Add Falls Church to the list of Northern Virginia localities where elected officials are worried about implications of Donald Trump’s victory.
“Things may very well change fairly dramatically,” City Council member David Snyder said last Wednesday (Nov. 6), the day after a national election that swept the former president back into office and saw Republicans potentially controlling both houses of Congress.
Snyder was speaking at an agenda-setting session for future meetings, led by Mayor Letty Hardi.
Hardi herself, though more indirectly, addressed concerns about the impact of the change in political dominance in Washington.
“Things don’t always move in a straight line in this country,” she said. “We’ll keep doing good stuff here in Falls Church.”
The immediate trickle-down impact on local government is probably negligible. But changes in federal policies and budget priorities could pile up over time. Among the areas of concern among local leaders: transportation and transit funding.
Whether those impacts will arrive in time to impact the city government’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget is something leaders will have to start thinking about. Planning for that budget, to take effect in July 2025, will begin soon, with City Manager Wyatt Shields presenting his proposal in late March.
Trump was not a fan favorite among the Falls Church electorate, winning just 17.9% of the vote to 79.5% for Democrat Kamala Harris. The remainder was split among four third-party candidates and write-in votes.
But the former and now future president did undertake a visit to the Little City during the campaign. He made a surprise appearance in late August at Truong Tien, a restaurant in the Eden Center, a haven for businesses owned by Vietnamese immigrants and those of Vietnamese ancestry.
The visit was in support of Hung Cao, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. Cao ended up losing the race to incumbent Democrat Tim Kaine.
While keeping an eye on the national scene, city leaders also are finalizing their legislative wish list in preparation for the 2025 General Assembly session. Adoption is expected on Nov. 25, with the legislature slated to convene on Jan. 8.
Neither statewide offices nor General Assembly seats were on the Nov. 5 ballot, so the balance of power remains the same in Richmond, with Republicans leading the executive branch and Democrats controlling both houses of the legislature.
