Sharon Bulova, first elected in 1987 as Braddock District Supervisor, served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 32 years. She was elected Chairman in 2009 and served three terms until her retirement in 2019.

Sharon made transportation, among other things, a priority during her years in office. As a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, she was a founder of the VRE (Virginia Railway Express), serving five terms as chairman of the VRE Operations Board, beginning with its creation in 1989.

As Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Sharon worked with her regional partners and the Federal Department of Transportation to ensure the extension of the Metrorail Silver Line through Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, connecting the WMATA system to Dulles Airport. During her time as Chairman, she oversaw the
re-planning of Tysons into an exciting mixed-use urban center served by Metrorail.

For 20 of her 32 years in office, Sharon served as chair of the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee. She successfully steered the Board through several recessions and downturns, maintaining Fairfax County’s coveted triple AAA bond rating and highly rated school system. One of her proudest initiatives was the creation of Faith Communities in Action, a partnership between the County and faith communities representing the many diverse houses of worship within the county in order to better serve the human services needs of the community.

In 2015, following several tragic deaths involving law enforcement, Sharon convened an Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission to engage the community in an open and transparent process to recommend changes to help Fairfax County achieve its goal of ensuring a culture of public trust and making sure county polices provide for the fair and timely resolution of police-involved incidents. Diversion First was one outcome of this effort and a building was named in Sharon’s honor where individuals experiencing a mental health crises can receive care instead of incarceration.

During her years in office Sharon has been a proponent of preserving history. Her A Look Back at Braddock Committee authored the book Braddock’s True Gold, a collection of oral histories describing life at the turn of the century in the middle part of the county. One of the stories involved Oak Hill, a 1790 era former manor house in Annandale, part of the larger Ravensworth Plantation, ancestral home of the Fitzhugh family, destroyed in a mysterious fire in 1926. Through Sharon’s efforts the house, including its original landscaping, was preserved through the first-time use of an historic easement.

In retirement, Sharon serves on the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority Board and the Workhouse Arts Foundation Board of Trustees.