July 27 – August 2, 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 No. 23
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Bailey’s Shelter Relocation Plan OK’d
The Fairfax Board of Supervisors signed off on a rezoning application for up to 370 apartments or condos on the site where the county’s Bailey’s Crossroads Community Shelter sits today. See News Briefs, page 8
Former Fairfax Police Chief Injured in Crash
a driver is facing charges after a crash Tuesday night involving Fairfax Deputy County Executive and former Police Chief Dave Rohrer on West Ox Road in Fairfax. See News Briefs, page 8
Frank Bruni: Donald Trump’s Dominatrix
At this point I think it’s fair to say that Donald Trump has gone beyond taunting and demonizing Hillary Clinton to a realm of outright obsession. He’s stalking her. See page 16
Food Waste Collection Starts Wednesday The City of Falls Church is halfway to its goal of 600 household enrollment for its new, first-of-its-kind in Virginia, curbside food waste collection program debuting next week. See story, page 10
Index Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.12–13 Comment........ 14–16 Food & Dining......17 Calendar........18–19
Classified Ads......20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........21 Critter Corner.......22 Business News....22
F.C. Council Votes to Push Ahead With Library, Fields & New H.S. Delays Rejected as Revenues Foreseen for School Brighten
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
On Monday night, the Falls Church City Council made two split decisions that will ensure a torridity in the atmosphere of the Little City of Falls Church for at least the next three and a half months. In the more decisive vote of the two, it went 5-2 in favor of defying the recommendation of both the City staff and the City’s Planning Commission to give final approval to its commitment to the so-called “full CIP,” which means full funding for all the programs in its current Capital Improvements Program for the coming year. The funding includes the renovation and expansions of three big City projects — the Mary Riley
Styles library, City Hall and Larry Graves Fields community soccer fields — and an array of other small projects, as well as the big elephant in the room, $120 million for an all-new George Mason High School that City voters will weigh in on with an advisory referendum in November. The Council favored casting caution to the wind in its vote, with a nervous confidence that economic development yields from the high school project, in particular, will sufficiently offset the costs of the other programs to keep the impact of it all on the pocketbooks of City residents sufficiently within bounds to warrant their endorsement in the November referendum.
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FALLS CHURCH MAYOR David Tarter (center) cast the decisive vote Monday to support the immediate renovation and expansion of Mary Riley Styles library as approved by voters last November, and City Hall and Larry Graves Field renovations. He was joined in the 5-2 majority by Councilman David Snyder (left) and Vice Mayor Mary Beth Connelly (right), in addition to Phil Duncan and Dan Sze. (Photo: News-Press)
Official Language of November School Bond Referendum OK’d by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
It didn’t take long at all, once the big decision about the size of the Capital Improvements Project budget was decided (see that story, above), for the Falls Church City Council to vote ahead of the deadlines last Monday night to seek approval from the Arlington Circuit Court to place a $120 million school bond referendum on this November’s ballot. If passed, the referendum will authorize the financing of an allnew George Mason High School and renovations to the Henderson Middle School on the same site. It will be an advisory referen-
dum without the force of law, but will certainly dictate the direction of the City’s approach to the issue depending on whether it passes or fails. A lot has gone into evaluating and estimating the components that surround the specific question in the referendum, most especially the ultimate cost to the City’s taxpayers. Vice Mayor Mary Beth Connelly, in advocating for the referendum vote, said, “Building projects are expensive, can be risky but they are necessary to maintain a community that we can be proud of, that reflects our shared values.” She added, “Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and just do it, but this
is more than a blind leap of faith. We’ve got four years of work behind us, good data, solid strategy, strong advice, commitments to keep operating and capital costs as low as possible, and we have time in the next three months to educate everyone. It will not be easy, but I am certain that it will be worth it.” Some argued for a delay, given the size of the ask and other things, notably Councilmen Dan Sze and Karen Oliver, the only two “no” votes among the seven cast by the Council. Sze intoned that “many questions remain unanswered,” including, he said, “the most important one, being the consequences of
either a passage or failure to pass the proposed referendum.” “Does passage mean that the City is authorized to increase real estate taxes, some say by as much as 20 cents on the current rate. Does failure to pass mean that citizens do not want a new high school or does it mean that they are unhappy with the question being asked based on the progress so far,” he asked rhetorically. He then cited the lack of definitive answers so far on operational costs, the level of economic development, and the future trends of the economy. Oliver said she didn’t want to take a $120 million plan to the voters “if it is a bad idea. We don’t need to spend $120 million.” But Councilman Phil Duncan said, “We need to leave a city for future generations,” noting his son graduated from George Mason High.
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