Read First Fairfax Mayor To Wear Pearls During Swearing-In Ceremony

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Fairfax City's new mayor, Catherine Read, joked Tuesday night that she was the first person elected to that office to wear pearls instead of a tie to their inauguration.

"The other thing I would point out is that Steve Sombres, the former mayor, showed up without a tie today," Read told Patch, following the swearing-in ceremony at City Hall. "I think that is a harbinger of a new era in many ways, and we are entering the modern era of local government here in the City of Fairfax, and it's going to be good."

Read and new Councilmembers Billy M. Bates, Kate G. Doyle Feingold, Jeffrey C. Greenfield, So P. Lim, D. Thomas Ross, and Jon R. Stehle Jr. took the oath of office in front of family members and well-wishers in council chambers on Tuesday.

"It is the honor of my lifetime to be your mayor," Read said, after she was sworn in. "It is a privilege to serve with the councilmembers that have been elected. It is our goal to be the best government we possibly can."

In addition to electing the first woman as mayor in the city's 61-year history, voters for the first time cast ballots for municipal candidates in a November election. Previously, city elections took place in May.

But that all changed in 2021, when the Virginia General Assembly passed a law moving all municipal races to the November ballot.

"There were thousands of people who voted for the mayor, city council, and city school board for the first time," Read said. "Voter engagement, civic engagement, people understanding how their government works and why it matters, this is a win."

Out the 17,660 registered voters, 9,615 votes were cast in the mayor's race on Nov. 8, 2022, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections. That was a sizable increase from the votes cast for mayor in the five previous city elections: 3,342 (2020), 2,770 (2018), 3,906 (2017), 2,934 (2016), and 2,689 (2014).

All of those elections took place in May, with the exception of the special election in February 2017 to fill the empty seat following the resignation of Mayor R. Scott Silverthorne.

"Whatever else people might say about November elections, voter participation in their own democracy and their own self government, this is what we have to be focused on, greater numbers of people voting, not fewer numbers of people voting," Read said.

In a separate ceremony on Monday night, Carolyn S. Pitches, Stacy R. Hall, Sarah M. Kelsey, Amit S. Hickman, and Rachel M. McQuillen were sworn in as the city's new school board.