The City of Falls Church was greeted with good news on the first day of 2008, when Mayor Robin Gardner chose the day to announce her plans to seek a third term on the Falls Church City Council, dragging the News-Press away from TV’s college football marathon to issue her campaign statement at her home. This means that the core, and now experienced, leadership of the current City Council, Mayor Gardner and Vice Mayor Lindy Hockenberry, should remain intact for another four years if the two can secure their re-elections next May. Not facing election in 2008, another veteran, David Snyder, and “rookies” Dan Maller, Dan Sze and Hal Lippman, the Council should remain in good hands through the City’s difficult transition from over-dependence on single-family residential real estate for its tax revenues to a creative and refreshing mix of urban-style residences built over retail and adjacent hotel and other strong-revenue enhancing enterprises.
