WHEREAS, Mary Hughes Hynes has served on the Arlington County Board since 2008 and has served as its chair twice; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes's experiences with Arlington Public Schools led to her engagement in efforts to improve the community's schools; in 1994, she became the first elected school board member in nearly 40 years; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes served three times as chair of the Arlington School Board during her 12-year tenure there; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes has been active in civic life in Arlington for more than 30 years and has raised five children in the county, all of whom attended Arlington Public Schools; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes was instrumental in strengthening resident and business involvement in Arlington's emergency preparedness activities through the creation of the Emergency Preparedness Advisory Commission; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes has chaired the Governance Committee of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Metro Board of Directors and served as a member of the Executive and Legislative Committees of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes serves on the Executive Board of the Virginia Municipal League, and last year was appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to serve on the Virginia Board of Workforce Development; and WHEREAS, in 2013, Mary Hynes received the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Elizabeth and David Scull Award for Regional Leadership for her work as chair of COG's Region Forward Coalition; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes has effectively led Arlington's efforts to strengthen its government by enhancing civic participation, improving transparency and accountability, and increasing investment in Arlington's public physical infrastructure; and WHEREAS, Mary Hynes has announced she will retire from the Arlington County Board when she completes her second term at the end of 2015; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Mary Hughes Hynes for her many years of service to Arlington County and on the occasion of her retirement from the Arlington County Board; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Mary Hughes Hynes as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for her many contributions to Arlington County. |