Updates from Letty – November 1, 2019

Posted on by Letty Hardi

Blog posts are the personal views of Letty Hardi and not official statements or records on behalf of the Falls Church City Council

Dear Friends,

What a week! I hope everyone fared ok after last night’s Halloween storms and a week of high anxiety, late nights, and celebration during World Series fever. As we head into the final weekend before Election Day on next Tuesday, November 5th, this post will be mostly PSAs, an important reminder for November, and what you can expect during the rest of 2019. Remember polls on Tuesday are open from 6 am to 7 pm and bring an acceptable form of photo ID.

Keep reaching out if you have thoughts on important issues like traffic calming. When you email cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov, your comment can reach everyone on City Council. Have a great weekend – I’ll see you on Election Day!

Best,
Letty

PS – I can’t wrap up without a big THANK YOU for the overwhelming support during this re-election season. With your help, I met my fundraising goal early and ran out of yard signs (twice!) – which has allowed me to focus on doorknocking, meeting new residents, and doing the day job. To help me get to the finish line, you can join me in greeting voters at TJ and/or the Community Center. Email me if you have an hour or two free on Tuesday.

Helpful Reminders:

  1. Vote in person absentee: It’s a long weekend for fellow FCCPS families. If you are heading out of town, remember that there are 20 reasons you may quality to vote in person absentee – the last days are today and tomorrow.
  2. Ward 2 change: If you are used to voting at Falls Green/formerly Oakwood Apartments (Ward 2), you’ll be voting at the Community Center on Tuesday. City staff will be ramping up communication on all channels, including signage on site and working with the League of Women Voters to ensure voters get to the right place. Help remind your neighbors too!
  3. Voter guides: I’ve rounded up the links to the voter guides if you are still undecided or want to get further informed:
  4. Live Local: during November, the Chamber of Commerce is launching the second #LiveLocalFC campaign to encourage residents to shop, dine, and live locally. You can participate in the #LiveLocalFC campaign by tagging local businesses and events on social media.

What’s Coming Up:

Because there is life after Election Day – the schedule for the remainder of our City Council meetings in 2019 is below. Here’s what to expect:

  1. A vote to establish a pilot program for scooters. This week’s vote was deferred so further feedback can be incorporated. When we vote, the question won’t be whether we pilot scooters or not, but what regulations are put in place – such as sidewalks vs street riding, parking locations, etc – during the 1 year pilot.
  2. A vote on the FY19 budget surplus. See this post from September on why we have a surplus, uses under consideration, and my thoughts.
  3. Continued discussion on traffic calming. It continues to be among the top priorities I hear from citizens. While there have been 6 projects completed since we dedicated annual funding to traffic calming in 2016, clearly there is more demand. Expect Annandale/Gundry to be the next project starting shortly, with staff reviewing options on how to deliver the next set of projects. See here, here, here, and here – the four most recent posts about traffic calming I wrote in September and October. We will continue to push for additional police presence in neighborhoods for enforcement and faster delivery of solutions.
  4. Continued discussion on stormwater. This week we voted to charter a new Stormwater Task Force. If you would like to serve on the task force to work with other citizens to prioritize stormwater projects, apply by November 15.
  5. We’ll have our first peek at the site plan submission for the West Falls Church (aka 10 acre development) at our next meeting on November 12, followed by several public meetings and town halls ahead of the actual submission in Jan 2020.
  6. FY21 Budget – yes, before you know it, it will be time for another budget cycle. One of the first steps in kicking off the next year’s budget is the review of the revenue forecast. City Council will then issue the annual “budget guidance” to the schools and city manager. Expect that discussion in December.