Moran Shifts Endorsement to Dehgani-Tafti

by Charlie Clark Falls Church News-Press

Key new endorsements have spiced things up in the heated Democratic Primary race for Arlington-Falls Church Commonwealth Attorney. With the June 20 election day now just three weeks away. Incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti won a major new endorsement in the last week and challenger Josh Katcher added two new ones, as well.

Former Congressman Jim Moran withdrew an earlier endorsement of Katcher to back Dehghani-Tafti. “Originally, a friend was raising money for Katcher,” he told the News-

Press , “but when I told my wife, Deborah Warren,” who is a deputy director of the county Human Services Department, “she told me Parisa is very competent and doing a good job. So I listened to Parisa speak and would [be] up [to] agreeing to switch my allegiance.”

Meanwhile, Katcher picked up endorsements from the Arlington Coalition of Police and two longtime Arlington County officials, former Clerk of the Circuit Court David Bell and former Treasurer Frank O’Leary. In similar emailed statements, the two Democrats said they were taking an unusual step of opposing a Democrat “not suited by skill, experience or inclination” for the job, as Bell put it.

As the June 20 Democratic primary day nears, the two candidates for Commonwealth’s Attorney and their backers are exchanging ever-angrier ripostes depicting the incumbent’s record on personnel vacancies and indictment policies.

Current office holder Dehghani-Tafti‘s restorative justice reform agenda, pursued with national media attention since 2019, has drawn fire from her former deputy Katcher, who accuses her of lax enforcement and dishonesty.

“Crime is up and indictments are way down,” read Katcher’s

May 24 press release quoting campaign manager Ben Jones.

“According to the FY 2022 and FY 2024 Arlington County Proposed budgets, in the two years prior to Dehghani-Tafti taking office Arlington County saw 2,172 and 1,747 felonies reported, resulting in 1,045 and 713 criminal indictments brought, respectively. In 2021 and 2022, despite 2,054 and 1,800 felonies committed, only 449 and 274 indictments were handed down, meaning that more crimes in our county are going unpunished than at any point in recent history.”

“In 2021, only 21 percent of

Continued

According to a blog post from Falls Church Vice Mayor Letty Hardi, the F.C. City Council is being asked to consider a modification to the terms of its deal with the West End Project’s development team of Hoffman, Inc. to permit a delay in the completion of the project’s 14-story senior living facility. The reason given is that the principal developers of the project, Trammel Crow, have pulled out due to the unstable state of the economy.

Bob Young, head of the F.C. Economic Development Authority, told the News-Press concerning the issue, “Under the current economic circumstances in the U.S., it’s a miracle that Hoffman has been able to move ahead as quickly and efficiently as they have. In these circumstances, it’s not at all surprising that one of the several buildings in the project has experienced difficulty in closing. I’m confident they will be able to find a new partner for that building soon. In the meantime, the financial impact on the city is not consequential.”

The SmartAsset investor website announced this week that it has ranked the City of Falls Church the No.1 jurisdiction in Virginia for the level of overall wealth per capita — inclusive of median income, investment income and median home value parameters. Its “overall wealth index” is pegged at 72.89, markedly higher than the No. 2 and No. 3 jurisdictions, Arlington and Fairfax counties, at 64.86 and 53.46 respectively.

The Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) announced a temporary closure of Mustang Alley, adjacent to the FCCPS Secondary Campus, due to the ongoing West Falls Project development. The closure will begin immediately after school is dismissed on June 16, 2023.

The decision to close Mustang Alley to all vehicular traffic was made to expedite the project’s completion of the finished Mustang Alley roadway and ensure the safety of students, staff, and community members. However, a pedestrian/bicycle path will remain open, the Schools’ statement said.

Falls Church City Council member Phil

Duncan offered the following update on his recovery from full lung transplant surgery earlier this month:

“27 days since my bilateral lung transplant. Memorial Day finds me at the Inova Fairfax inpatient Rehabilitation Center. I ‘graduated’ last Tuesday from the hospital to rehab, where 3x daily physical therapy sessions aim to rebuild stamina and agility sufficient to return home and continue gaining strength from there.

“My support team this past week included daughter Meredyth, son Tyler, and, of course, spouse Leslie. Meredyth happened to be back East presenting a paper at an international marine biology conference in Baltimore for the Master’s degree she expects to finish this summer at San Francisco State University. TD was back from a well-deserved vacation in the Dominican Republic with co-workers in the Arlington County PD. The highlight of today’s therapy drills was an unassisted climb-and-descend of more than a dozen steps, one target I need to hit consistently in order to return home.”

Fairfax County Police announced yesterday they’ve arrested Vladimir Garcia Montes, 18 of Greater Falls Church and a 17-year old in the double-homicide shooting and stabbing that took place Monday afternoon in the 2200 block of Pimmit Run Lane, just west of the City of Falls Church line, behind the Whole Foods on Leesburg Pike. The two arrested are charged with robbery resulting in death. Anyone with knowledge of the incident is urged to call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, or the anonymous tip line at 1-866-411-TIPS.

Police say the incident is believed to be drug-related. K9 officers located a “significant amount of marijuana nearby believed to be connected to the homicide,” according to FCPD, who added that “all individuals involved are believed to be known to each other such that this is not a random act of violence.

The two deceased victims were identified as Braden Deahl, 18, of Arlington County and Jonas Skinner, 20, of Ashburn. Skinner was found deceased with a gunshot wound in a laundry room in the apartment complex, and Deahl and two others, both believed to be minors, were found suffering stab wounds in a parking lot. Deahl was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital. One of the two surviving victims remains in the hospital with non-life-threating injuries.