Last week’s municipal election in the City of
In the form of a blatantly anti-development referendum,
This constitutes an enormous vote of confidence by the City’s residents for the current course. It has, after all, kept the City solvent, in full support of its schools, with an actual drop in average residential real estate tax bill, even through one of the roughest economic periods in its almost 60-year history. While the City’s small size may disadvantage it in some ways, it has also given it a unique ability to take bold and innovative moves to insure its long-term survival. Not only the City government and professional staff, but its feisty Chamber of Commerce also deserves tons of credit for all this.
With the $317-million CityCenter project approved, with progress on two mixed use projects North Washington St., and with a new office building under construction and Hilton Hotel pending on West Broad, the best is still yet to come. This goes for not only how these developments will turn Falls Church into a vibrant and energetic place, achieving the “critical mass” to make it a desired destination for tons of outside dollars to be spent and invested, but they will also continue to keep taxes low and quality of life high for Falls Church residents.
A second pivotal achievement of last week’s election was the widely-noted election to the City Council of the first openly-gay Afro-American in the history of
It is not lost on us that Lawrence Webb’s historic election came within four days of the passing of Mildred Loving, a courageous Afro-American woman who also made Virginia history 41 years ago when she sued in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Virginia’s laws against interracial marriage. Ms. Loving was an ardent supporter of civil rights causes, including of gay rights, until her death.
We applaud Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner’s comments Monday night about what Webb’s election means for embracing and celebrating diversity in
