By: David Tarter

I am from around here, born and raised in Alexandria. Despite being local, the City of Falls Church was a bit of a mystery to me. I always assumed Falls Church High School was in Falls Church and wondered why at college kids from George Mason High School seemed so proud of their school. It was decades before I understood that there was a City of Falls Church distinct from the greater Falls Church area.

However, once I officially discovered the City of Falls Church 20 plus years ago when we moved here, I was immediately struck by the small town charm and strong sense of community.

The only thing that seemed lacking was a vibrant walkable downtown that was commensurate with the quality of the schools.

I had spent years as a commercial real estate attorney and had seen the Arlington of my youth transform through thoughtful planning and development. And so shortly after arriving I began my civic involvement as a member of the Economic Development Authority.

There and subsequently I have sought to use my professional expertise to better Falls Church through smart redevelopment of our commercial corridors. Not redevelopment for the sake of redevelopment or even for the tax revenue it generates but to improve the quality of life for our residents. This process began with small area plans which reimagined our commercial areas to be more walkable, vibrant and economically successful. Jim Snyder was instrumental in these efforts.

In my first campaign for Council in 2012 I wrote, “We must focus our efforts on revitalizing our commercial corridors to build a tax base that ensures the continued excellence of our schools and needed community services without burdening our residents with unduly high taxes.”

More than a decade later I am proud to say that we have done this. We have seen a steady stream of projects that have provided new vitality and energy to our city.

These developments include the first new grocery store in many years, a new walkable Harris Teeter in the heart of the city; Founders Row with acclaimed restaurants and a new theater scheduled to open next summer, the first theater in decades; a flagship Whole Foods that will soon anchor our downtown crossroads and provide a permanent home for Creative Cauldron; and, the West End development, the largest and most complex project in the City’s history which involved a ground lease payment in lieu of taxes, VDOT, Virginia Tech, Fairfax County, Metro and much more.

It will create a new destination for the region with over 1.2 million square feet of place making office, hotel, senior living, assisted living, retail, apartments and condominiums, just a stone’s throw away from the West Falls Church Metro.

These projects and others have brought new walkable destinations and visitors to our city. They provide affordable housing and environmentally sustainable design, outdoor dining, more inviting sidewalks and streetscapes. And they have put the City on a successful and sustainable financial footing allowing us to lower our tax rate 12 cents over the last several years and laying the groundwork for future reductions.

These efforts will continue to bear fruit for many years. We must remember, however, that all of these developments had strong commercial components – hotel, office, movie theater, grocery stores. Any developer will build residential units in Falls Church. That is a no brainer. The trick is getting compelling commercial uses to ensure a balanced tax base, reduced service costs, continued economic viability and an enlivened downtown.

With this tax revenue, the City had its own building boom and implemented the most ambitious capital improvements plan in our history which includes constructing a new $120 million state of the art high school. When Phil Duncan and I first took office they said it could not be done, that a school that cost more than the City’s entire annual budget was a bridge too far. But we proved them wrong.

We have modernized and renovated all of our other schools, renovated and expanded our library, renovated city hall, bought new parkland, upgraded our storm sewer system to prevent neighborhood flooding, added new sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic calming and streetscape and created affordable ownership opportunities and added numerous affordable dwelling units to the City’s inventory.

During the midst of all this, we received the first AAA bond rating in the City’s history from all the rating agencies.

As a small place, it has always been critical for Falls Church to get along with our neighbors and I have sought to further these important relationships. During these past years we have had the first joint meetings with Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax City and Vienna elected leadership. I am proud to have served with my regional colleagues as president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and as chair of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. My tenure as chair of NVRC coincided with one of our great challenges, the Covid pandemic. Although it was one of the worst times, it also brought out the best in people particularly here in Falls Church.

From the start of the crisis we coordinated the region’s response efforts, adopted best practices and advocated for the interests of Northern Virginia’s 2.5 million residents. This advocacy resulted in unprecedented funding and resources from the state and federal government that allowed the City to rebound quickly from the worst of Covid. These investments will continue to benefit Falls Church for years to come.

All in all, I have spent nearly 17 years in civic involvement in Falls Church on the Economic Development Authority, as interim city attorney and finally City Councilman and mayor. My children are all now away at school and it is time for a new chapter in my life and for new adventures.

I hope in some small way that I have made Falls Church a better place. There are so many people who quietly do so much to make Falls Church a special, welcoming place, and I have had the pleasure of working with many of them. My family has been quite patient with me, my wife Karen and children Cole, Anna and David I thank you for your support and indulgence. I have spent many an anniversary, birthday or other event at a City Council meeting or other City business.

It has been a pleasure working with my Council colleagues and I know the City is in good hands. I want to recognize the staff for all of their hard work. I know it can be a challenge working with seven different Council members who each have their own ideas and direction. But staff makes it look easy. Thank you to Wyatt Shields, Cindy Mester, Andy Young, Jenny Carroll, Kiran Bawa, Sally Gillette, Carol MacCroskrie, Jim Snyder, Paul Stoddard, Becky Witsman, Mary Gavin, Sandy Ingram, Tom Clinton, Jody Acosta, Matt Cay, Susan Finarelli, Gary Fuller, Dana Jones and so many others who do the real work around here. Also, thank you to the Clerk’s Office who keep the Council in line and somehow manages to have a good time doing it: Sophie Kachur, Veronica Prince and of course Celeste Heath.

Finally, thank you you to the citizens of Falls Church for your trust and confidence. It has truly been gratifying to see this community up close as a part of your local government. Thank you all for the experience of a lifetime.