Virginia history was made in the Falls Church city election Tuesday. By being elected to the City Council, Lawrence Webb has become the first openly gay Afro-American elected official in the history of the commonwealth. Webb, 33, an assistant dean of admissions at Mary Washington University, ran on a slate endorsed by the City’s venerable civic organization, the Citizens for a Better City (CBC) along with Incumbent
Mayor Robin Gardner, Incumbent Vice Mayor Lindy Hockenberry and three School Board candidates. He wound up with 1,215 votes, 39 ahead of Hockenberry, to win one of the three seats up for grabs in the election, along with Gardner and independent Nader Baroukh. In a statement to the NewsPress following his victory, Webb said, “My sexuality is one aspect of my life and it has not or does not hinder me from completing my job. I hope my election opens the door for others to get involved
in public service. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or black or both. What matters is your dedication to building a better community, and your willingness to work hard at it.” Since moving to the City of Falls Church four years ago, Webb has been involved in volunteer service as a City Council appointee to the City’s Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee, and with the CBC and Village Preservation Society. He notified the NewsPress of his decision to run for Continued on Page 4
City of Falls Church voters returned Mayor Robin Gardner to a third term on the City Council Tuesday, providing her the highest vote total among seven candidates, and soundly defeated a ballot referendum aimed at deterring the pro-development direction of her leadership. The anti-development referendum, which would have placed strict and arbitrary restrictions on projects in the City’s commercially-zoned corridors, went down to a 14-point defeat, 57% of voters casting “No” votes, to 43% voting “Yes.” “The City as a whole knows we need mixed use development,” Mayor Gardner told a crowd assembled at a victory party after polls closed Tuesday night. “The vote against the referendum is a signal to us to continue to move forward judiciously and with great care.” Winning election to the City Council for the first time were Nader Baroukh and Lawrence Webb, who with his election becomes the first openly gay Afro-American elected official in the history of Virginia (see story, elsewhere this edition). Coming up short in her bid for a third term was current Vice Mayor Lindy Hockenberry. Joan Wodiska, Charlotte Hyland and Kieran Sharpe were elected to the School Board. In this municipal election cycle in Falls Church, there were three seats contested on both the Council and School Board. In two years, four seats on each body will be up for election. Those elected this time will be sworn in on July 1, the same day each seven-member body Continued on Page 5