Deliberation Falls Church City

Welcome

Deliberation Falls Church City is a community deliberations program and an occasional online community news blog.  Our next deliberation in Fall 2008 is being planned now, with public input.

Deliberations in 2007 asked "What are we becoming?" in the spring and, in the fall, we considered the future of the City Center.  Starting in late February 2008 and continuing through municipal election day on May 6, the DFCCVA news blog covered the race for three City Council and three School Board seats. 

Please scroll down for more on our latest news and activities.  Comments are welcome and will be posted immediately.  News and announcements found on this site are often repeated to our e-list of 260 city residents.  To send us an email or to join the e-list, click here. 

Welcome.

Video highlights & survey results for fall deliberations

Ninety-seven people who live or work in Falls Church City deliberated on October 25 and 27 about the future of the City Center. They met in small groups; they engaged a panel of city leaders; and, they proposed actions that individuals, community groups and government should take with respect to information sharing, community and citizen engagement, and city policies.  In a post-event survey, two-thirds of 73 respondents called for better information via the City website on City Center developments. 

There is interest in a possible spring deliberation on the topic, What Does It Mean For Falls Church to Be An Independent City?

Video clips

Click on the hyperlinks below to view YouTube clips that highlight themes struck at the deliberations.  The YouTube clip will open and play in your web browser.

Questions, suggestions & conversation - Various deliberators (8 minutes, 29 seconds)

How we got here - Peter Holran (3:31)

What it should be and how to finance it - Steve Rogers (4:56) and Gary LaPorta (3:38)

VPIS' perspective - Keith Thurston (4:19)

Architects' perspectives - Paul Barkley (4:09) and Paul Emmons (5:18)

Ways forward - Pete Behr (4:33) and Wyatt Shields (6:25)

Survey ranks deliberators' action ideas

Deliberators suggested 32 actions that individuals, community organizations or government should take regarding the future of the City Center.  In a subsequent online survey, 73 respondents rated those suggestions.  Two of the highest rated suggestions were:

·    Keep City website on City Center up to date (84% rated this Most Important)
·    Create a website that consolidates all City Center information to give citizens current information in one place (78% rated this Most Important)

A suggestion for an "e-development newsletter" got significantly less support (48% ranked this Most Important).  The survey results resonate in the YouTube clip remarks by one deliberator that citizens should not need to attend public meetings in order to be up to speed on City Center developments.

As found by a survey after deliberations last spring, large majorities of respondents want more community organizations and individuals to engage in City affairs through voting, civic action, and other means. 

The highest-rated policy suggestion on the City Center was that sidewalks be wider than 14 feet, which 60% of respondents rated Most Important.

The complete results of the survey can be accessed in PDF form by clicking here.  The discussion guide, What is the Future for the City Center? can be accessed in PDF form by clicking here.

What deliberation can do and has done in Falls Church City

Deliberation Falls Church City offers a chance to be heard, and a reason to listen.  Over 250 people have deliberated, responded to surveys, or otherwise gotten more involved in community life through deliberation this year.

Deliberation is a tool for use in community education and, if widely desired, community problem-solving.  Deliberators sometimes change their minds based on what they hear; for a few, deliberating is a catalyst to action.  More often, deliberators gain a better understanding of differing' points of view; they come to value deliberation as a safe public space in which to speak and learn about crucial public issues.

The two sets of deliberations undertaken in 2007 in Falls Church City were educational, not problem-solving.  This was intended.  Educational deliberations aim to raise civic engagement, a goal which deliberators have endorsed.  Problem-solving deliberations are used in communities where the political process is deadlocked or a failure; deliberators have not suggested that is the case in Falls Church City.

Deliberation Falls Church City is an experimental effort to determine whether and how deliberation can play a useful role in a functioning body politic.

Some of the most appreciative deliberators have been new residents of the City.  We hope to keep extending the reach of the deliberations and diversify participation more.  Our primary means to do so is via sponsoring community organizations, and via the DFCCVA website and our email list. 

You can help. 

• Send a friend a link to this post with the suggestion they join our e-mail list by visiting www.DFCCVA.org  and entering their email address into the "Get email updates" box.

• Ask us to speak about deliberation to your neighborhood association or community organization.  Just write us at Steering@DFCCVA.org.

Spring deliberations

After the fall deliberations a group of volunteers met and discussed a possible topic for a spring deliberation: What does it mean for Falls Church to be an independent city? This topic could be an issue for deliberation prior to the upcoming City Council elections.

Thank you for taking an interest in deliberation in Falls Church City.

Rate Deliberators' Action Ideas on the Future of the City Center

Ninety-seven people who live, work or own a business in Falls Church City turned out on October 25 and 27 to deliberate on the future of the City Center. They proposed ideas for actions that individuals, community groups and government should take with respect to information sharing, community and citizen engagement, and city policies.  We invite you now to rate these ideas in an online survey.  The survey results will be included in a public report on the October deliberations. It will be issued before Thanksgiving.

Anyone who lives, works, or owns a business in the city is invited to take the survey.   Click here to take the survey now.  The survey will open in your computer's web browser.  The survey should take ten minutes or less to complete.

Looking ahead, the survey invites you also to rate topic ideas for Spring Deliberations 2008.  The topic ideas, like the action ideas, are from participants in the October deliberations. The last pages of the survey request information about you.

The survey period ends on Friday November 9 at 12:00 a.m. 

In a survey after a deliberation last spring 130 respondents called for greater civic engagement on the matter of "The City of Falls Church - What Are We Becoming?"  They emphasized that more citizens should vote and join City boards and commissions and civic groups, and that the City should reach out in specific new ways to better inform the community.  As School Board Chair Craig Cheney promised, the Falls Church City Public Schools subsequently posted the schools' strategic plan prominently on its redesigned website.  A summary report on last spring’s follow-up survey is available by clicking here.

Deliberation offers a chance to be heard, and a reason to listen. Thank you for taking an interest in deliberation in Falls Church City.

City Invited to Vote on What To Do on the Topic, “Falls Church City – What Are We Becoming?”

One hundred twenty-five Falls Church City residents braved an icy parking lot and frigid temperatures on Saturday, March 17 to deliberate together on the future of the city.  In response to their proposals for actions that individuals, groups and government need to take, the event’s organizers are announcing a survey, online and by mail, to help prioritize those proposals.

“People asked me afterward ‘Now what’s going to happen?’  My answer is three things,” said Phil Duncan, a member of the Deliberation Falls Church City Steering Committee and Citizens for a Better City.  “First, we are going to use a survey to prioritize people’s ideas on what ought to be done.  Second, the steering committee will issue a report on what the survey finds, and present it to the City Council and other official bodies.  And third, and most important, the steering committee will follow up later in the year on what is and isn’t done.  We intend to keep trying, whether through another event, survey, report, or other steps, to engage more people, more effectively, in working together to solve common challenges -- acting individually, through community organizations and through decisions made by the city government.”

During the course of the March 17th Deliberation Day event at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, attendees moved through four segments of small and large group discussions, providing people of varying interests and backgrounds an equal chance to have their questions answered and their opinions registered. 

Mayor Robin Gardner, School Board Chair Craig Cheney, Planning Commission Chair Ruth Rodgers and Economic Development Authority Chair Ed Saltzberg responded to questions posed by participants in order to provide context for discussions about the trade-offs that are inherent in public decision-making.  The panel was moderated by former Washington Post editor and Falls Church City resident Pete Behr.  Questions included:

• What is being done about the loss of affordable housing?
• Will we have a fully integrated traffic and parking plan?How can we improve communication between citizens and government?
• How does the city resolve tensions between competing priorities?
• What difference is this meeting going to make in the way the city does things?

After one hour of questioning city officials, the attendees then proposed actions to be taken by individuals, by community organizations and by the government.  Among the actions suggested were:

• Individuals should take an active role in city decision-making; they should vote, volunteer and shop in the city, and get younger people involved in civic affairs.
• Organizations should reach out to new buildings’ residents; more neighborhoods should form associations.
• Government should do better in getting information to citizens through a variety of means and activities, both new (visits to groups and neighborhoods) and old (welcoming activities); and, city officials should take responsibility for creating a better-informed community that can provide input to city decisions.

These and other suggestions are the topic of the upcoming survey, which will be online on Thursday March 22 via a link at www.DFCCVA.org.  Any resident may receive the survey by mail by calling 703-927-0531.

Register now for Deliberation Day - Saturday March 17

Deliberation Falls Church City is working to revive and update the 18th century New England town meeting.  Why?  So that more people can have a chance to be heard, and a reason to listen.  Efforts like ours are popping up across the nation, as part of a movement to foster deliberative democracy.

The first Deliberation Day is Saturday March 17, 2007 at Mary Ellen Henderson M.S., from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 pm.  Participation is free to all city residents of high school age and above, but seating is limited. To attend, please register by completing this form.  Upon registering you will receive a discussion guide on the topic, “Falls Church City: What Are We Becoming?”  Or just click here to download a PDF copy of the guide now .

DFCCVA is led by a steering committee of Falls Church City community and civic organizations, which includes Citizens for A Better City, the Falls Church League of Women Voters and the Village Society.  All other community organizations are invited to join a table at the event to distribute hand-outs, sign up members and advertise activities.  Click here to send an e-mail reserving a space for your organization now.  We want to help you increase civic engagement.

How will Deliberation Day work, and what can it do?  Click below to see the continuation of this post.

Join the conversation, start the action

Deliberation Falls Church City, or DFCCVA, is an online community forum, and an offline one that meets publicly twice a year.  It aims to build civic participation by giving people young and old a chance to be heard, and a reason to listen.  Supporting organizations include the American Association of University Women, Citizens for a Better City, the League of Women Voters and the Village Preservation and Improvement Society.  George Mason High School students will serve as moderators of DFCCVA's small group discussions.

DFCCVA's first meeting will be on Saturday March 17, 2007 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm, at a location in Falls Church City.  To register, click here.  For a press release, click here.  You can vote on the topic we should discuss, or add your two cents on what it should be, right here on this site.  To learn more about DFCCVA or to volunteer to help, please read the continuation of this post.  Thanks for paying a visit.

Deliberation Falls Church City, or DFCCVA, is an online community forum, and an offline one that meets publicly twice a year.  It aims to build civic participation by giving people young and old a chance to be heard, and a reason to listen.  Supporting organizations include the American Association of University Women, Citizens for a Better City, the League of Women Voters and the Village Preservation and Improvement Society.  George Mason High School students will serve as moderators of DFCCVA's small group discussions.

DFCCVA's first meeting will be on Saturday March 17, 2007 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm, at a location in Falls Church City.  To register, click here.  For a press release, click here.  You can vote on the topic we should discuss, or add your two cents on what it should be, right here on this site.  To learn more about DFCCVA or to volunteer to help, please read the continuation of this post.  Thanks for paying a visit.