With the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors having rejiggered the boundaries of its nine magisterial districts in order to account for updated census data, one can almost bet that some on the body will be pushing to change a few of the names of the districts themselves.
“Lee”? Almost assuredly a goner. “Mason”? That’s more complicated; how do you get rid of that without subtly implying that the region’s largest university is somehow racist, since it was named after the same guy? Even more vexing are “Mount Vernon” and “Sully,” named as they were after plantations.
(The very name of the county has some historical connotations that the most easily triggered among the wokesters are sure to find appalling. But we digress …)
Our solution? It’s the same one we suggested when, in nearby Arlington, members of the Electoral Board started discussing changing certain precinct names to conform to a more modern sense of propriety. Just ditch the names entirely and go with numbers. It works here, too.
Does Supervisor John Foust really need to be “John Foust (D-Dranesville)”? Couldn’t he just as equally be “John Foust (D-3rd District)”? Might not “Rodney Lusk (D-Lee)” sleep more soundly at night knowing he is now “Rodney Lusk (D-5th District)”?
It seems to work fine for Congress – Don Beyer in the 8th, Jennifer Wexton in the 10th, Gerald Connolly bringing up the rear (we kid because we love …) in the 11th. If it works there, why not with the Board of Supervisors and School Board?
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While on the topic of name changes, there has been consternation among some quarters that it appears the fix is in and the panel set up to recommend whether to change the name of Lee Highway and Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway had made up its collective mind even before the process started.
As we noted in a July editorial, coming in with a preordained outcome appeared to have been the whole point of this exercise (although some members were open-minded and deserve applause for that). This kabuki-theater game being played out is not merely a smokescreen; it is a monumental waste of everyone’s time.