The land became the core of Ellanor C. Lawrence Park. The approval of a $28.5 million bond issue by county voters in 1971 allowed the authority to purchase 4,400 acres of land over the next five years, adding 39 parks to the system and increasing its total holdings to 10,200 acres by 1976. James D. Bell was demoted from his position as director of the Park Authority in January 1973 after using park employees to move from the authority-owned house in Great Falls he had been living in. Deputy Director Joseph P. Downs was appointed acting director following Bell's demotion, which also included a more than 30% pay cut from his former $26,972 salary. Downs was permanently appointed as director of the 7,200-acre system in May 1973. The Federal government agreed in 1974 to give 1,262-acres of land that had been declared surplus the previous December to Fairfax County under the Legacy of Parks program. This vast area would become the Huntley Meadows Park when it was formally deeded to the county the following year. By 1986, the authority had 342 parks and 14,360 acres under its control. In 1986, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors sought to exercise greater control over the county's parks. Faced with the potential loss of the Park Authority's charter, the Park Authority Board voted 5–3 in April 1986 to give up its power to appoint its employees and enter into contracts to the county Board of Supervisors. Even with this concession, the Board of Supervisors at their April 7 meeting only voted to extend the Park Authority's charter through May 19, awaiting a decision by Virginia Attorney General Mary Sue Terry as to the legality of the Board's actions. Fairfax County Executive J. Hamilton Lambert was appointed as executive director of the Park Authority in addition to his role as county executive. After 16 years as director of the Fairfax County Park Authority, Joseph P. Downs resigned in 1989 to take a position with the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. William C. Beckner took over as director of the Park Authority. Kirk Kincannon was the most recent director, serving from 2014 to 2021. As of 2003, the Park Authority had at least 22,617 acres (92 km2) of parkland under Park Authority oversight for a resulting 23 acres (93,000 m2) of parkland per 1000 county residents. The Park Authority dedicated its first urban park, the