Is Fairfax County Being "Piggy" Over FBI HQ Bid?

In asking the FBI to locate its new headquarters to warehouse space near the Franconia-Springfield Metro station, is Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors competing for jobs, or are they being "piggy"? County Chairman Sharon Bulova (D) and Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein disagree on the answer.

In January, the board  asking the FBI to consider federal office space owned by the federal General Services Administration in Springfield in its search for a new headquarters. Other localities in the metropolitan area are competing to host the FBI, including Prince George's County in Maryland.

In an article published on January 28, Post columnist Steven Pearlstein called Fairfax County's bid for the headquarters "piggy," and said the county's interests would be better served by allowing the entire region's economy to develop by allowing Prince George's to win the headquarters:

There’s little doubt that even without the FBI, the private markets will find a productive, tax-generating use for the land in Springfield. By contrast, the FBI site would serve as a much-needed catalyst in Prince George’s County, where land near the Metro and the Beltway has sat undeveloped for years.

The Washington Business Journal reported last month that one reason the warehouse space has sat unoccupied for so long is that . The FBI would be an ideal neighbor for the CIA, the Journal reported, because both agencies are so security-conscious.

On Tuesday, Bulova wrote a letter to the Post denying that the county is being "piggy." Supervisors have to a duty, Bulova writes, to actively find a tenant for vacant space so close to the Metro system.