Cook: 'When government tries to do everything, it does nothing well'

Supervisor John Cook may be Fairfax County's newest local official, but he's no newcomer to the area. Cook's involvement in the Burke community goes back years.

Like many local residents, Braddock District Supervisor John Cook was drawn to the area by the Kings Park neighborhood's safety and convenience, along with its proximity to the district. The New York-born lawyer first became involved in local politics in 2005, when an officer of the Kings Park Community Association asked him to be its legal advisor. As he was sufficiently established in his legal career, he had the flexibility to do more in the community, and became a PTA officer and youth softball coach as well. 

Cook credits this background to his electoral victory over School Board member Ilryong Moon in March 2009.

 "Community involvement was the defining issue in my election," Cook said. "That is the background people want in government officials, at least at the local level."

Cook's focus on communities extends to his governing philosophy. He says his first challenge as supervisor is "to help neighborhoods and communities become stronger themselves."

"We need involvement," Cook said. "I try to show people where opportunities are there."

He said that government in Fairfax County needs to rebalance.

"People in their own neighborhood figure it out a lot better," Cook said in regard to issues such as pedestrian safety around Burke Center Parkway. "[Then], I can galvanize community ideas and bring them to the county and to VDOT." 

Cook does think that government has an important role to play in communities, but that it needs to be limited to certain core functions. 

"When government tries to do everything, it does nothing well," Cook said. One example of this can be seen in his support for Governor McDonnell's plan to privatize Virginia's state-owned liquor stores.   

"The private sector ought to do it," he said. Cook said that McDonnell's plan would create a good system, making up for lost liquor revenue while giving the state an important infusion of dollars for transportation.

Cook sees transportation as a core function of government and one of the most pressing issues facing the region.  "It's an economic and quality of life issue," he said. "Nothing positive happens when someone is sitting in clogged traffic."

Cook favors increasing High Occupancy Travel lanes. He opposes increased taxes for transportation efforts though, fearing that any attempt to pull money out of the private sector will hurt the economic recovery. 

"We need to remain cognizant that we are spending people's money," Cook said.

He was particularly unhappy with the Board's handling of the FCPS Board's irregular request for an extra $1.3 million to fund the Priority Schools Initiative. 

"$1 million is such a small amount in a budget of $3.3 billion," Cook said. "It was given an inordinate amount of attention. We spent more time talking about that $1 million than the rest of the budget." 

He worries that the last minute request will set a bad precedent for future late requests of additional budget items. "My objection was that everything was wrong with the process," he said.

A life-long Republican, Cook shies away from labels and comparisons. He feels that in well-educated Fairfax County, people vote for the candidate, not the party. Though he notes that he has always admired Ronald Reagan, Cook wants to be seen as his own man. 

"I believe historically the essence of our country is one of individuals having the opportunity to set their own dreams and their own direction," Cook said. "In government, in business, everybody's got to be their own person."