Meet Walter

Walter was first elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in November, 2019. He chairs the Board’s Transportation Committee and the IT Committee, and the Reston Comprehensive Plan Task Force which has met more than 40 times to recommend improvements for managing Reston’s growth. He leads efforts on the Board to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety via the ActiveFairfax plan, and to develop a countywide, 24/7 mental health crisis intervention first responder capability.

Biography

During his 16 years on the Fairfax County Planning Commission Walter led several groundbreaking achievements, including implementation of Chesapeake Bay regulations, the first policy to reduce impervious surfaces to improve surface water quality; established in the comprehensive plan the expectation that all new residential development should offset their impact on public facilities (especially our public schools); crafted the first requirement that new high-rise development include workforce housing; and brought in the Town of Vienna and interested citizens as equal partners in the replanning of Tysons Corner through an open, transparent planning process – and achieved consensus on a viable path forward.

Walter also served on the Fairfax County Park Authority Board and was president of the Herndon High School PTSA.

Walter began his career as an aide to Providence District Supervisor Kate Hanley where he learned the county budgeting process and saw first-hand the catastrophic damage an underground oil leak had on hundreds of families in Mantua and Stockbridge. It was this experience that launched Walter’s environmental career. And for the past 20 years he has advocated for responsible sourcing, supply chain sustainability and electronics recycling at the Consumer Technology Association (where he still works part time) and the National Center for Electronics Recycling.

Walter is a graduate of the University of Virginia and lives in Reston with his wife, Kristina, and two children — Ryan and Delia.

Service

• Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Hunter Mill District, 2020 – Present
• Fairfax County Planning Commission, At-Large member, 1997 – 2013 
• Fairfax County Park Authority Board, 2015 – 2017
• Fairfax County Community Council on Land Use Engagement, Chair, 2017
• Fairfax County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee Land Use Issues Group, 2016 – 2017
• Herndon High School PTSA President, 2015 – 2017
• Board Of Directors, Affordable Housing Opportunities Mean Everyone (AHOME), 2013-2016

Awards

• Hunter Mill Democratic Committee Martha Pennino Community Service Award, 2017
• Katherine K. Hanley Award for Public Service, Leadership Fairfax, 2013
• Fairfax County Citizen of the Year, Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations, 2011.