Civic Leaders Endorse Laura Downs

Dear Editor,

With early voting underway and election day around the corner, we feel it is important to let the community know about our experience working with Laura Downs, who is running for the Falls Church City Council. We served with Ms. Downs on several community organizations- Falls Church City Public School Board, FCC Elementary PTA, Henderson Middle School PTA, and the Falls Church Education Foundation. Some of us experienced Ms. Downs as a colleague and others as a leader when she served as Elementary PTA President in 2017-18, as School Board Vice Chair in 2021, and as School Board Chair in 2022 and 2023. We found Ms. Downs to be a skilled consensus builder who approached issues with patience and an open mind. She listens to all sides of an issue and takes the time to interact with community members. With half of her School Board term being served during the COVID-19 pandemic, she understands the importance of empathetic and steady leadership and making difficult decisions that are in the best interest of the community. We know that if Ms. Downs is elected, our community will benefit from having a reasonable, skilled, hard-working, and experienced leader who listens and works to build coalitions across the Falls Church City community.

-Annalisa Aldana, Jerrod Anderson, Mary Asel, Richard Crespin, Susan Dimock, Kari Forsee, Tate Gould, Mary-Kathleen Hartenstein, Dori Hazan, Chrissy Henderson, Suzanne Hladky, Emily Jenkins, Hal Lippman, Shannon Litton, Elizabeth Meade, Peter Noonan, David Ortiz, Christopher Pintauro, Philip Reitinger, Dan Ross, Sonia Ruiz-Bolanos, Shawna Russell, Michael Sakata, Gabriela Sandoz, Sharon Schoeller, Katherine Secrist, Lori Silverman, Kathleen Tysse, Adena Williams, Brian Williams, and Kirsten Zochowski

FCNP Press Adds Additional Endorsement

Our choice of Downs for the F.C. City Council is very important, given her superior role as chair of the Falls Church School Board through the pandemic, when conflicts were acute between parents wanting their children in the school rooms and teachers refused to show up until all students had been vaccinated and tested negative for the COVID-19 virus.   Downs and Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan handled that crisis with deft leadership, leading to the unprecedented election of Downs to a second successive term as the Board's chair.

Council Members Connelly and Hiscott Endorse Laura Downs

Dear Editor,

It’s less than a week before the 2024 election and Falls Church is on the way to another high-turnout election. If you haven’t voted yet, please take into consideration this endorsement of Laura Downs for City Council.

Laura is an experienced public servant. She will be ready to serve from day one. As a member of the School Board, Laura served as vice chair and chair for three years of her four-year term. In these leadership roles, she was part of the City Council Budget & Finance Committee. This is important because this one-year term starts right after the election. Budget planning begins in December, and Laura is already up to speed!

As shown during her School Board term (2020-23), Laura is a great listener, always seeking community input. She knows how to look at all sides of an issue, and learn from her constituents. She is not afraid to make hard decisions, and is fully committed to the good of the community.

While campaigning and meeting voters at their doors, Laura has attended every Council meeting, worksession, and Budget & Finance Committee meeting. Because she has put in the work, she is fully prepared for Council service.  We would be honored to serve with Laura Downs and we are pleased to share our endorsement of her in this election!

Marybeth Connelly

Deborah Schantz-Hiscott

Current Falls Church City Council Members

Falls Church News Press

The rush for early voting in elections in recent years has prompted us to make our endorsements known before any voting begins, which means this week.

We wholeheartedly endorse the ticket of Harris and Walz for President and Vice President of the U.S., as well as our esteemed veteran Democratic representatives to the U.S. Senate (Tim Kaine) and U.S. House of Representatives (Don Beyer). Even if these candidates are strong favorites to win in this neighborhood, it is vital that Falls Church citizens keep alive their tradition of achieving the highest voter turnout percentage in the state in order to “pile on,” as Beyer has put it, to help these candidates and their allies win statewide.

Our particular focus is on the special Falls Church City Council election where two citizens are vying to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Caroline Lian this summer. With one more year on that term, former School Board chair Laura Downs and former Board of Zoning Appeals chair John Murphy have thrown their hats in the ring to fill it.

In this case, we wholeheartedly endorse Laura Downs.

We have witnessed Ms. Downs’ highly proficient role as the chair of the Falls Church City School Board and believe she will bring talent, persistence and commitment to all aspects of her work to the City Council. In particular, she brings an avid commitment to open and reasoned ongoing communication with the entire community that will enhance her work, and that of the entire Council.

She will, we are confident, be a major contributor to the amazing progress being made in Falls Church in terms of quality of life for citizens, including for the public education of our school-aged youth but not limited to that. While continuing rising real estate values are creating pressures to advance affordable housing options that our City Council and other agencies, such as the Department of Human Services and the Economic Development Authority, are striving to address, the recent years’ remarkable gains for the City have created very substantial reductions in the real estate tax rate for us all, progress we hope will continue.

New programs, such as for the “greening of Lincoln Avenue” as discussed by the City Council at its work session this week, including for new housing options, as well, are translating this success into a kinder, more compassionate and inclusive community for all. These developments are as important for instilling constructive values in our youth as what they are also deriving as lasting benefits from in the extraordinary classroom educational opportunities they have here.

No better example exists than of the remarkable last weekend in our “Little City,” when extraordinarily copacetic Fall Festival and Taste of Falls Church events were held on the City Hall grounds Saturday, and the Falls Church Education Foundation’s annual Run for the Schools was held on Sunday. We want these happy sorts of things to continue.

The Pulse (9/7/24)

I’m excited to be running for the vacant seat on the Falls Church City Council and have a chance to serve our community again as an elected official. Serving on the Falls Church City School Board as a publicly elected official was the honor of a lifetime. I learned the importance of listening to all members of the community to understand all sides of an issue. I served in a leadership role for three of my four years (Vice Chair in 2021 and Chair in 2022 and 2023) and worked hard to improve outreach to the community. I instituted monthly “office hours” at the end of the pandemic. We held the sessions at a different local restaurant every month to meet with community members- a practice that still continues today. While on the School Board, my proudest achievement was working closely with our superintendent to deliver our state-of-the-art new Meridian high school, on time and under budget. That building was made possible thanks to voters approving a bond referendum, commercial development on the old high school site, and careful fiscal planning by the City Council and General Government staff. Truly, it was a community-wide effort, and I’m proud the dedication plaque at the entrance bears my name. 

As a result of my four years as an elected official, I understand what is required to be an effective City Council member- a commitment to do the work, understand all sides of the issues, be open to feedback from community members, and work collegially with City Council colleagues and the general government staff. Due to the quick turnaround for this election, our city needs someone who can jump in and do the job on day one. My extensive knowledge of both the School Board budget and City Council budget and my work on the City Council Budget and Finance Committee have prepared me for this job. The budget season actually starts in December when the City Council and School Board meet to talk about budget guidance and projected revenue. Having attended these meetings for four years, my experience is vital as 42% of the General Government budget is earmarked for the schools. 

My husband and I moved to Falls Church City with our four boys in 2009 to take advantage of the city’s highly regarded school system.  And just last month,  US News and World Report named Falls Church City the #1 healthiest community in the nation. In addition to education and walkability, other factors helped us achieve the top rating- health, local economy, food and nutrition, and infrastructure. 

I am excited for the future of our vibrant little city. I also understand members of our community have concerns regarding our growth and development. If elected, I will embrace a thoughtful approach, listening to all sides to inform my decisions.