Introducing the 2025 Falls Church City Council Candidates!

Opportunities to meet the candidates

The following are the candidate forums that have been scheduled.

Additional “meet and greet” opportunities are being offered:

Statements from the 6 City Council candidates

The candidates are:

• Laura T. Downs – incumbent
• David F. Snyder – incumbent
• Marybeth D. Connelly – incumbent
• Arthur H. Agin
• Brian W. Pendleton
• James Thompson

Laura Downs (www.votelauradowns.com)

As a 16-year resident of Falls Church City and a member of the City Council, it has been thrilling to watch our community grow and thrive with new mixed-use developments, condominiums, apartments, shops, and restaurants. If re-elected, I will continue to support growth and the tax revenue it generates, while also preserving and respecting established neighborhoods, single-family homes, and our city’s small-town character and rich history.

It is an honor to run for re-election to the City Council.  Since being elected in a Special Election in November 2024, I have learned a great deal about our city, met hundreds of residents, and have embraced the challenge of balancing growth with preservation. I’m excited to run for a full, four-year term.

In addition to serving as a current City Council member, I was elected to the Falls Church City School Board in 2019, and during my four-year term, I served as Chair for two years. Notably, I am one of only six FCC residents to have been elected to both the City Council and the School Board. As a mom of four boys with a professional background in higher education administration, I have become involved in educational organizations within our community. I am the current president of the Mary Ellen Henderson MS PTA (and served as Elementary PTA president from 2017 to 2018), and I am a current Board member of the Falls Church Education Foundation.

The four pillars of my platform are: streets, services, schools, and stewardship. 

In terms of streets, I will emphasize bikeability, walkability, and pedestrian safety, and address neighborhood traffic calming and congestion. I will also push to beautify the city by expanding the tree canopy, funding parklets, and increasing green space.

I have taken a deep dive into many city services as a current member of the City Council’s Government Operations Committee. I explore staffing needs and process improvements in our city offices and consider ways to keep the public better informed about issues before the Council.

Due to my School Board experience, I can utilize my extensive knowledge of the School Board budget, the City Council/ General Government budget, and the revenue sharing agreement to ensure the schools are fully funded, especially if enrollment increases.

Protecting the health of our city through stewardship is crucial, and I will always strive to strike a balance between lowering the real estate tax rate and maintaining sufficient revenue to support city staff salaries, our schools, the police department, public works, and infrastructure projects. I will continue to work with my City Council colleagues to craft a thoughtful approach and encourage compromise when necessary to build consensus and find balanced solutions that reflect both data and community input.

David Snyder (davidfsnyderforcitycouncil.com)

Today we face a future of unique uncertainty. That is why I ask for your vote. Having served our citizens, City, and region through good times and bad—9/11, the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and now challenges posed by the federal administration, I have always applied our community’s values of inclusion and effective government and hope to continue to work with you to address our local and regional challenges.

I grew up in a small city in Western Pennsylvania’s coal mining region and was blessed with parents who were community activists. Following graduate school, my wife Edie and I found this community with great schools where you can raise a family safely and make a difference. After serving on the board of the Falls Church Housing Corporation, I have been elected to City Council since 1994, served as Mayor and Vice Mayor, and chaired regional transportation, emergency preparedness, and environmental bodies.

Working together, we have prospered and prevailed over the years, and together, we can do even better. Here is where I stand:       

Budget Priorities—Support highest quality schools and public safety, including police, fire, and EMS; promote traffic safety and transportation infrastructure; advance housing and environmental goals; address basic infrastructure needs; provide support to families affected by layoffs; seek opportunities to reduce the tax rate, such as grants.

Future Development—Negotiate effectively for the City, including demanding more commercial space and affordable housing and assuring that commitments developers make are fulfilled; work to protect neighborhoods in all development discussions and proposals.

Environment— Collaborate regionally to address climate objectives; advocate for new developments to meet higher environmental standards; provide incentives, information, and support to homeowners for energy conservation, renewable energy, and stormwater management; assist in carrying out City environmental plans.

Transportation—Increase traffic calming and enforcement of lower speed limits on our streets; enhance bike and pedestrian infrastructure; continue to achieve funding for local projects, as I have done for the W&OD Trail enhancements, Bikeshare, and Park Avenue improvements; move forward to conduct the Route 7 Bus Rapid Transit Study; consider “out of the box” systemic solutions.

Regional Leadership—Lead regionally with local benefits, particularly funding. I currently chair the National Capital Region Emergency Preparedness Council and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and serve as vice chair of the Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee and the Northern Virgina Transportation Authority. Through these roles, I have helped obtain $55+ million in regional funding for City projects.

The future of the City is in hands of the voters. I ask that you judge the candidates not by our words, but by our past actions and our record of performance for this community. Thank you for voting on or before November 4^th.

Marybeth Connelly (www.marybethconnelly.com)

Before I threw my hat into the ring for City Council in 2013, I never thought I’d run for a single term, let alone a fourth! Serving as a Council member has been a rewarding and challenging experience. It requires a willingness to learn and collaborate, and I am always ready to do both.

Since my first term Falls Church has changed a lot, but much has stayed the same. I am so proud of the intentional growth that my Council colleagues and I have been able to accomplish through thoughtful decision-making and community collaboration.

My campaign kick-off was in Big Chimneys Park, which is a perfect example of the benefits of intentional growth through collaboration and hard work of the whole community: residents, businesses, council, and staff.

When my kids were little, Big Chimneys was the scary park – muddy and dark with old, squeaky equipment. Before I was elected, Council approved the 301 W. Broad Special Exception that included funding to renovate the park. It took years to implement; costs went up, and I was part of the Council that approved additional funding. Recreation & Parks staff sought input from the community. City employees brought it to life.  Once it opened, everyone forgot about the struggles and we all enjoy the park.

This story has been repeated again and again. Collaboration and listening work. The details change, but the format is the same. Whether it is the will to improve roads or build schools, Falls Church has been able to tap into the power of community collaboration  to make it happen.

Another result of our intentional growth is that much has stayed the same. Falls Church is a friendly community. Our schools provide a great education. Our residents and businesses are committed to success. Elements like trees, crosswalks, sidewalks, schools, library, public art, bike lanes, neighborhoods, and parks ensure small-town character. More people call Falls Church home and our increasingly diverse community is a desirable place to live, work, play, and visit.

I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished:

• Better roads
• Better sidewalks
• Better parks
• Better services
• Reduced tax rates
• Better community engagement
• Better relationships with our regional neighbors

Future challenges include maintaining and increasing affordable housing, infrastructure needs, traffic concerns, budget constraints. I am ready to tackle all of them with a commitment to learning and collaboration.

I’m running again because this work isn’t done. It won’t ever be done. I hope you will trust me to be one of the Council members who continues to represent you and look out for the best interests of our community.

Arthur Agin (agin4fallschurch.com)

I’m Arthur Agin and I’m running for city council because I want to help build a better Falls Church.

After graduating with an engineering degree from Georgia Tech, I spent several years in the United States Army as a communications officer. That service, which took me from Georgia to South Korea to Arizona, taught me the importance of clear communication and decisive action. It shaped who I am. It provided a foundation for leadership and continues to influence my career. It’s why I believe in people, commitment and ethical behavior.

After my service and getting an MBA from Cornell, I landed in the D.C. area. It’s here that I pioneered services at companies like MCI, Iridium, Nextel, and launched Amtrak’s first passenger app. My years leading product teams taught me how to quickly learn, analyze problems, build agreement, and deliver results.

Seven years ago, my family moved to Falls Church for its exceptional community and schools. I sought a way to be involved and for the last five years have served on the city’s Advisory Committee on Transportation (CACT), where I am currently chairman. This gives me a deep understanding of our city government, streets, neighborhoods, and development process.

In my time on the CACT, we have accomplished a lot, but I see great potential ahead which can be realized by:

I’m your neighbor – someone who chose to raise a family here and has a personal stake in getting this right. Falls Church deserves leaders who will listen, work through differences, and never forget we work for you.

This fall vote “A”.

Brian Pendleton (www.pen4fcc.org)

Hi, my name is Brian Pendleton, and I’m running for City Council.

I’ve lived in Falls Church, first as a renter and then a homeowner since 2010. I first fell in love with Falls Church because it reminded me of the town I went to university in, Fayetteville, AR. Over the years, I have continued to love Falls Church because of the people and businesses that have become an integral part of my life. Whether it’s seeing the same people every day on one of my walks around the city or always being greeted by name at the local restaurants and stores, it’s hard to believe anywhere else could be better.

My primary focus if elected will be to ensure that our city staff have the best processes, procedures and tools to do their job which is to serve the citizens and businesses of Falls Church. Currently, if you go to the city’s website, https://fallschurchva.gov/, you’ll see a survey asking for you to share your experience with the city’s permitting process and I urge you to fill it out. However, it’s not just the permitting process that needs to be reviewed but every process that is used by staff to do their jobs. We need to see where new processes can enhance staff’s ability to provide services and where we may need new technology to assist them. Additionally, transparency must be a priority when interacting with staff during any service request.

An example of a process that could be helped with new technology is the reporting of a pothole. The city should have a portal that allows a person to report a pothole at a location, upload a picture of the pothole, and, if they choose, to be contacted once the pothole has been fixed. From that point, the person reporting the hole should be able to see what department received that initial notification, who read the notification and what they did after reading it. As the request to fix the pothole moves between departments, the person should be able to see what department is working on it, what person or crew is working on the request, and ultimately when the request was completed.

By having better systems and processes in place, we can build better metrics to understand how long people should expect their requests to take, and when those requests take longer than normal, who is holding up the request and why.

I hope to be able to speak to most if not all of you over the next few months and please feel free to reach out to me at brian@pen4fcc.org if you have any questions.

James Thompson (www.thompsonforfcc.com)

Having spent over two decades in service to our country, I’m excited for the opportunity to continue serving our community on the Falls Church City Council.  My wife, Lynel – an emergency veterinarian – and I moved to Winter Hill in 2013, first as renters and now as homeowners.  Since then, we’ve added five children, a couple of dogs and cats, and more than a few fish.  Four of our children attend FCC public schools, including Mary Ellen Henderson, Oak Street, and Mount Daniel.  We love this City, and we are invested in its future.

Professionally, my career in the Marine Corps has taken me from flying in combat to sailing aboard Navy ships in the Middle East, piloting Marine One for multiple presidents and Pope Francis, working at the White House during both the Trump and Biden administrations, and most recently serving as an advisor at the State Department until July of this year.  Serving in those roles across administrations taught me the importance of building relationships and maintaining professionalism – two traits I consider vital to the work of the City Council.

Beyond my military career, I’ve worked to strengthen our community here at home.  Since 2021, I’ve served as President of the Winter Hill Community Association, focusing on reinforcing our neighborhood’s sense of community, especially important following the COVID pandemic.  I also teach a college-level course on homeland security, co-started the Let Me Run program and helped expand to Oak Street and Mary Ellen Henderson, and coached rec soccer and FCKLL baseball.  At the same time, I’ve continued my own education, earning a Master’s degree during multiple deployments and now pursuing a PhD in Public Policy at Liberty University, an online program that provides the flexibility I need to continue personal growth and lifelong learning.

Looking ahead, I believe Falls Church City is at a pivotal moment.  The pace of development has surpassed the capacity of our infrastructure, creating real concerns around traffic, parking, stormwater and sewers, schools, and pedestrian safety.  My goal is to pause, let the dust settle, and focus on these pressing issues before approving further development.  I want to ensure our growth is sustainable, thoughtful, and centered on the well-being of our residents – not developers – while maintaining the community feel that makes this city special.

If elected, I will bring an even-keeled perspective to Council decisions, seek out community input early and often, consult experts with diverse perspectives, and serve as a community-centered, independent voice to balance and strengthen the work of the Council.  The coming years will shape the future of our city, and I am committed to ensuring that every decision reflects the needs of the entire community, not just the loudest voices.