We live in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the County of Fairfax, the Mount Vernon District.

Founded in 1742, Fairfax County covers 399 square miles. Its population of approximately 920,000 is the largest of any political jurisdiction in the Commonwealth. ((405)

Our local government is the government of Fairfax County, organized by departments under a chief administrative officer: the County Executive, Robert O'Neill, Jr.: who is appointed by the Board of SUPERVISORS and whose office is located in the GOVERNMENT CENTER at 12000 Government Center Parkway. The County has 10,400 employees, including the PARK AUTHORITY but not including employees of the SCHOOL SYSTEM. The County has a $1.77 billion annual BUDGET of which 51% goes to fund the School System.

Standard office hours for Fairfax County government are M-F 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

For information on particular Fairfax County programs, see listings under the individual headings in this section. General information may also be obtained during County government office hours by calling the Fairfax County Citizens Assistance Desk in the Fairfax Government Center lobby at 324-3185, the County Government Center switchboard operator at 324-2000, or the County Public Affairs Office at 324-3187.

County Resident Information System (CRIS) is a network of multimedia kiosks which provide printouts of information on various topics parallel to what you now hold in your hands, but not bound so handsomely nor arranged alphabetically. However they are considerably more authoritative, accurate and up-to-date. At publication time they were only located in regional libraries and government centers, so our two in Mount Vernon are close enough to talk to each other. Watch for further developments.

On-line sources of information are the County web site at http://www.co.fairfax.va.us and bulletin board, called the Fairfax County Information Network (FCIN), at 802-3270. For staff assistance during regular County government hours, call 324-4584.