Citizen of the Year Banquet

The Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations, with co-sponsors Leidos and Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh PC, hosted the 64th annual Fairfax County Citizen of the Year Awards Banquet at the Crowne Plaza Tysons Corner hotel. The Federation and the co-sponsors were honored to recognize Janyce Hedetniemi as the 2013 Citizen of the Year for her service to and for the citizens of Fairfax. Her skills as being able to bridge differences of opinions have been an asset to every group with which she has worked and brings a mark of distinction in the work that she does. She currently serves as Member At-Large of the Fairfax County Planning Commission, a position to which she was appointed in January of 2013. Prior to that, she served as Member At-Large of the Fairfax County Park Authority Board. She was a member of the Tysons Land Use Task Force and Vice-Chair of the Task Force Steering Committee which helped formulate comprehensive plan language for Tysons. In addition, she is a member of the Fairfax County Community Revitalization and Redevelopment Advisory Group.

Federation President Rob Jackson served as Master of Ceremonies. Here is a copy of the banquet program. As a diversion, the 4G Entertainment Group presented examples of various traditional Indian wear.

In addition to the Citizen of the Year Award, the Federation presented Citations of Merit to Tena Bluhm and Kathy Kaplan:
Tena Bluhm was appointed to the Fairfax County Commission on Aging and has chaired the Commission since 2007. She has been instrumental in increasing the Commission’s presence and influence in Fairfax County through speaking on behalf of older adults and the issues of aging before elected officials both county and the commonwealth. Through presentations at Fairfax County Senior Centers, community churches and other organizations, she has educated older adults about services provided by Fairfax County. Kathy Kaplan was awarded the Reston Citizens Association 2013 Citizen of the Year award for her tireless and dedicated library advocacy in March 2014. In August 2013, she was appointed Chair of the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations’ Library Committee to continue her work in library advocacy and review proposed changes to the county library system (the Beta Plan) that would have degraded county libraries by reducing staff, eliminating educational requirements for librarians, and eliminating Youth Services for all branches.

The Federation also presented Special Gratitude Awards to three long-serving elected officials who decide to retire:
The Honorable Congressman James “Jim” P. Moran who began his life in public service as a federal employee with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Library of Congress. In 1976 he began his service as a staff member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations where he served until 1979 when he was elected to the Alexandria City Council. He was then elected as Deputy Mayor and later Mayor for the City of Alexandria before being elected to the United House of Representatives in 1990.
The Honorable Delegate James “Jim” M. Scott, who has introduced legislation to allow localities in Virginia to implement affordable dwelling unit ordinances to increase the availability of low cost and workforce housing throughout Virginia. He has been a champion in Richmond for the George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution, which broke ground on its long awaited Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in the Mason Neck area of Fairfax County in 2013. Delegate Scott also introduced the legislation that created the office of Secretary of Technology in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and together with Congressmen Gerry Connolly and Frank Wolf, worked on legislation at the state level to facilitate the increased use of telework in Northern Virginia.
The Honorable Congressman Frank R. Wolf began his public service career as legislative assistant to Edward Biester and assistant to Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton. He was first elected to Congress in 1976 and has represented the 10th District since. During his decades in service to the public, Congressman Wolf has listened and worked in a bipartisan way to make a difference. He has worked tirelessly and provided a voice for the voiceless. .