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Stone soup and shady streets
TOM PETERSON · COUNCILMEMBER, RUNNING FOR MAYOR
The climate strategist on bike routes, shade trees and a city that comes together one small thing at a time.
The County Edit was invited to Tom Peterson’s campaign kick-off, and it turned out to
be exactly the kind of afternoon that reminds you why local is so great. Picture the
Mobius Records parking lot on Main Street, turned for one afternoon into a block
party: a bouncy house, neighbors turning up for one of their own, hot dogs from Tom’s
next-door neighbor, who happens to be a caterer, and dessert from Woody’s Ice Cream,
scooping in Fairfax City since 1998.
A week later we sat down with Tom under the trees to talk about what he loves most
about the city: its bike routes, parks and walkable streets, and a neighborhood that
comes together the way the villagers do in Stone Soup, each bringing one small thing to
the pot. He also makes the case that protecting the city’s trees is a climate strategy
hiding in plain sight.
Great neighbors, yes — but also streets you can walk, green
spaces to gather in and shops worth walking to.
ABOUT
Tom has lived in Fairfax City since 2002 and raised his children here. He sits on the City
Council and has chaired its Environmental Sustainability Committee. He founded the
Center for Climate Strategies and led it for more than twenty years, and has taught
graduate courses at Johns Hopkins and George Mason. He holds a B.S. in Biology from
William & Mary, an M.S. in Environmental Management from Duke and an M.B.A.
from UT Austin.