They had signed up to make public comments at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ final meeting of 2025, and about five hours behind schedule, they finally got the opportunity.

The public comment period provided at select board meetings typically is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., but because it is the last item on the agenda, it can start late.

The Dec. 9 meeting, however, ran exceptionally long for a host of reasons, including a lengthy hearing on rule changes for electrical substations. So, that day, it was close to 9:30 p.m. when the public comment period began.

“You guys have stamina, I’ve got to hand it to you,” Dián Wilson told supervisors.

Wilson was one of among six speakers who had signed up in advance. Three had already given up, while a fourth had gone home to testify by phone.

That left Wilson and Mandy Nicksolat.

Wilson asked supervisors to intervene at a local rehabilitation center, where, she said, a new artificial intelligence-based vendor portal has proven to be “unsustainable, disruptive and nonfunctioning.”

“I urge the Board to use its influence” to help those who were waiting to get paid, Wilson said.

Nicksolat came to speak about what she perceives as toothlessness in the county’s ability to enforce rogue towing.

After having her vehicle towed despite being legally parked, Nicksolat tried to bring her concerns to the county government.

“I filled out the application for a complaint, I submitted it and after that went back and forth and back and forth — I waited and I waited,” she said.

“The answer I got from the consumer-affairs office is ‘our hands are tied,'” she told supervisors. “How is that even possible? It’s really embarrassing.”

The third speaker, Mark Welch, called in to suggest ways the county could ease its budget woes by seeking changes in how Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) budgets for staff positions, anticipating future growth that does not materialize.

That funding is then transferred to other budget areas without public oversight, Welch contended.

“I don’t mind paying my share of taxes for classroom educators because of increased enrollment, but I certainly resent paying taxes that FCPS uses for some unexplained or unjustified purpose,” he said.

“I suspect most of your constituents feel the same way,” Welch told supervisors.

Board Chair Jeff McKay had noted at the meeting’s start at 9:30 a.m. that a lengthier-than-usual agenda awaited and that the public-comment period might be delayed.

Twelve hours later, he was proven right.

“If you had to leave early, please reach out to the clerk to be rescheduled,” McKay said to any prospective speakers who were perhaps tuning in at home instead.

Most governing bodies set aside time at certain meetings for public comment on non-agenda items. In the local area, the Board of Supervisors seems in the minority by scheduling it at the end of meetings.

Other bodies, such as the Fairfax County School Board and Arlington County Board, hold their public comment periods at or closer to the start of meetings.