The aftershocks from the Sept. 11, terrorist attacks continue to reverberate in the Mount Vernon and Lee districts of Fairfax County. That is the consensus from the two supervisors who represent those constituencies.
"From a local government viewpoint in focusing on the major challenges posed by 9/11, the objective is to work in coordination not just respond to the challenges in a coordinated way," said Gerald W. Hyland, Mount Vernon District Supervisor and Vice Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
"If this were to happen again we need to have much better communications and be able to identify who's in charge concerning any recovery effort," Hyland said. "It has taken a lot of our time and effort to put emergency response plans in place."
Lee District Supervisor Dana Kauffman said, "It's been a constant challenge to balance safety and security concerns against keeping an open dialogue and atmosphere. Unfortunately, in extreme times, extreme ideas become acceptable."
IN THIS VIEW, "Our greatest problem has been the road closures at Fort Belvoir. The Army has always been a good neighbor but these closures have caused a ripple effect in that relationship. The problem is getting the Army to realize it is hurting their people as well."
Another concern of Hyland's is, "When we have held meetings around the county with citizens and local governments we did not have very large numbers turn out. That was a concern to me.
"However, in retrospect, I think there was a type of initial trauma and people were not focused. As the year has gone by we have begun to engage our people more. This is particularly true in the medical field and those that provide aid to people. It also helped when we published the citizen guide to services."
Like many others, Hyland is also concerned about future situations and responses to those threats. "There is still the discomfort of what would be targets and what would be the responses to future attacks. We have so many sensitive facilities in the Mount Vernon District," he concluded.