Manassas Park Holds Town Hall Meeting

For the first time in its young history, the city of Manassas Park held a town hall-style meeting. It took place Tuesday night in the beautiful Manassas Park Community Center.

The meeting provided a chance for members of the Manassas Park community to listen to elected officials and city employees present the statuses and goals of each component of the city, including Manassas Park City Schools. Following these presentations, residents were encouraged to ask questions of their leadership in a casual, informal setting.

Rather than conduct the meeting in a traditional town hall fashion in which each member of the community who wishes to ask a question steps up to a microphone to address the panel, Tuesday's meeting format called for a less conventional, round-table discussion.

The evening began with what the city is calling its, “Bang for the Buck” presentation, which outlined the condition of each of what Manassas Park Mayor Frank Jones referred to as the “Big Five” areas of the city: Police, fire and rescue, public works, parks and recreation and social services.

The police department announced its Virginia accreditation, a recognition only 82  of the more than 400 eligible departments in the state can boast.

Following the “Big Five” came presentations from city finance director Gary Fields, planning and zoning director Vanessa Watson, director of human resources Maggie Kane, treasurer Winifred O’Neal, commissioner of revenue Debbie Wood and voting registrar Patricia Bredel.

Highlights from these presentations included a firm statement from Watson who said although times are hard in northern Virginia, “Manassas Park is open for business.”

Finally, Manassas Park City Schools Superintendent Dr. Bruce McDade and city manager Jim Zumwalt presented the proposed budgets for the school board and the city for the 2012 fiscal year. 

McDade prefaced his budget proposal presentation with the statement that, “one in five citizens in Manassas Park is a student,” emphasizing the importance of the success of the proposed 2012 budget.

Lisa Wolf, a third grade teacher at Manassas Park Elementary School and a Manassas Park resident, echoed his assertion.

“During hard times like these, we’re all trying to squeeze water out of a rock,” said Wolf, with a shrug of her shoulders.

“But if there is one thing that people should feel good about spending their money on, it’s the schools,” she said. “These kids are our future, and we’re sure that everything we’re doing to ensure a quality education for them will be reflected in the future.”

Due to the financial decline, Manassas Park City Schools have been forced to make difficult decisions when it came to the well being of city employees like Wolf. There were layoffs, hiring freezes and a stop on raises in 2010 and 2011. But according to  McDade, the school board is working hard to make changes.

“The goal for 2012 is to end all of that,” the superintendent said forcefully.

City manager Jim Zumwalt closed the presentation portion of the evening with an overview of the proposed $34,377,027 budget for the 2012 fiscal year. 

Zumwalt claimed that, although Manassas Park and Virginia as a whole have hit the rock bottom of the recession, 2012 shows financial promise.

In fact, the loudest applause of the evening came when city assessor Richard Sanderson announced that, for the first time since 2009, property values will increase in 2012.

There will be another budget public hearing on May 5 at 7 p.m.  On May 17, the Manassas Park City Council will vote on the 2012 fiscal year budget.