Citizens for a Better City – A Member’s Perspective

CBC Executive Committee Photo: Gary Mester . . . .

Author A. C. Miller has been a member of the CBC since 1986.  The views expressed are his own.

I’ve been asked by a number of folks, many relatively new to Falls Church, to explain the organization known as Citizens for a Better City and the role it plays in local politics.   

It’s a long story.  A few paragraphs here may shed some light, but if you’re really interested in how this city has evolved politically go to CBC’s website – fallschurchcbc.googlepages.com - and read Wayne Dexter’s “The History of the CBC.”  I think you will find his essay very well-written, informative, and entertaining.  I just re-read it myself and was amazed at how the issues facing Falls Church in the 1950s and 60s were so similar to the ones we have today, namely schools, fiscal responsibility, and economic development.

The Very Short History  -  The CBC was established as a non-partisan political organization in 1958, ten years after Falls Church gained its independent status.  It was non-partisan in part because of the Hatch Act, which restricted federal employees from participating in partisan elections.  But perhaps just as importantly, it was non-partisan because the city’s early founders shared values that transcended political lines.  They believed that for a small community such as Falls Church to remain sustainable it needed to have strong civic engagement, without partisan political posturing, and a forum for a broad range of views.  Thus CBC was born.  It has since dominated city politics, controlling the majority of the council seats in all but a handful of years.  The goal of the CBC has always been to support public interest in government, to identify emerging leaders, and to urge citizens to serve on our many boards and commissions.

A Party Without a Platform  -  The CBC does not  take policy positions, aside from two or three occasions when it advocated approval of school bond referendums.  There is no party platform, only a set of principles.  Briefly, these are the organization’s primary principles as set forth in the preamble to their by-laws:

>   Encourage citizen participation in public affairs.

>   Conduct public business openly and make maximum use of citizens’ talents.

>   Preserve the independence and quality of our schools.

>   Maintain high quality and cost effective public services.

>   Maintain a soundly organized municipal administration.

>   Appoint able, qualified persons to city commissions and boards.

There’s much more at their website, but those points effectively summarize CBC’s credo.  

The Executive Committee  -  Leadership resides in the executive committee which consists of a president and four other officers, plus 10 at-large members.  Members are elected for 2-year terms by the organization’s membership at the annual CBC meeting.  The meeting is open to non-members as well as members, but you must be a member to participate in the election.

All CBC-supported council and ex-council members, as well as current and ex-school board members, are considered ex-officio members of the committee.  The committee meets every month. Meetings are open to the public and are held at the Falls Church Community Center. 

The committee’s chief function is to oversee election of CBC candidates and to maintain the organization between elections.  Views are routinely exchanged between CBC city council members and the executive committee.  Members pass their views on to councilmen, either personally, through the executive committee, or through other organizations to which they belong.

The Nominating Convention  -  CBC holds one every two years to offer its endorsement and support for city council and school board candidates who are running for election or re-election.  Candidates do not have to be CBC members to seek its endorsement and the nominating convention is open to all citizens, with equal voting rights for both members and non-members.  That briefly describes the foundation and workings of CBC. 

In the second part of this series Mr. Miller will discuss the CBC’s role in local politics and offer his view as to  why the organization is so controversial.

 (l-r): Kim Maller, George Molaski, Steve Sprague, Stacy Hennessey, Matt Smith, Kathy McCleary, Gordon Theisz, Carol Loftur-Thun, Deb Gardner, Kathy Kleiman. (Not pictured: Rob Meeks, Susan Allan-Burnett, Julie Krachman, Mike Gardner, Hannah Jordan.)