3-16-2017

Page 1

March 16 – 22, 2017

Fa lls   Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee

Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I I N o. 4

Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads

Inside This Week F.C. Superintendent Search Progresses

Falls Church School Board chair Lawrence Webb said in a letter late last week that the School Board search for a permanent new superintendent is nearing completion, and will by April 8. See News Briefs, page 9

Campus Development Group Wants Max Use

Falls Church’s Campus Economic Development working group was spiced with impassioned talk of ensuring the maximum potential from the 36-acre George Mason High School campus site at its meeting last Friday.

Shields’ Proposed F.C. Budget Has 3¢ Set-Aside for New High School Snow Day

4¢ Tax Hike Overall Includes Penny for Schools’ Growth

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Ozderman was seen sitting inside the Falls Church Police Criminal Investigations Office with Clipp and may have had access to the department’s computers. The FBI has taken over the investigation, Falls Church Police Chief Mary Gavin said, to determine “how deep the compromise is” of the police department.

The icy weather conditions outside were matched by the icy response that the Falls Church City Council gave to City Manager Wyatt Shields’ proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget that he unveiled Monday night. In this latest step toward adopting a budget by late next month, Shields called for a four-cent increase in the real estate tax rate, from $1.315 to $1.355 per $100 of assessed valuation. Three cents of the increase is based on a projected need for stash-away money in the event of a bond referendum for a new high school this fall that could have a price tag over $100 million. One cent of the proposed rate increase was presented by Shields as a direct pass through of a 3.7-percent increase in the request by the School Board for operating expenses to meet a 6.4 percent increase in enrollment. The Council had told the School Board that unless it held its request to a 2.7 percent increase, a tax rate increase would be required. But the biggest portion of Shields’ proposed budget came in the form of three cents, or $1.2 million, extracted from taxpayers to be put into a capital reserve fund to soften the blow of what may come as a huge new debt burden to pay for a new high school. This, however, comes prior to any decisions yet being made by the teams of City Council and School Board members concerning the cost of a new school, contingent upon decisions about the configuration of the new school

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See News Briefs, page 9

Paul Krugman: Facts Are Enemies Of the People

We’re just supposed to believe the president if he says, falsely, that his inauguration crowd was the biggest ever; if he claims, ludicrously, that millions of votes were cast illegally for his opponent; if he insists, with no evidence, that his predecessor tapped his phones. See page 14

F.C. Welcomes New Businesses

Several new businesses opened in Falls Church over the past few weeks including a boutique, a children’s consignment shop and a dialysis clinic. See Business News, page 16

IT MAY NOT HAVE been much, but it snowed! A disappointing — for some — result from the winter storm that hit the east coast this week resulted in just a few inches of snow on the ground in Falls Church. Despite the underwhelming accumulation, with a day off of school and many other closures, residents of The Little City did their best to make the most of it. (Photo: Rosaly Kozbelt)

Gaithersburg Man Charged With Impersonating Police in Falls Church by Sam Tabachnik

Falls Church News-Press

Index Editorial..................6 Letters..............6, 22 News & Notes.10–11 Comment........ 12–14 Food & Dining......15 Business News....16

Calendar........18–19 Classified Ads......20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........21 Critter Corner.......22

A Maryland man, charged with impersonating a law enforcement agent, gained access to a City of Falls Church Police department office and conducted surveillance at the Eden Center with the help of a Falls Church police detective last September, according to reports and court records released last week.

Itai Ozderman, 35, of Gaithersburg, Md., convinced his girlfriend, Falls Church detective Jannie Clipp, that he was a Baltimore County Police Officer working on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Task Force, a search warrant obtained by WUSA9 alleges. Ozderman, records show, has never been a law enforcement officer of any kind. The warrant also alleges that


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