The next Falls Church City Council will be the one to decide whether some City advisory panels need to be merged or disbanded.
“This would be a big effort. Even getting rid of one is going to have all kinds of psychological weight associated with it,” City Manager Wyatt Shields acknowledged when the proposal to consider changes to advisory boards and commissions came up at meeting last week.
Council member Debora Schantz-Hiscott mentioned the possibility in her role as chair of the Council’s government operations committee.
Schantz-Hiscott said it is time for a thorough review of the approximately two dozen panels that provide advice to city leaders on a variety of topics.
“The long-term goal is to simplify our board structure, ensure that the boards and commissions are providing what staff needs and what Council needs,” she said. “You want them to be effective and adding to the process, not slowing anything down.”
Schantz-Hiscott acknowledged it would be a “sticky conversation” to have with those who volunteer their time in unpaid advisory roles.
“There’s no intent to say they’re not valuable. They are,” said Schantz-Hiscott, one of four Council members whose terms expire at the end of December.
At the end of the discussion, leaders generally agreed to defer discussion on the topic until early 2026, when the new Council will be in place.
“This feels like kind of a January discussion,” Mayor Letty Hardi said.
Despite the six-month delay, Hardi largely agreed that it’s time for a comprehensive look at the current state of advisory panels, starting with a broad overview before delving into specifics.
“We have some dysfunctional boards that are not effective,” she said. “I kind of want to diagnose the ‘why’ before we figure out how we fix it. Before we get to the ‘how,’ I want to spend more time on ‘why.'”
During the conversation, Shields said he could think of “about four” panels that might be worth consolidating or eliminating. He did not specify the ones he had in mind.
At several points in the meeting, the city manager asked whether elected leaders really had the desire to tackle the subject.
“Does the Council really want to see this through?” Shields asked. He predicted “a lot of, sort of, pushback” from those who might see their commissions imperiled.
“These are people that are really committed to the community. There are lots of opportunities for there to be bad feelings,” the city manager said.
Asked to weigh in, City Clerk Celeste Heath said it likely made sense to put review of advisory panels on a regular schedule.
“We probably should be on a five-year plan,” she said.
Some advisory panels are required by state law, while City Council members created others. In addition to the city-centric bodies, Falls Church also taps members of more than a dozen regional bodies, as well.
The new-in-2026 City Council will include at least one newcomer, as Schantz-Hiscott is not seeking re-election. On the ballot for the four seats will be incumbents David Snyder, Laura Downs and Marybeth Connelly and challengers Arthur Agin, Brian Pendleton and James Thompson, Jr.
The seats of Hardi and colleagues Justine Underhill and Erin Flynn will not be on the ballot until 2027.
