2023 Candidate Profile: Tim Stevens For Falls Church City Council

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Tim Stevens, the current chair of the Falls Church Planning Commission, is running for Falls Church City Council in the general election.

There are three City Council seats up for grabs in 2023. Stevens is one of four candidates along with incumbent Vice Mayor Letty Hardi, Erin Flynn and Justine Underhill. Mayor David Tarter and Councilmember Phil Duncan are not running for re-election.

City of Falls Church voters will have three City Council seats on the ballot as well as three Falls Church School Board seats, Virginia Senate 37th District, Virginia House 13th District, Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney and Arlington County Clerk of Court.

Early voting for the general election begins Friday, Sept. 22. More information on how to vote is available from the City of Falls Church Voter Registration and Office of Elections.

Patch asked candidates for Falls Church City Council to fill out a candidate questionnaire with the same questions. Here are Stevens's responses:

Name

Tim Stevens

Office Sought

City Council, Falls Church City

Campaign Website

stevensforfallschurch.com

Age (as of Nov. 7 election)

73

Education

B.A. Loyola University Chicago

Occupation

Retired; previously Telecommunications

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

None

Previous public office positions or appointments

Chair, Planning Commission; Chair Environmental Sustainability Council

Why are you seeking this office?

To help continue the excellent progress the City has made over the past decade in achieving fiscal stability, in rejuvenating key public buildings (including building a fantastic new high school), in sustaining our commercial sector and beginning to address key challenges in housing options and our deteriorating climate.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate(s) seeking this post?

I have many years of volunteer service in the City in the areas of planning and the environment, and have participated in regional and statewide organizations to help stay informed about key issues outside our City's borders that will affect our City.

What do you see as the top issues facing (your city), and how do you address them in your campaign platform?

Maintaining our independence as a small jurisdiction is a continuing challenge in Virginia, and we need to keep our institutions such as schools and our commercial sector strong so that we remain an attractive place to live and work. We need to address a significant housing shortage (especially for low and medium income sectors) by encouraging development of more housing options. And we need to do our part in addressing increasingly extreme weather events, both in terms of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, and preparing for future extreme weather events, by adopting and implementing a climate action plan.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have been selected to chair both our Planning Commission and Environmental Sustainability Council, as well as contributed many hours of volunteer service in a wide range of activities, including planting trees, restoring habitat in parks, serving on the Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee, serving on a committee to select the firms that designed and built our high school, designing credits for reducing stormwater runoff, serving on a Council of Governments environmental committee, and several other key civic organizations (CBC, VPIS).

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I lived for a year in New Zealand, owned and operated a small wine shop in Vienna, VA, and have been endorsed by the Virginia Sierra Club for this fall's election. I was also a docent at the Supreme Court, and a life-long bicyclist.