Remembering Jack

by Carl Sell,  February 2006

As a young sportswriter at The Washington Star more than 40 years ago, I was surprised hear my boss say that two of his veteran writers couldn't cover a marbles match without taking a side. Soon thereafter I met Jack Herrity and was reminded of that comment.

Jack never met an issue about which he didn't have an opinion. Some were well thought out and some came from the hip. The overwhelming majority were right on target.

John Francis Herrity passed away on February 1, 2006. He had been hospitalized for almost two weeks, but only his family and close associates knew about it. At 74 and planning another political campaign, he didn't want to appear weak. Jack had undergone a heart transplant 12 years earlier. He joked that he was a new man with a woman's heart. He also didn't slow down after a knee replacement.

I first met Jack through youth sports. He was an early champion for improved playing fields and gymnasiums for our youth. Ironically, one of the last issues he took on was the County's plans to charge youth groups for the use of playing fields. Jack never forgot where he came from.

Jack was born during the depression. He learned early that hard work and perseverance were the keys to success. I came along a few years later and followed the same formula. Jack and I didn't know any better. Like Jack, I'm proud of that.

The accolades for Jack were many. Even The Washington Post, in a front-page article and an editorial, recognized his impact on Fairfax County, first as a member of the Board of Supervisors and then three terms as Chairman of the Board. After defeat in 1987, he refused to fade away. His love of politics, coupled with his sincere desire to serve the people of the County he loved, kept him in the middle of almost every important issue.

Most will remember Jack for leading the transformation of Fairfax County into the economic engine of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the major transportation projects he championed. The Fairfax County Parkway was renamed the John F. "Jack" Herrity Parkway in 1995. He began the process for that important road 30 years earlier by championing what he called the Springfield Bypass.

He was a major force in the process that resulted in the Dulles Toll Road and I-66 inside the Beltway. In fact, it was Jack who got all the necessary players at the same table when it was said that I-66 would never reach from the Beltway in Fairfax County to the District of Columbia.

Those projects were only the tip of iceberg in the Herrity transportation plan. With the coming of prosperity, Jack realized early on that most people who lived in Fairfax County would work in Fairfax County. He envisioned a system that would move traffic within the County, not just serve those heading for the Pentagon, Rosslyn, and the District of Columbia.

Roads such as the Monticello Freeway, the Northern Virginia Expressway, the Outer Beltway, and the Tri-County Connector have either been discarded or haven't yet been approved. Jack saw the need for each of them. He poked fun at Metro as a "wheel without any spokes" because it primarily served the urban core.

Jack promoted rapid transit to Dulles and beyond, although he favored a bus system operating on a dedicated right of way rather than the much more expensive heavy rail. He championed widening of the Beltway for toll and HOV lanes between Springfield and Tysons and was always looking for new ways to connect the outer Fairfax County suburban cores with each other, for example, Mount Vernon to Springfield to Vienna to Centreville.

The economic boom during the Herrity era helped produce George Mason University, now the largest institution of higher learning in Virginia. Fittingly, Jack served a term on George Mason's Board of Visitors. And as far as fitness was concerned, Jack was a familiar sight as a jogger on the sidewalks and roads in Springfield and the indoor and outdoor tracks at Mason. Later, he stayed active as a dog walker on the W&OD Trail.

In recent years, Jack railed at the fact that tax revenue from business and commercial property had slipped far below what it was 10 or 15 years ago. He understood that the residential homeowner would have to make up the difference. He also chided the County for not putting forward any meaningful transportation bonds to help pay for needed road improvements.

Last but not least was Jack's never-ending battle on behalf of the taxpayer. He combed through each year's County budget, looking for fat. He demanded surpluses be returned to the taxpayer in the form of tax cuts and that steps be taken to cut or curb the growth of programs he deemed unnecessary.

Forward Fairfax was Jack's idea. Many of us who are involved will use this web site to continue to advance Jack's ideas. And, like Jack, we'll always be looking for new ones to embrace.

Copyright Forward Fairfax and Carl Sell, 2006