Reprinted from Virginia Town & City Magazine, November 2007

New VML president found niche in local government, community service

By David Parsons

The Virginia Municipal League's new president is a tireless public servant committed not only to making his community a better place to live and work, but also to solving regional and statewide problems affecting local governments of all sizes.

Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette was elected the 89th president of the Virginia Municipal League during the 2007 VML Annual Conference last month. He will pursue an ambitious agenda as president focused on informing, encouraging and supporting the efforts of local governments to implement practical strategies designed to promote environmental responsibility. (See story below)

Fisette was born in New York City and raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, where he attended public schools and was an all-American swimmer in high school. At Bucknell University, where he received a degree in political science in 1978, Fisette was captain during his senior year of both the varsity swim and water polo teams.

Following graduation, and after planning to join the Peace Corps, Fisette accepted the job of coaching the varsity water polo team at the University of Pittsburgh. The university, however, dropped the sport a year later, prompting him to leave Pennsylvania for an extended period that took him to California for 18 months and then to Europe for 12 months in 1981-1982.

Fisette spent his first three months in Europe riding from England to Greece on the Fuji bicycle he still rides today, staying along the way in youth hostels or a tent that he toted. The next nine months were spent exploring Paris and other European cities, where he devoted much of his time to painting, reading, keeping a journal and soaking up the culture.

"It was your basic Bohemian year," Fisette said.

Life abroad ended, not coincidentally, when his money ran out. Fisette returned to Pitt, this time as a graduate student. He earned a master's degree in public and international affairs in 1983.

Following graduation, Fisette moved to Arlington and accepted a job with the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, an arm of the legislative branch of the federal government. There he worked for about four years as an investigator with subject expertise in the areas of international economics, trade and defense.

"Waste, fraud and abuse … that was the lingo," Fisette said.

Life in the GAO bureaucracy, however, could be tedious, often consumed by processing files and churning out reports.

"The work was valuable and important, but I just wasn't cut out for it," he said.

While at the GAO, Fisette began putting down roots in the community. He and Bob Rosen, a man he met when he moved to Arlington and his partner now for 24 years, purchased an overgrown two-story brick Cape Cod house in 1987. They took in a tenant to help make ends meet.

"It was a stretch … a real fixer-upper," Fisette said of the circa 1930 home that came replete with every window painted shut both inside and out. Twenty years later, the tastefully appointed, remodeled house is still the couple's home, which they share with their two dogs – Chocco and Cassie.

Fisette left the GAO and worked in 1989 on the successful re-election campaign of Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Following the election, and for the next eight years, he worked as director of the Northern Virginia satellite office of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the primary provider of services to people with HIV/AIDS in the Washington area.

The Whitman-Walker job marked the beginning of a transition for Fisette from working on issues at the national level to confronting them closer to home – at the local and regional level.

"I always had an interest in public policy and government, but as a gay man running for office just hadn't seemed realistic," he said.

That changed in 1993 when a vacancy opened up on the Arlington County Board. After living in Arlington 10 years, Fisette said he had come to realize that the county's values were "totally consistent" with his own. So he took the plunge. Having only attended one Arlington Democratic Committee meeting prior to the election, Fisette won the Democratic primary, but lost the special election by about 200 votes.

Throughout the race print media identified him in virtually every story as the "openly gay" candidate, a label he did not use.

"I preferred to think of myself as honest and up-front," he said.

Fisette took the 1993 loss in stride and immersed himself further in community activities and in the workings of the Arlington Democratic Committee. Four years later, he was elected to the Arlington County Board. He won re-election in 2001 and was unopposed for the seat in 2005.

What is classified as a part-time job – being a member of the Arlington County Board – requires the majority of Fisette's time these days. He does some consulting on the side.

"I had become very active in the community so I had a good idea of what the commitment would entail," he said. "I never recommend that people run for office unless they are active in the community and have the support of their family."

Since serving on the Arlington board, Fisette has enjoyed being a part of a governing body that has worked to bring to life a longstanding vision for Arlington and its now 200,000 residents who live, work and play spread over only 25.8 square miles. In particular, the board has embraced the urban village concept where land use and transportation decisions are linked and where a pedestrian-friendly environment is promoted. While Arlington offers residents an exhaustive menu of opportunities to participate in civic life via the county's Web site, its governing board takes to the streets three times a year for walking town meetings where residents show their elected representatives and senior staff what's right and what's wrong with their neighborhoods.

Service on the board has had its trying times, too. Fisette was board chair on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked a commercial airliner and slammed it into the Pentagon in Arlington. As board chair, Fisette served as a principal spokesman for the county that was in charge of the response, rescue and recovery in the days immediately following the attack. In addition, he worked tirelessly as the leader of a regional campaign to convince the federal government to re-open Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which remained closed for 23 days following the attack.

"The odds were about 50-50 that they were ever going to open the airport again," Fisette said.

As he reflects on his time as a local elected official, Fisette said the he surprised himself by becoming so interested in issues related to growth and development, as well as the importance of regionalism.

Local elected officials from all corners of the state increasingly share his interest in the environment, he said.

"I think there's a broad acknowledgment that issues relating to environmental sustainability and energy conservation are real," Fisette said. "Not everyone is sure to what extent they are real, but they acknowledge that they should be explored. We are all in this together … to find ways to enhance the quality of life for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren."

About the author

David Parsons is director of communications for the Virginia Municipal League.

The'Go Green Virginia' program

VML President Jay Fisette unveiled Go Green Virginia, a VML initiative to inform, encourage and support the efforts of local governments to implement practical strategies designed to promote environmental responsibility, at the league's annual conference in October.

"In the coming year, the league will focus on energy conservation and environmental protection," Fisette said. "Through ‘Go Green Virginia' we will recognize communities that take innovative steps to reduce energy usage and promote sustainability."

The details of the Go Green Virginia program will be shared with VML member local governments in the upcoming weeks. Fisette, however, outlined the framework for the initiative in a speech at the conference.

The building blocks of Go Green Virginia will include:

Ad hoc advisory committee: About 20 participants, including local elected officials and non-profit experts, have been appointed to help guide the initiative. The panel met for the first time Nov. 16 in Henrico County.

Green Government Challenge: This friendly competition will encourage Virginia's cities, towns and counties to put in place environmental policies and take practical actions that reduce carbon emissions generated by local government operations and buildings. Participants who earn 100 "green points" will earn VML's Green Government certification. The top three jurisdictions, within three population brackets, will receive special public recognition at the 2008 VML Annual Conference in Norfolk.

"Best Practices" regional forums: VML will sponsor four or five public gatherings across the state to educate and provide a venue for local governments to exchange ideas and information on successful programs.

"Best Practices" green book: VML will survey members and publish a catalog of proven programs and practices used in communities across the state to promote sustainability.

Magazine column: Virginia Town & City will add a monthly column written by "green government" subject experts about topics of interest to cities, towns and counties across the state.

Additional support: The advisory committee will map out a plan to increase efforts to support targeted VML environmental legislative initiatives.

Jay Fisette at a glance ...

Age: 51

Elected office: Arlington County board member since 1998; served as board chair in 2001 and 2005.

Education: Master's degree in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh; bachelor's degree in political science from Bucknell University.

Career stops: Former investigator / analyst for the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, specializing in international economics, trade and defense issues; former director of the Northern Virginia satellite office of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, one of the largest providers of services to people with HIV/AIDS in the country.

Appointments and memberships: Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors; Northern Virginia Transportation Commission; Virginia Housing Development Authority Board of Commissioners; Greater Washington Initiative of the Greater Washington Board of Trade; Washington District Council of the Urban Land Institute Executive Committee; Equality Virginia; Washington Area Bicyclist Association; Ashton Heights Civic Association; Unitarian-Universalist Church of Arlington; Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance; Leadership Greater Washington; and Arlington Committee of 100.

Family: Partner of 24 years, Bob Rosen, a clinical psychologist, author and consultant to corporations on leadership and human resource values.

Awards: Recipient of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' 2007 Elizabeth and David Scull Metropolitan Service Award, which recognizes a local public official who demonstrated outstanding leadership in support of regionalism.

Jay Fisette:

... on the link between land use decisions and transportation:

"I knew nothing about this issue 10 years ago. … Today, I am a believer in the principles of sustainable growth – that include mixing residential, commercial and retail uses; concentrating development in targeted areas while retaining open space elsewhere; and always thinking about the pedestrian. I have seen the damaging effects of unmanaged sprawl and the tangible benefits of smart, managed growth. Many of us grappling with more and more traffic have come to agree with the analogy that, ‘Trying to cure traffic congestion by adding more capacity is like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt.' "

... on the role of local elected officials in shaping a sustainable community:

"As (VML Annual Conference keynote speaker) Tom Hylton told us, it took 50-plus years to create this mess and unravel our cities and towns; it will take decades to correct. You will not be responsible for finishing the job, but are responsible for starting it. There will be tangible successes along the way, but this is a long-term legacy project."

... on energy use and the environment:

"Climate change and global warming are scientifically documented. Whether you personally believe it's as bad as a recent Nobel Peace Prize winner says, it doesn't matter. If only a fraction of the predictions are true, then life will be changing significantly in the coming years and decades. This is not, and should not be, a political or partisan issue. It is a moral issue. It is a responsibility we have to the next generation."