At the recent Falls Church Chamber of Commerce candidate forum, the two aspirants running in the special election for City Council were posed this hypothetical situation.
“If you had $50 million handed to you,” they were asked, “how would you use it to make transportation better in the city?”
The contenders, Laura Downs and John Murphy, took different tacks.
“Improve our pedestrian experience” was the succinct answer from Murphy, a former chair of the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
Efforts to do that could be made in conjunction with the planned bus-rapid-transit project that will run through Falls Church as it connects Tysons to Alexandria in coming years, Murphy said at the forum.
Downs, a former chair of the city’s School Board, said she would “love to have a free bus or shuttle [running on Broad Street] from one end of the town to the other.”
Someone in the rear of the room cried out “Bring back George,” referring to the much-loved city microbus system that operated from 2002 to 2010, connecting the East Falls Church and West Falls Church Metro stations by way of the city’s central core.
Council members shut down that service in 2010 to help balance their budget, according to news coverage at the time. But if Downs wins and wants to resurrect something similar, she might have an ally.
Council member David Snyder, who was serving as vice mayor in 2010, voted against shutting down the service then, calling it a shortsighted move by city leaders.
Downs and Murphy are seeking to fill the final year of the term of a Council member who resigned. It is the only Council seat on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Demand for Digital Products Grows at City Library: Print is still king, for now, but the digital revolution is accelerating at Falls Church’s Mary Riley Styles Library.
According to figures presented to the city’s Library Board of Trustees, while year-over-year circulation of physical materials increased modestly in September — up 1.6% to 26,479 — circulation of digital material grew 25.5%, from 10,737 to 13,471, year-over-year.
Falls Church is not alone. Localities locally and across the nation are seeing increases in demand for digital copies of materials.
At the same time, library systems are finding challenges in providing materials, owing in part to the way publishers charge for those materials compared to print editions.
Recent weeks also have seen the arrival of new Falls Church library director Megan Dotzler, who came from a position in neighboring Arlington and was selected from among 22 applicants.
For a year before the arrival of Dotzler, Marshall Webster served as acting city library director.
City Ready to Ink Agreement on Winter Shelter: Falls Church’s lone winter shelter for those living on the streets will operate as normal for 2024-25, with one addition.
City Council members next Monday, Oct. 28, are expected to ratify an agreement with the nonprofit Friends of Falls Church Homeless Shelter Inc., which financially supports shelter operations.
The winter shelter, located at 217 Gordon Road in a government-owned property, will be open from 6 p.m.-8 a.m. each night between Nov. 15 and March 30. Hours can be extended in cases of extreme weather conditions, if approved by City Manager Wyatt Shields.
New for 2024-25: In addition to being open 24 hours for Thanksgiving and Christmas as usual, the shelter also will be open around the clock on New Year’s Day.
The shelter can accommodate up to 10 men and two women per night. According to city officials, during its 2023-24 season, a total of 28 people found refuge there.
In addition to sleeping accommodations, the facility provides meals, showers, counseling and life-skills classes.
Friends of Falls Church Homeless Shelter raises about $110,000 per year, according to filings with the IRS. It contracts with New Hope Housing to provide professional management of the facility.
