On Monday at the White House, Dumfries Mayor Derrick Wood and several other elected officials were invited to the Briefing for Black State Leaders. The briefing was focused on the President Biden-Vice President Harris’ administration’s investments in the African American community. Senior White House Leadership met with the respective organization’s case studies, and engagement opportunities to expand on infrastructure projects.

“I went to the White House for both the Black State Leaders Briefing from the entire executive office where,” Wood said in a statement to the PW Perspective, “I was still in a position to advocate for more resources, just as I did recently when the administration awarded Dumfries a million-dollar grant for a Brownfield project.”

Among the projects was the May 21 announcement the town of Dumfries receiving a Brownfield Grant for $1 million dollars to clean up the Graham Park Road Site and Campbell Salvage Yard.

After the briefing, Wood was among several invited to the White House celebration of Juneteenth. He talked about the importance of being at the event.

“This event highlighted our nation’s journey towards equality and inclusion, and it was a privilege to be part of such a significant cultural celebration.”

The briefing came after Wood earlier had to attend to an emergency power outage near the Prince William Estates. He addressed reports of how the outage was handled.

“During the outage, I was on-site between 7am and 8am, personally walking through the affected areas to assess the situation and ensuring that our residents were safe. Our dedicated staff and police department were also present, actively working to manage the roadblock and provide assistance wherever needed. We collaborated closely with the power company, who responded swiftly and worked diligently to restore services as quickly as possible.”

He continued. “I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the departments and agencies involved in this effort. Their commitment and quick action were crucial in addressing the situation and ensuring our community’s safety and well-being.”

In his statement, he also addressed concerns from some constituents. “While we responded promptly, we acknowledge there is always room for improvement. We are committed to reviewing our response to this incident and identifying ways to enhance our protocols for future emergencies.”

“Ensuring the safety and well-being of Dumfries’ residents is our top priority, and we will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to improve our response and communication in future incidents.”