City Council Agenda: How Do We Brand Falls Church?

Here’s the agenda for Monday’s CC meeting.  Note discussion of city “branding initiative,” which should be interesting.  Also well deserved thank-yous for Buddetti, Fauber, Sanders, Saltzberg. Read more

Your City Council and How to Contact Them

Meet your City Council members.
Robin S. Gardner

Mayor
(h) 703-534-8644
rgardner@fallschurchva.gov
Term: 7/1/08 – 6/30/12
First Elected: 7/1/00
Elected Mayor: 7/1/06

Harold (Hal) Lippman, Ph. D.
Vice Mayor
hlippman@fallschurchva.gov
Term: 7/1/06 – 6/30/10
First Elected: 7/1/06
Elected Vice Mayor: 7/1/08

Nader Baroukh
Council Member
nbaroukh@fallschurchva.gov
Term: 7/1/08 – 6/30/12
First Elected: 7/1/08

Daniel K. Maller
Council Member
dmaller@fallschurchva.gov
Term: 7/1/06 – 6/30/10
First Elected: 7/1/06

David F. Snyder
Council Member
dsnyder@fallschurchva.gov
Term: 7/1/06 – 6/30/10
First Elected: 7/1/94

Daniel X. Sze
Council Member
dansze@fallschurchva.gov
Term: 7/1/06 – 6/30/10
First Elected: 7/1/06

Lawrence Webb
Council Member
lwebb@fallschurchva.gov
First Elected: 7/1/08

 

By Sally Brett

Notes From the Inauguration

Notes from a great day.  Cooooooold, overcast, slight wind.  Layers and layers of clothing, handwarmers in gloves.  Crowds forming at 5:00am, crowds cheering by 5:30 am — cheering anything and everything.  People nearby from Boulder, Seattle, Hawaii.  State Troopers from Ohio.  A couple carrying Canadian flags ahead of us.  Couple next to us apologetic their 18-month old was tired and cranky from being awakened at 3:30; everyone around trying to help.  What a mood everyone is in.  Rick Warren prays to Jesus again and again.  So much for religious pluralism.  Obama in great form.  Looks, sounds like a President — Hollywood sent this guy from central casting.  Not his best speech, but still excellent.  Intentionally somber but hopeful.  A class act, honoring McCain (last night), cordial to Bush.  (Crowd not so classy, cheering as Bush flys away.)  Joseph Lowry with a more appropriate prayer, ending with a crowd chant of “Amen, Amen, Amen.” 

A great inauguration.  

Meanwhile, the stock market drops 330 points.  Tomorrow the work begins.

A prayer of my own.  God bless Obama.  God bless us every one.

Do You Have a Heat Pump?

“These are the times that try men’s heat pumps.”
(Apologies to Thomas Paine)

It’s 10 degrees outside: do you know where your heat pump is? Our first experience with such a machine came when we moved into our Falls Church townhouse six years ago. The first cold snap, I was horrified to look outside and see our heat pump encased in frosty, white ice. A frantic call to Eric at SCS Heating & Air Conditioning ensued:

Eric: “Have you ever had a heat pump before?”

Me: “No.”

Eric: “You’re not going to like it.”

It’s normal for heat pumps to ice over, Eric explained, but they have a defrost cycle that should melt it every so often. Our tired and rusty unit was low on refrigerant and couldn’t muster enough heat to properly defrost. Eric gave it a shot of Freon, and another shot the next summer, but ultimately we replaced it with a shiny unit that hums away and keeps us warm.

Well, sort of. I took its temperature yesterday, dangling a thermometer down a heat vent. The best it could do was 84.4 degrees. Since body temperature is 98.6, the “heated” air feels cool to the skin, even though it “warms” the house. For the last few days our heat pump has run continually but never has managed to raise the room temperature above 66 degrees. That’s actually due to my own frugality – last year I tampered with the thermostat and managed to partially disable the emergency heat strip function. Now the heat strips only turn on if the room temperature is at least 6 degrees lower than the thermostat setting. Read more

FC Model Railroaders Invited to Vienna Open Houses

The last two Winter open houses for the Model Railroad are Saturday February 14, and Saturday, March 14, from 1-5 p.m. at the old Vienna train station.  The impressive model railroad inside the old Vienna station is the Western North Carolina Railroad, circa 1950s. See the full schedule at the Nothern Virginia Model Railroaders website. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.  Bike rack available at the station.

Contributed by Barry Buschow

A National Day of Service: The Falls Church City Community Food Drive

Monday’s National Day of Service Will Include Food Drive in Falls Church

A food drive has been organized in the City of Falls Church on Monday, January 19, as part of plans for President-elect Obama’s call for a national day of service to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. The food drive, one of more than 5,000 service-related events that are expected to take place nationwide, will benefit Food For Others, a non-profit food bank at 2938 Prosperity Drive in the Merrifield area. Food collection boxes will be available at the following locations for those who want to donate food before the 19th:

Falls Church City Hall (through 5 p.m. Friday January 16)
Mary Riley Styles Public Library (through 5 p.m. Sunday January 18)
Falls Church Community Center (through  4 p.m. Monday January 19)

On Monday January 19, the designated national day of service, food donations will be accepted at these additional locations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

“The Big Blue House,” 324 Little Falls Street, Falls Church
Giant Food, Loehmann’s Plaza, 7235 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church

Adults and young people who are interested in volunteering on Monday, January 19, to solicit food donations from their neighbors may also stop by “The Big Blue House,” 324 Little Falls Street, for more information and instructions from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Since the start of the year, area food banks, including Food For Others, have seen their demand more than triple as more and more Northern Virginia families have been impacted by the economic downturn. Persons can contribute canned goods and other non-perishables; in  particular, the food bank is seeking canned tuna, ham, chicken, turkey or beef; peanut butter and jelly, cereal, dried or canned beans, macaroni and cheese, boxed meals, pasta and pasta sauces, rice, fruit juice, coffee, tea and drink mix, canned fruit, vegetables and soup, and bags of sugar and flour.

Originally, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was a day designated for community service. Amid all the excitement surrounding the Inauguration, many felt it was important to take time to renew a commitment to trying to help neighbors.

The food drive is just one of a variety of service opportunities listed at www.usaservice.org, a website created by “Renew America Together,’ a volunteer service initiative announced last Friday (January 9) by Colin L. Powell, an honorary chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Visitors to the website can create their own service project or find a list of events that will be taking place this weekend near their home.  Persons interested in helping to collect food in Falls Church can RSVP in advance by using the “Find an Event” tool on that Web site or by sending an email to service4changefc@aol.com.

Many of the persons involved with organizing the Falls Church food drive worked as volunteers in the local field office of the Obama campaign. They plan to continue to try to work together on other community service projects in the coming months.

contributed by Sara Fitzgerald

Economic Times Hit Falls Church City School Budget

Not surprising in the current economic environment, next year’s school budget reflects a 1% cut from this year.  The school board is scheduled to discuss Dr. Berlin’s budget request during six public venues – three work sessions and three public hearings.  All are open to the public.

You may also watch Dr. Berlin’s budget presentation on FCC-TV or online at http://www.fccps.org/budget. For complete details, click here.

Tell Delegate Scott Your Concerns Via His Annual Survey or at Saturday’s Town Meeting at the Community Center

By now most Falls Church residents have received a copy of Delegate Jim Scott’s Annual Issues Survey.  Those who have not or have inadvertently thrown the survey away may still participate through his website.

The survey, which poses about a dozen questions, can be completed in a few minutes.  Questions concern issues such as taxation, transportation, education, immigration, and the death penalty.

Many citizens often are more aware of the national political process than the state or local.  However, in many respects a person’s daily life may be affected more by decisions made in the state house or the city hall than in the Capitol or the White House.

Surveys offer citizens an opportunity to let their representatives know how they feel about important issues.  Democracy, unlike dictatorship, encourages two-way communication between the governors and governed.  Such exchanges are especially important in these difficult times.

Surveys may be mailed directly to Mr. Scott at the General Assembly Building, 910 Capitol Street, Room 402, Richmond, VA 23218 or completed at his website until February 15:  www.delegatejimscott.com

Mr. Scott will hold a town meeting at the Falls Church Community Center at 9:30 am on Saturday, January 17th.  Senator Mary Margaret Whipple also will attend.

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