The whole DMV, much less Falls Church, was rocked by the news of Falls Church City Council member Caroline Lian’s stiff fine imposed by the D.C. government and subsequent resignation from the Council last weekend. She held, after all, a top level position in the District’s Department of Building, which she held at the same time she was also employed by Freddie Mac, and collected her tiny salary that Falls Church provides for its Council members.
For her work on the City Council here the last couple years, we’ve had nothing but the highest respect. She always came well prepared and with cogent and meaningful comments about whatever business the Council had on its plate lately. And a lot has been on that plate. Falls Church may be small by wider DMV standards, but for the last two decades it has outstripped everybody by its aggressive, yet smart, growth. Now, while neighboring jurisdictions and the region as a whole are suffering from major vacancy rate problems with its commercial real estate, problems that promise to get much worse as time goes on now, the City of Falls Church has enjoyed a boom in its commercial development, while continuing to benefit from one of the finest school systems in the nation, and all that has come from wise and courageous decisions by its City Council, Lian included.
Lian had been part of a 5-2 majority on the Council that has consistently advanced smart growth practices, including major tax cuts for residential real estate owners, and addressing issues from stormwater, to sewer lines, pocket parks, sidewalks and crosswalks along with advancing overall growth and remarkably effective public education and infrastructure. Who would have thought that in this increasingly digital and on-line world, there would be any support for a multi-million dollar renovation of a public library, for example, on top of major funds for the schools, the City Hall building and many other things. But that’s the ongoing unique legacy of Falls Church that Lian had been an important part of.
Without Lian now, the margin of the advocates on Council for smart growth has been diminished. No wonder the two members of the Council that cannot be counted in this smart growth current want a special election over the appointment of a temporary replacement for Lian, because they fear an appointment would bring on another smart growth advocate. But still, all the Council voted for a special election, pending the Arlington Circuit Court going along despite the lack of a code component.
We’ll see what the court’s ruling will be, and remain confident that no matter what, Council member Lian’s challenges now will not slow the momentum from continuing to make Falls Church, among other things, worthy of its No. 1 ranking in the entire U.S. for “heathiness,” according to a detailed and studied survey by the U.S. News and World Report announced in just the last few days.