Parson Decides Not to Run, CBC Convention Saturday

Parson's decision threw open a seat that leaders of the Falls Church Citizens for a Better City (CBC), a non-partisan civic organization, moved swiftly to fill prior to its formal nominating convention this Saturday. David Chavern has emerged to seek the open slot.

Incumbents Robin Gardner and Lindy Hockenberry, endorsed by the CBC the last time around, will be seeking re-election to second terms and they expected Parson to join them on another CBC slate. In fact, last November, Parson indicated he would do just that.

But Parson told the News-Press Monday that prayerful consideration led to a change in his decision.

Chavern, who had originally decided to run for the School Board, will now seek to join Gardner and Hockenberry to form a CBC slate.

But Saturday's CBC convention is open to any citizen of the City of Falls Church who is a registered voter, and additional nominations for both the City Council and School Board could come from the floor. All who sign in are eligible to cast votes for a CBC endorsement.

The formal deadline for candidates to file with the City Board of Elections for the May 4 election is March 4. Anyone who collects 125 legitimate signatures from Falls Church registered voters can qualify for the ballot, and it is expected there will be more than just CBC-endorsed candidates entering the race. None have yet announced, however.

Saturday's CBC gathering will be held in the Mustang Cafe at the George Mason Middle and High School campus. Participants are urged to arrive early to sign in, with hopes the meeting can begin as close to 1:30 p.m. as possible.

School Board and Council candidates will be able to have nominators speak on their behalf, and speak briefly themselves. Time for questions from the audience will be allowed prior to the voting.

The CBC held three informal meetings with prospective candidates last weekend, including one at the Community Center on Sunday when News-Press owner-editor Nicholas F. Benton participated as a prospective Council candidate.

He subsequently withdrew, however, saying he'd only considered running because he was concerned the seat be filled by someone who would continue the current direction of the Council toward approving creative and lucrative mixed use development projects. He said he was convinced Chavern would continue that direction, so he withdrew.

Statements of all three Council candidates and one of the three seeking the CBC nod this Saturday appear on Page 16 of this edition.