I have had many opportunities to brief the City Council over the years in my role as a Planning Commissioner. In recent years, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with Council’s disregard for the hard work of City staff, board & commission members, and even subject matter experts. I originally considered running for a Council seat, but after a lot of great conversations with people from all over the City, I decided that my skills and experience as a consultant might be most useful in the role of Mayor.

Great question! Per City charter (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/charters/fairfax/), the Mayor’s main job is to chair City Council meetings and to represent the City on various regional governance boards.

Specific rules regarding the Mayor’s procedural authority may set by each incoming Council.

Personally, my hope is that the incoming Council returns the authority of the Mayor to work with the City Manager and City staff to generate effective and efficient meeting agendas and reinstates the Mayor’s participation in the Board and Commission appointment and senior staff hiring processes. Removing these authorities has resulted in a lot of unnecessary delays and confusion regarding major City decisions, which in turn allows misinformation to proliferate.

Fairfax City’s Mayor may also perform ceremonial roles such as issuing proclamations, recognizing holidays, and celebrating new business openings.

Things the Mayor does NOT do: Set tax rates. Make deals with developers. Make decisions regarding public school policies, scheduling, or instructional content (those are governed by the City’s contractual relationship with Fairfax County Public Schools).

I have five main mayoral priorities:

1. Establish a sustainable, balanced budget with a focus on identifying new non-property tax revenue streams.

2. Incentivize integrated development in activity centers (and de-incentivize stagnancy by pursuing all City recourse options for delinquent or unresponsive property owners). Prioritize development that maintains or provides incubator space for local businesses.

3. Increase City resident participation in decision-making via all tools and channels available.

4. Attract, retain, and reward high quality City staff.

5. Bolster relationships with GMU and continue to pursue regionalization efforts with surrounding localities (Fairfax County, Town of Vienna, etc.), particularly with regard to transportation, affordable housing, and community arts & recreational facilities.

As a homeowner, I know all too well the pain (and even panic) when a property tax increase hits. In 2025, while the City Council only approved a tiny increase, it hit homeowners at the same time as the significant assessment increase was applied to tax calculations, making it feel like property taxes had increased substantially. But the truth is that Fairfax City’s property tax rate is actually substantially below that of our neighboring jurisdictions, and future Councils will undoubtedly be asked to look at raising this rate again as the cost of providing City services continues to increase.

That said, I also believe that an effective and informed elected body can come together to find efficiencies and leverage alternative strategies to increase City revenue and diffuse some of the burden on property owners. While many of our civic facilities are overdue for repair or replacement, those infrastructure investments also offer opportunity to consolidate functionality, modernize operations, and increase revenue-generating programs and partnerships.

Year-over-year tax increases should never be the sole solution to addressing the City’s financial health, and I am committed to ensuring that City staff and Council are engaged in productive discussions to uncover all alternatives for obtaining the needed resources to maintain our outstanding level of public services.

Currently, Kirsten’s campaign is in need of:

• hosts for neighborhood walks or meet-ups

• door knockers/flyer distributors

• [starting September 19th] election site volunteers

If you are interested in any of these opportunities - or have other suggestions! - please follow the Contact link at the bottom of this website.

You can vote for Kirsten for Mayor as early as September 19th (when early in-person voting begins in Fairfax City)! Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd, and Fairfax City polling locations will be open until 7 PM.

If you require accommodations such as mail-in voting, you can find more information here: https://www.fairfaxva.gov/Government/Elections/Absentee-Voting