October 26 November 1, 2023
Falls Church, Virginia • w w w . fc n p . c o m • Free
Founded 1991 • V o l . X X X III N o . 37
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
In 3rd Debate WHO’S GOING TO WIN? Hopefuls Exhibit Some Differences F.C. City Council Candidates Pushing to Election Day by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
In the third and final debate last week, as the hours tick off closer and closer to the Nov. 7 election day, the City of Falls Church’s four candidates vying for three open seats on the Council finally revealed some daylight between them on issues vital to the City. The debate was hosted by the City’s venerable civic action organization, the Citizens for a Better City (CBC), which earlier this election round under the leadership of former Vice Mayor Hal Lippman got all the candidates to sign onto an “integrity pledge” not to accept funding from outside sources. The first two debates, hosted by the City’s League of Women Voters chapter and the F.C. Chamber of Commerce, saw little differentiation among the candidates. Granted, three of them have all been endorsed by the new civic group, Falls Church Forward, and also the local Sierra Club chapter; even so it was enlightening to see policy differences emerge not among them, but between them and relative newcomer Erin Flynn. The three Falls Church Forward candidates also broke from a decade-long practice to take out a joint ad in the NewsPress this week. It is not clear that they thus now wish to be considered a “slate,” but they have definitely decided they want to run as a team in the mind of voters, ostensibly on the idea
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WITH LESS THAN two weeks to go before the Nov. 7 election, the four candidates seeking to fill three seats on the seven-member Falls Church City Council squared off in their third and final debate hosted by the Citizens for a Better City last week. (News-Press Photo)
Uncontested F.C. School Board Trio Share Views
by Patricia Leslie
One of the most popular words heard Wednesday night at the Falls Church School Board Candidate Forum was “echo” as in “I echo what Bethany said,” (Jerrod F. Anderson), “I echo what Amie said,” (Bethany R. Henderson) and “I echo Jerry’s remarks” (Amie S. Murphy). The three are uncontested candidates running for three slots who agreed on mostly everything at the forum, hosted by the PTAs at Falls Church Elementary and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle, the PTSA at Meridian High and Citizens For a Better City. About 20 citizens turned out at Meridian to hear the candidates deliver opening statements, answer questions from moderator and former School Board member Erin Gill, and questions from the audience before finishing the evening
with closing statements. They all agree that banned books should not be banned, and as for critical race theory, Anderson said, “We need to educate students completely... students are learners here.” Murphy said, “We should be teaching our kids to be critical thinkers and with that, we need to tell the whole story in history [which is] fluid. We should be telling the good and the bad stories that are part of our past.” Henderson agreed “with everything” about CRT which Murphy and Anderson said, adding: “We should be empowering teachers to teach all the facts.” An audience member wanted to know whether new construction in Falls Church is a safety hazard for children who walk and bike to school. Henderson wondered how many construction zones chil-
dren have to cross to get to school. The candidates agreed that it is up to Falls Church City Council to monitor infrastructure. Murphy said she and her family are all cyclists, and she welcomes more bike lanes which would help fight climate change, a term unheard during the evening in the school filled with huge displays on the walls about the Earth and the importance of protecting it. The candidates support delaying school opening times which would help improve child care matters, equity, and Murphy said, “It is better for children.” As for security in schools, Anderson said all parents have concerns, but that Falls Church does a good job. Henderson mentioned the importance of recruiting and retaining good teachers. For other jurisdictions with
enviable programs which could be implemented in Falls Church, Murphy mentioned Fairfax County’s middle school sports program which has recently been launched. In today’s turbulent society, all expressed support for tolerance and inclusion. Henderson praised a recent Falls Church LGBTQ program Anderson closed the evening with his belief that “it is important to keep open communication going [and] ...to listen. if you don’t listen, you cannot improve.” He invited the audience to contact him later with questions which they had submitted for the forum on index cards and pencils handed out by the sponsors. He is currently a member of the school board, appointed last winter by the board to fill the
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