Legislative Priorities Set For State Leader Visits
For the first time in recent memory, the entire Falls Church City Council and a number of key members of the City government staff were scheduled to trek to Richmond today (Thursday, Feb. 1) to participate in an exhausting annual Virginia Municipal League (VML) lobbying day at the State Legislature.
It was slated to be a very busy day, with many meetings set, including with the City’s two state legislative representatives, Del. Marcus Simon and, taking his seat for the first time in January, the newly-elected Sen. Saddam Salim.
Then on Saturday, Feb. 3, the entire Council is due back in town to participate in an annual “retreat,” which amounts to an allotment of sufficient time to engage in more extended discussions of priorities for the coming period, to be held in the newly-renovated Mary Riley Styles Library a block from City Hall. It will go from 8:30 a.m. well into the afternoon.
Falls Church’s new mayor, Letty Hardi, said of the events the following:
“While we have no regular meeting this week, the City Council will have a busy week. Our annual lobbying day in Richmond will be a whirlwind of meetings with legislators to discuss Falls Church’s priorities – items like funding for transportation, pedestrian safety and housing – and good connection opportunities with fellow localities. Then on Saturday, I look forward to ‘roll up our sleeves’ time for our new City Council team to reflect on our progress, hear input from our board and commissions and prioritize the work for the next few years.”
Veteran Council member Marybeth Connelly told the News-Press that the VML day in Richmond is slated to include, in addition to meetings with Del. Simon and Sen. Salim, a visit to the legislative chambers and possibly committee meetings to see the state government operations in action.
The plan, she said, was also to meet with other elected officials and their staffs who represent the City’s neighbors or that Falls Church has an interest in. “We will network with other local elected officials because this is a VML event so many regional and state colleagues will be there.”
She said there was to be a meeting of the Virginia Coalition of High-Growth Communities and she and her colleagues “looked forward to seeing the new General Assembly office building that opened in October.”
After intense days in Richmond and at the annual “retreat” the Council will resume its usual schedule with a work session this Monday night, and a general business meeting the following week.
In meeting with the newly-elected Salim for the first time Thursday, the Council’s task will be to get more clarification on his bill, SB 364, one of 21 he introduced this session (the maximum allowed), that mandates localities to pursue more construction of “accessory dwelling units.”
The Council discussed that at a recent work session and decided to advocate for more study of the impact of the policy, rather than to outright support it.
Salim’s first regular column in the News-Press appears elsewhere in this edition. In it, he wrote that on the issue of proposing a referendum on whether or not to allow a casino in Tysons, he heard from over 1,000 constituents and decided as a result to oppose the bill.
He states there that he and his slim Democratic majority aimed at “raising the minimum wage, protecting LGBTQ+ Virginians, and uphold reproductive rights.”
