Going into the last 10 days before the May 4 election, this is turning into one of the most heated City Council elections in Falls Church history. Six candidates are vying for three seats on the seven-member Council, including two incumbents seeking re-election.
There is little wonder the race is becoming so highly-charged. There is a lot at stake. But it's not about personal agendas. There's not a lot of personal gain involved in being a Council member in the City of Falls Church. It doesn't pay and it has never proven a stepping stone to higher office. However, ideological differences do play a role.
On the one hand, the two incumbents and a third candidate endorsed by the Citizens for a Better City are acutely attuned to the arduous and difficult process of introducing constructive change to Falls Church that will result in a substantial increase in tax revenues to the City coffers, maintaining vital services and the excellent school system while relieving pressure on residential real estate taxpayers.
We've witnessed the long hours spent by the two incumbents – Robin Gardner and Lindy Hockenberry -- wrestling with tough issues and making tough, solid and responsible decisions. Their colleague on the CBC-endorsed slate, David Chavern, has learned, appreciates and desires to stay the course of the policy direction this Council has set.
Three challengers to this policy course, Greg Brown, Joseph Bodmer and Lou Mauro, come to this election lacking the same level of immersion in the process over the last four years. They tend to resort more to the kinds of concerns raised by citizens who are not fully attuned to the process. They question the ratios of residential to commercial development in the mixed-use projects approved in the downtown areas. They question the recently-completed re-assessment of all City commercial and residential properties.
Although they are not identical in their views, they seem to share a perhaps ideological-driven tendency to distrust government – i.e. the existing Council – by assuming that there is fat in the budget, that taxes should be lower and that there are sweetheart deals with greedy developers and other special interests at the expense of the public. With real estate assessments way up in Falls Church this spring, there is a natural susceptibility of some citizens to share this mistrust.
But to the extent the issue is one of trust, this newspaper can assert based on a first hand witness of tireless hours of meetings, that the existing Council and the incumbents seeking re-election are worthy of the public's trust for the hours of thankless effort and tough decision-making they've put in acting on behalf of the City's interests. Those who stand apart from this process and resort to exploiting doubts can hardly be considered worthy of a similar level of trust.