counties of the State established
local boards. The Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors
automatically became Chairman of the Health Board in this early
experiment in public health services.[117] The machinery for raising
revenue was made more efficient by redrawing the division of labor
between the commissioner of revenue and the county treasurer.

Most far-reaching in the long run, however, was the enactment in 1920
of state legislation giving counties the option of adopting various
managerial forms of government if they so desired. Fairfax County
exercised this option in 1951 by adopting the County Executive form of
government.[118]

Under this form of county government, the Board of Supervisors
remained the sole legislative authority of the County, but the
executive functions were placed under the supervision of a new
officer, the county executive. The county executive, as well as all
boards and commissions responsible for special services and
administrative functions, were appointed by the Board of Supervisors,
and served either for specified terms or at the pleasure of the Board.
The Supervisors continued to be elected by the County's voters, each
from one of the magisterial districts. This method of election was
adopted deliberately as a means of maintaining a balance of political
representation of the western and southern parts of the County, which
still were rural in their economic and social orientation, and the
north, east and central areas of the County, which had been
intensively developed as part of the suburbs of Washington and
Alexandria.

The involvement of the public in county government was seen in many
forms. Service on county boards and commissions was one. Also, as
newcomers poured into the county seeking homes, the neighborhoods and
communities formed civic organizations or citizens associations to
provide means for group action on problems of common concern. Parallel
to these groups, others, such as Parent-Teachers Associations, formed
to deal with school-related problems which were both inside and
outside the scope of governmental services in the field of education.

These forms of citizen involvement in public affairs--prompted partly
by the sheer size of the new demands for service and partly because
the newcomers to Fairfax County came from areas where wide
participation in local government was taken for granted--had a
profound effect on the County's historic outlook on public aff