Two public forums, one scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 20, hosted by the Falls Church League of Women Voters and another next Tuesday, Oct. 25, hosted by two prominent F.C. civic groups, have been scheduled for the coming week to examine and pros and cons of the referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot in Falls Church concerning the date of municipal elections in the City.

The referendum asks City voters if they want their local elections for City Council and School Board to be held in May, as has been the tradition, or November, when the voter turnout will most likely be higher. The City Council has flip-flopped on the issue, voting in January 2009 to move the elections to November, only to have it reverse itself (with three new Council members) a year ago, contingent on the outcome of a public referendum.

Tomorrow’s LWV town hall will begin at 7 p.m. at the Falls Church Community Center, featuring Renee Andrews of the Falls Church Electoral Board and Bryan Polk, vice mayor of the Mansassas Park, where the date of local elections was moved from May to November in 2008. Also invited are all the candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot in F.C., including 35th Senate District candidates Dick Saslaw (incumbent Democrat), Robert Sarvis (GOP challenger) and Katherine Ann Pettigrew (Independent Green Party challenger) and unchallenged candidates, incumbent State Del. Jim Scott and Theo Stamos for Commonwealth Attorney.

Next Tuesday, F.C.’s Citizens for a Better City (CBC) and Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) will host jointly a “community conversation” on the referendum at the library of George Mason High School at 7:30 p.m. Organizers note it’s the first time in history the two groups have jointly sponsored such an event, and neither has formally taken a position on the referendum.