[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 123 (Friday, July 31, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1196-E1197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF TAWNY HAMMOND

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 31, 2015

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
distinguished career of my constituent Tawny Hammond and to 
congratulate her on her retirement following 26 years of service to 
Fairfax County and our community.
  Ms. Hammond began her career with the county at the Fairfax County 
Park Authority (FCPA) in 1989 and served in a variety of roles 
including management of recreation centers, a large lakefront park and 
a historic farm park. Additionally, she was involved in strategic 
planning and accreditation, and was instrumental in FCPA being awarded 
multiple gold medals by the National Recreation and Park Association. 
During her tenure, she represented Fairfax County Park Authority at 
regional, state and national conferences, providing presentations on 
community building, revenue generation and innovative programming. In 
recognition of her extraordinary service to preserving and enhancing 
the county park system, she received numerous performance and 
achievement awards, most notably the A. Heath Onthank Award in 2002, 
which is Fairfax County's highest honor for its employees.
  Ms. Hammond was named Director of the Fairfax County Animal Shelter 
in 2012. In just three years, she has turned the shelter into a 
national model for the humane treatment of animals and has made Fairfax 
one of the top life-saving communities in the nation. The CEO of the 
Humane Society of the United States proclaimed the shelter to be one of 
the top 1% of municipal shelters in the nation. Under Director 
Hammond's leadership, Fairfax County became the largest jurisdiction in 
the US with a live release rate of animals above 90%. On her watch, 
adoptions of shelter pets have nearly doubled, with 2014 seeing the 
highest number of dogs ever adopted in a single year (more than 1000).
  Each year, approximately 5,000 animals come through the shelter's 
doors. Director Hammond implemented policies and programs so that no 
animals are euthanized for lack of space or other resources and so that 
all adoptable animals find loving permanent homes. She implemented new 
programs including shelter dog play groups and low income spay and 
neuter services, eliminated

[[Page E1197]]

breed adoption restrictions, established community cat rooms, and 
expanded the trap-neuter-retum program, which is now the largest of its 
type in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She grew the volunteer program to 
300 active volunteers and 150 foster families, launched the animal 
shelter Facebook page, which has become the County's most popular 
Facebook page, and started a partnership with the Fairfax County Park 
Authority to offer Scout programs, camps, programs and obedience 
classes in the shelter training room. She did all this while overseeing 
the total reconstruction of the shelter.
  For these accomplishments, she received the 2014 Leadership Award 
from the Metropolitan D.C. Council of Governments, the 2014 Compassion 
Award by the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies, and was recently 
named to the Board of the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies. Upon 
her retirement, she was again awarded the A. Heath Onthank Award--the 
first person to earn this distinction twice.
  Ms. Hammond is also well known for her service to the community 
outside of her job. She lead ``Springfield Days'' for more than 20 
years, helping it grow to one of the County's largest special events, 
and served for ten years as president of the Springfield Civic 
Association where she was credited with making the community group 
accessible to the disabled and successfully tackling tough neighborhood 
issues such as boarding houses and hoarding.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Tawny Hammond 
for a lifetime of service to our community and in congratulating her on 
her retirement. When I was Chairman of the County Board, we often joked 
when retirement announcements like this were made that we should pass 
an ordinance not allowing such talented and dedicated people to leave 
public or community service, and I certainly wish that was the case 
here. I wish Tawny and her family all the best in this next chapter of 
her life.

                          ____________________