Sharon Bulova

Former Chair, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

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 a priority during her years in office. She was a founder of the VRE (Virginia Railway Express), serving on the Operations Board beginning with its creation in 1989. As Chairman of the Fairfax County Board, Sharon worked with her regional partners and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to connect the WMATA Metrorail system to Dulles Airport. During this time she oversaw the re-planning of Tysons from a sea of parking lots 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’s Budget Committee, successfully steering the county through several recessions and downturns, while maintaining Fairfax County’s coveted triple AAA bond rating and highly rated school system. Some of Sharon’s proudest achievements include: the creation of Faith Communities in Action, a partnership between the county and faith communities to better serve the human services needs of the community; implementation of recommendations from the Ad-Hoc Police Practices Review Commission to ensure a culture of fairness and public trust in the resolution of police-involved incidents; and the creation of Diversion First, which provides individuals experiencing a mental health crises care instead of incarceration. In 2022 a building in Merrifield, the Community Health Center, was named in her honor.

Throughout her career, Sharon was a proponent of preserving history. Her A Look Back at Braddock Committee authored the book and website Braddock’s True Gold, a collection of oral histories describing life at the turn of the center in the middle part of the county. One of the stories involved Oak Hill, a 1790 era former manor housed in Annandale, ancestral home of the Fitzhugh family. Through Sharon’s efforts, the house, including its original landscaping, was preserved through the first-time use of a an historic easement.

In retirement, Sharon (a lifetime doodler and caricature artist) serves on the Workhouse Arts Foundation Board of Directors.