioner John Ulfelder with a book and framed letter of appreciation.
From left to right, MCA President Linda Walsh, former Dranesville Planning Commissioner John Ulfelder, MCA Planning & Zoning Committee Chair Bob Perito, former Dranesville Supervisor John Foust.
MCA Welcomes New Dranesville Planning Commissioner
 
At its February meeting, MCA formally thanked John Ulfelder for his ten years of service as Dranesville District Planning Commissioner.
 
John Ulfelder's successor, Alyssa Batchelor-Causey, was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in December. Commissioner Batchelor-Causey, a Herndon resident and political consultant, serves as Chairwoman of the Fairfax County Commission for Women and previously served as a Legislative Assistant in the Virginia General Assembly. In an informal meeting with P&Z Committee leadership, she stated that one of her main goals is to ensure that County policies address long-term needs by focusing on improvements that can withstand the test of time.
 
MCA, in particular its P&Z Committee, sends a warm welcome to Commissioner Batchelor-Causey and looks forward to working with her to maintain and improve the McLean area.
Public Safety
2025 Senior Safety Summit Set for April 23rd
 
Mark your calendar for this popular community-wide public safety event sponsored by MCA. 

Environment, Parks & Recreation
McLean Trees Foundation Hosts Tree Talk
 
The McLean Trees Foundation, in collaboration with the Potomac Chapter of the Virginia Plant Society, will be holding the following webinar on Tuesday February 11 at 7 pm:  

Tree Selection and Small Trees:
 
Successful plantings start with good tree selection. The first step is putting the right tree in the right place. The second step is selecting good specimen at the nursery. In the second half of the talk we will look at small trees and large shrubs for your yard. 

Please register here.

This is the 2nd of a series of talks by Urban Forest Conservationist Jim McGlone, who holds a PhD in Human Ecology from Virginia Tech and recently retired from the Virginia Department of Forestry, where he spent 17 years as an Urban Forest Conservationist. Each talk begins with general information on an aspect of tree selection, planting, and care before covering a particular tree species or genus.
 
The recording of the first talk, “Why Trees Grow Where They Do,” and “Oaks as Yard Trees," can be found on the McLean Trees Foundation website.
Transportation Committee
Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition/Tysons Committee
Transportation Committee
 
Supervisor Jimmy Bierman attended the January 22nd Committee meeting where he participated in a discussion about county delays in processing "active transportation" (trails and other pedestrian/cyclist) projects (video).
 
 Transportation and GTCC/Tysons Committees
 
At the December 12th joint meeting of the Transportation Committee and the Greater Tysons Citizens Coalition, Eric Teitelman, Fairfax County Dep't of Transportation Chief of Capital Projects in the Traffic Engineering and Active Transportation Division, gave a presentation on Tysons area transportation projects. (video)
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