Deliberation Falls Church City

Council candidates on YouTube and election forums on Tues 4/22 & Wed 4/23

At the DFCCVA channel on YouTube, you can view video clips from the LWV/VPIS City Council candidates' forum on 4/16/08.  Just click on the sidebar links to the left to view the clip of your choice.  The candidates' self-introductory clips are two minutes each; the twelve Q&A clips include remarks from six candidates and run from 5 to 7 minutes each. 

The two-hour LWV/VPIS forum will be rebroadcast on local cable station FCCTV  -- Cox Ch. 12, RCN Ch. 2, and Verizon Ch. 35.  Rebroadcasts are presently scheduled for Tuesday April 22nd at 11:30am; Wed/23rd/8:00pm; Sun/27th/10:30am; and, Tues/29th/7:30pm.  Click here for the latest FCCTV program schedule.

Two upcoming events:

First, the City Council candidates will speak again in a public forum sponsored by the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday 4/22 at 7:30 pm at the Falls Church Community Center.

Second, the Economic Development Authority will host a forum on questions surrounding the charter referendum   

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 7 - 9 p.m.

WHERE:  Falls Church Arts Room (Community Center, upper level).

WHO:  The panel is expected to include:

    * Stewart Schwartz Executive Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth
    * Joe Svatos, Senior Vice President, The Akridge Company
    * Lisa Benjamin, Senior Managing Director, Newmark Knight Frank
    * James Snyder, Senior Planner (Retired), Arlington County, VA
    * Grant Ehat, Principal, JBG Rosenfeld Retail
    * Jonathan Meyers, Vice President, Development and Acquisitions, Washington Property Co.
    * Abigail Byers Ferretti, Bay Area Economics

Four of six City Council candidates oppose charter change at LWV/VPIS forum

By Peter Behr

Four of the six Falls Church City Council candidates appearing at a candidates’ forum on April 16 said they opposed a referendum on the May 6 city election ballot that would limit the amount of residential units in major new commercial developments.

“Usually charter changes are to allow the city to have more leverage, to be able to do more things, not to restrict a community. And that’s what this is doing,” said Mayor Robin Gardner, arguing against the referendum. The proposal, put forward by opponents of the City Center South project, would amend the City charter to require that mixed-use developments have at least 60 percent commercial space. “It’s not simply restricting City Council, it’s restricting the community from being able to evaluate the best projects for this community,” she said. Gardner heads a three-member slate endorsed by Citizens for a Better City.

Independent candidate Nader Baroukh, a referendum promoter, took the opposite side. One of the referendum’s early sponsors, he said, “I think the referendum is an extremely difficult issue. I think that our city must expand its tax base in order to maintain its independence and exceptional schools.” But the city’s current development strategy is too vague and weak, he continued. “It doesn’t drive the market in any way. It has led to artificial inflation in land values because owners know that the majority of Council will approve almost any project no matter how disproportionately residential it is.”

FCLWV/VPIS City Council Candidates' Forum 4/16

The League of Women Voters of Falls Church and the Village Preservation and Improvement Society will co-sponsor a City Council Candidates' Forum to be held on Wednesday, April 16th in the City Council Chambers.  The event begins at 7:30 p.m., and all citizens are encouraged to attend.

The seven candidates vying for three positions on the City Council are expected to participate in the April 16th forum.  Questions will come from the audience and from the sponsoring organizations.

The Candidates' Forum will be carried live on local cable station FCC-TV  -- Cox Ch. 12, RCN Ch. 2, and Verizon Ch. 35.  The station plans to rebroadcast the forum during the weeks prior to the election.

Information about all candidates on the ballot in both the City Council and School Board elections will be in the LWV Voter's Guide scheduled for publication in the May 1, 2008 issue of the  Falls Church News Press.

The DFCCVA News Blog will report on the City Council Candidates' Forum.