With under three weeks to go before the Nov. 7 election, the four candidates seeking three open slots on the Falls Church City Council meet for their third and final debate tonight. Under the auspices of the Citizens for a Better City, the debate will be held at the American Legion Hall on N. Oak at 7 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend, listen and ask questions.

The candidates, incumbent Vice Mayor Letty Hardi seeking a third four-year term on the Council, and first-time candidates Justine Underhill, Erin Flynn and Tim Stevens, are all expected to attend, as they did for their debate in front of the monthly luncheon of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce this Tuesday.

Tuesday’s debate was held outdoors at the Dominion Beer and Wine on West Broad and was a robust exchange of views centered on the role of small businesses in the Little City. Hardi, Underhill and Stevens are all endorsed by Falls Church Forward, the Sierra Club and the News-Press and Flynn is endorsed by the Village Preservation and Improvement Society.

In their opening statements, Hardi said she is determined to “keep Falls Church on the path of reasonable development, inclusivity and sustainability,” citing her family’s restaurateur background here and stressing the importance of housing, retention of the City’s small-town character and its small businesses. She noted the importance of continued infrastructure improvements with “no pause on progress.”

Underhill she said is a financial reporter and documentary filmmaker dedicated to affordable housing and developing walkable, bikeable areas. Stevens said he liked that Falls Church is “a welcoming place for a range of political views,” dedicated to local business as he, himself, was owner of a wine store in Vienna before moving to Falls Church where he is now chair of the Planning Commission.

Flynn, with a child in the first grade here, cited a 13 year history as an attorney with the Department of Justice dedicated to providing “effective oversight and balanced decision making.”

On small business challenges in Falls Church, Underhill cited the importance of retaining local businesses through incentives and adjustments to the BPOL and other taxes. Stevens said the government should be more accessible to small businesses and that development, with more housing options, is bringing more customers here.

Flynn said the budget surpluses may be due to the cost of business fees, and said work is needed to fill “high profile vacancies” in the commercial areas.

Hardi said that for her, five ideas are BPOL and license tax reform, government accessibility, population growth, emphasizing adaptive uses, as with the Stratford Motel property, and key City investments in downtown.

On mixed use projects, Stevens cited the “tangible, impressive results of progress against an anti-development past in the City, but that development going forward needs to meet a higher bar. Flynn said that half the new projects are “underperforming,” and larger developments are “risky.”

Hardi said she supports larger scale mixed use projects, noting the $4.5 million surplus they’ve helped create in the current city budget and the 12.5 lowering of the real estate tax rate as a result. “We need a healthy pipeline of new projects,” she said.

Underhill noted that more are now working from home and two out of 10 in new town house projects now don’t own a car. She hailed the $1.9 million dedicated to affordable housing in the new projects and the need to promote walkability.

Flynn applauded the gains in affordable housing and the use of the Amazon Reach funds program promoting home ownership. She said her opposition to the recent t-zone changes had to do with whether the Council would retain control.

Hardi said the challenges are to preserve affordable housing at The Fields and Read Building, to add more affordable housing, citing the Council’s work to increase the percentage in new projects from six to 12 percent permanent affordable units, totalling 90 new units recently.

Underhill said affordable housing should be available to those with only 30 percent of the area median income, be allowed in transportation corridors to make it easier to use public transit, and include affordable dwelling units, or “backyard flats,” on current properties.

Stevens said the question needs to be asked, “What kind of community do we want to be?” Affordable housing needs to be available for younger, first time buyers, and he said it is important that the newly adopted transitional zone rules “limit the size of units to 1,500 square feet,

Hardi noted that in the last 10 years despite all the development, the volume of traffic in the City has not increased. She called for the full array of traffic calming measures, including new sidewalks, speed bumps, speed and red light cameras, and a lowering of the speed limit in residential areas.

Underhill said she wants a “shuttle around Falls Church connecting us to the Metro stations,” and a connectivity of the W&OD Trail to the City, plus more bike lanes, and a downtown parking garage.

Stevens called for better traffic signal coordination and sidewalks, along with protected bike lanes and small roundabouts like Alexandria is now developing.

Flynn called for greater “ease of movement to use local businesses, with sidewalk and crosswalk improvements that “won’t dissect the City into quadrants,” maybe adding a “bike loop” in downtown.

Underhill said it is vital that seniors be able to afford to live here with better sidewalks and places to go, including for health care services. Stevens said affordable dwelling units will be key to “families being able to resolve issues important to them” using “universal design” to make it “easier for older folks to get around.” He said tax rebates can also help keep older people here. 

Flynn hailed the willingness of older residents to invest in the schools, and the City must respond to the need for affordable housing with tax relief and protections against tear-downs of ramblers and other smaller homes.

Hardi called for expanding tax credits to help more seniors be able to stay here.

A question about favorite businesses candidates currently use drew Cafe Kindred from Stevens, Doodlehopper, Lemon Lane and Haandi and the Eden Center from Flynn, and, with three children, multiple grocery stores, coffee shops, Brown’s Hardware, the Eden Center and doctor services from Hardi. Underhill cited the bakeries, including Preservation Biscuits and Welsh Printing for her campaign materials.

Debate moderator Andrew Painter, head of the Chamber’s legislative committee, ended the program by expressing appreciation for the candidates, noting that running for office is “an act of public service,” and stressing that “democracy is not a spectator sport.”