The two candidates on the ballot this fall seeking election to fill a vacant seat on the Falls Church City Council squared off for their second and last in-person debate before the monthly luncheon of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce at the Italian Cafe Tuesday. 

Both – Laura Downs and John Murphy – are engaged in considerable civic involvements and exhibited in-depth knowledge of local Falls Church issues.

Downs has served four years as an elected member of the Falls Church School Board, including two as chair, being the only in recent memory to serve two consecutive terms in that role during the recent uniquely difficult Covid-19 pandemic era.

Murphy, a lifelong City resident, has served six years as an appointed member of the City’s Board of Zoning Appeals. A past president of the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS), he resigned his role on that board to remove any concerns for a conflict of interest while running for the Council seat.

Citizens casting early ballots have already voted for one or the other leading

up to the final Election Day of Nov. 5. The deadline to register to vote was this Tuesday, and the last day to vote early will be Nov. 2. The News-Press has endorsed Downs.

Downs made a strong argument before the pro-business Chamber audience that “what is good for business is good for the city,” as she said in her concluding remarks. She noted the critical role that economic development has played in bringing down the tax rate (by 14 cents in the last three years) and providing for the City’s high-quality school system. 

She identified with the policies of recent years that have contributed to the conditions here that the AARP, in a recent study, says makes Falls Church the No. 1 “most livable” jurisdiction in the entire state of Virginia (see story, elsewhere this edition).

Murphy, who grew up in Falls Church, vowed if elected to take a “data driven, evidenced based approach” to issues before the City Council, adding, “It won’t be easy.”

The Chamber’s debate moderator Andrew Painter reminded the audience at the conclusion to vote, noting that “democracy is not a spectator sport.”

While Falls Church Council member Justine Underhill was in the audience, along with Planning Commissioner Phil Duncan, most of the rest were local small business owners and operators, as usually the case for participants in the Chamber here. The audience included a number of first-time attendees as all were invited to make brief introductions to the group. Chamber executive Elise Neil Bengtson functioned as the time-keeper, and current board chair Dave Chance did the introductions to open the program.

The two candidates have been actively campaigning since a seat on the seven-member City Council came open in August with the surprise resignation of Council member Caroline Lian, who was found to have failed to provide complete information on her application to originally run for the position.’

There is one more year to Lian’s unexpired term, which means that either Downs or Murphy, depending on who wins, will have to face the prospect of seeking re-election in just a year’s time.

 The only issue discussed at Tuesday’s forum where the candidates took

directly opposite positions concerned a measure now being considered by the City Council that would lower the parking requirements that businesses in the City would have to comply with.

Downs said she favors the measure that would exempt the first 1,000 square feet of a business from any parking requirement, while Murphy said that a “one size fits all” approach should be avoided.

Asked to comment on the fact that Falls Church and Loudoun County are the only jurisdictions in the wider region who have enjoyed tax cuts in recent years, Loudoun on account of the revenue generated by controversial energy-hogging data centers, Downs said that despite the 14 cent cut recently the tax rate for Falls Church is still very high by comparison to other areas, but that new mixed use projects coming online will drive it down further.

“We have to keep chipping away at it,” she said, adding there is no way to do it except through economic development.

Murphy said that because of its small 2.2 square mile size, Falls Church can’t enjoy “economies of scale” and that the business community needs to grow. “Citizens want everything,” he said, “and it is important to set priorities.”