Culmore activist Mark Tonkovic honored as a Community Champion

Mason Supervisor Penny Gross selected Mark Tonkovic as the 2023 Mason District Community Champion.

Tonkovic was honored at an award ceremony hosted by Volunteer Fairfax last week along with the nine other community champions selected by the other Fairfax County supervisors.

“Mark grew up in his Culmore/Bailey’s Crossroads community and moved back to his childhood home as his parents aged,” Gross said. “He is a natural steward of his community and is known affectionately as the ‘mayor.’ Mark keeps a watchful eye on his neighbors, assisting with everything from computer glitches to solving parking problems.”

When overflow parking on neighborhood streets caused problems for his elderly neighbors, Tonkovic pushed for an expansion of the existing Culmore Residential Permit Parking District, an effort that took several years. On May 9, the Board of Supervisors voted to add Wilkins Drive between Vista Drive and Knollwood Drive to that parking district.

“When aggressive driving and stop sign violations became a daily occurrence in his neighborhood,” Gross noted, “Mark collaborated with local police enforcement to stem it, improving pedestrian safety, especially for youths walking to school.”

He is now collecting signatures for a new project to improve safety by getting additional streetlights installed.

Gross called Tonkovic “an example of a ‘hyper-local’ community champion who stayed in the area where he grew up and continues to be a dedicated volunteer and steward in and for his community.”