MEET MARK
An Independent Voice for Tax Relief
Maybe you’ve seen me picking up litter on daily walks in the Springvale area, sometimes by myself and sometimes with my wife, where we live with our dog Eugene. Fairfax County is a great place to live and I hate to see its decline, whether by unsightly trash or by increasing unaffordability from an escalating tax burden.
I have been a resident of Fairfax County since 1985, moving here after graduating from Holy Cross College to start a career with the federal Government. My wife and I raised three children who all attended County public schools and went on to graduate from Virginia public universities. I retired after a 30+ years of public service, during which I took night classes to get my MBA from George Washington University. I worked at the Department of the Navy (where I analyzed and negotiated Harpoon missile contracts), the Department of Transportation (where I received the Secretary’s Distinguished Service award for my efforts in helping stand up the Transportation Security Agency after the September 11th terrorist attacks) and ended my career at an independent agency where I was responsible for development of its annual budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget.
When not picking up garbage 😊, I count collections at my church and volunteer as a tax preparer with the AARP Tax Aide program during tax season. Nothing beats the feeling of helping a client apprehensive about their taxes get a big refund!
I initially began analyzing the County budget a decade ago for my neighborhood association’s budget committee. I was amazed to discover the extent County operations, particularly FCPS, are consistently overfunded, and that none of the excess funding is ever set aside for tax relief. Instead surpluses are recurringly reappropriated for additional spending. Based on my experience analyzing complex Harpoon missile proposals and developing a federal agency budget, I know without a doubt that the County budget can be reduced (without reducing current operations or employee positions/compensation) to keep residential taxes stable. That is why I am running for Franconia District Supervisor.
