Linda Sperling. Image from the candidate's Facebook page.

Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors has eight Democrats and two Republicans, and one of the Republicans is not running for re-election. Democrat Linda Sperling hopes to unseat the other, Pat Herrity of the Springfield District.

While John Cook, the Republican in the nearby Braddock district got 52% of the vote in 2015’s general election, Herrity did not face a Democratic challenger. In fact, he has not since he was first elected in 2007, and garnered 81% against an independent candidate. Sperling hopes to change this, though Herrity has far out-fundraised her in the campaign.

Sperling responded to our questionnaire, while Herrity did not. Here are her responses.

October 15 is the deadline to register for the November 5 election. Virginians can get more information about voter registration and absentee balloting here. Our Elections Committee will be deciding whether to make endorsements in this and other contested races this fall.


Who do you think has the hardest time finding housing that’s affordable to them in Fairfax County, and what steps do you plan to take to address that need?

Linda Sperling: Many people have trouble finding housing that’s affordable in Fairfax County, given that the average house costs upwards of $500k, average rent is $1800/month, and the average family of four needs to make $114k to live comfortably in the county.

Be they recent college grads, young families, seniors, teachers, county employees or members of the workforce in the private sector, many in the middle class find securing affordable housing in Fairfax County to be a tremendous challenge. Yet this task is nearly impossible for the most vulnerable in our society, such as low income families and those with a disability.

Affordable housing isn’t just a moral necessity, but critical to the local economy. Housing availability directly impacts the ability of employers – public and private sector - to recruit and retain staff.

There is no magic bullet that will address this need, however there are several steps that we can take to create and preserve affordable housing throughout the County.

First, we need to revisit the County’s comprehensive plan and look at areas where up-zoning is a feasible alternative. Currently, over 80% of the County is zoned for single-family homes, and where it would make sense, we need to diversify our housing stock, allowing for development of duplexes, rowhomes and other multi-family units.

Next, we need incentivize developers to develop more affordable units, through means such as waiving density requirements or shortening the approval process for projects that include more affordable units than required.

Finally, we need to invest county resources into ensuring that we provide affordable housing for the most vulnerable of our community. As such, I support the restoration of a full penny in the “Penny for Affordable Housing Fund”.


Would you champion increasing housing diversity in parts of the county which have fewer lower-income residents than the entire county and Washington region as a whole? Why or why not?

Linda Sperling: Yes. Fairfax County must be a great place to live, play and work throughout the county, not just in one or two areas. We must provide affordable housing options throughout the County, near transit, near job centers and near retail centers.


How do you reconcile the need to provide housing affordability in the parts of your district with good transit with some other people’s stated desire to slow development?

Linda Sperling: When looking at the housing and transit needs in the Springfield District, it is necessary to take into consideration the needs of three very diverse parts that make up the whole of the district: the very dense communities in the Northern part of the district (Greenbrier, Fair Oaks and Fair Lakes), the rural portions in the center of the district (Clifton and Fairfax Station) and the Eastern portion of the district which consists of traditional “commuter communities” in Burke and West Springfield.

The center of the district, Clifton and Fairfax Station, is completely different than the rest of the district in many ways. This area was downzoned in 1982 due to its location in the Occoquan Watershed, and allows only one housing unit built on every five acres of land. Given this, slow development is a given and access to mass transit and development of affordable/workforce housing is not feasible.

Unfortunately, there are very few mass transit options throughout the district, regardless of where in the district you live or work. While the Eastern portion of the district is in close proximity to the VRE (Rolling Road and Burke Center stations), there are no Metro stations and limited Metrobus or Fairfax Connector access for much of the district. The lack of mass transit in the Northern part of the district has been covered by Greater Greater Washington (https://ggwash.org/view/69775/what-about-fair-oaks-central-fairfax-county-needs-more-transit). One of my first priorities when I am elected will be to increase the access to mass transit in the Northern and Eastern portions of the district.

We must improve the availability of mass transit to the residents of the Springfield District before we can address housing, due to the need for affordable housing to be located in close proximity to transit.


Fairfax County has been pushing for walkable, transit-accessible communities to meet demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Would you continue this trend, and where in your district would you emphasize this? If not, why not?

Linda Sperling: Yes. We must make it easy for people to get out of their cars, or they will never do so. Getting people out of their cars, thus reducing the number of cars on the road, is the only way we will be able to improve traffic congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As I stated in the answer to the previous question, the Springfield District has very little in the way of mass transit. One of my first priorities when I am elected will be to increase the access to mass transit in the Northern and Eastern portions of the district. Fair Lakes and Fair Oaks, as Greater Greater Washington has already reported, should have much better access to mass transit. In addition, the West Springfield/Burke portion of the District needs an improved mass transit network.


What are the top three transportation priorities you have for your district? Tell us why and the revenue source (including any new revenue sources you’d champion).

Linda Sperling: I don’t think that we can talk about any other transportation priorities in the district until we address the lack of access to mass transit options throughout the Springfield District. As such, my top three transportation priorities are:

1, 2, 3: Increased access to mass transit, specifically the Fairfax Connector, throughout the Northern and Eastern portions of the District. This would be funded through a combination of farebox revenues and federal, state and local support.

The reason that I list this as my top priority is that I have heard, time and time again across the district, from Fair Lakes to West Springfield, that the lack of access to mass transit is negatively impacting their daily lives.

Parents are leaving the house before their kids wake up in the mornings in order to get on I-66 before tolls, because mass transit isn’t a realistic option from where they live. Government workers want to be able to put their kids on the schoolbus, and then get on their own bus to go downtown to work, but there aren’t currently bus schedules that allow parents to actually work an eight hour day after putting their kids on their own bus.

And throughout the district, some of our most vulnerable residents—such as seniors and those with disabilities—are unable to live independently simply because they are unable to drive.


Fairfax County is one of the few area jurisdictions that has not adopted Vision Zero. Given the high number of people who die or are seriously injured while moving around in Fairfax, what would you advocate to ensure safety for everyone even though Fairfax DOT has to work with VDOT to make changes in Fairfax’s transportation network?

Linda Sperling: FCDOT must work collaboratively with VDOT to adopt Vision Zero. At the same time, we must ensure that we implement infrastructure improvements to our roads and sidewalks: in the short term, this includes protected bike lanes, continuous lighted walkable sidewalks and crosswalks, protected bus stops that are easily accessible by commuters. In the long term, this includes overpasses, etc.


What do you think? Give us your feedback in the comments.