In the ultimate cynical political ploy, Deathstar charter change candidate Nader Baroukh and his campaign are now telling voters to vote for the controversial referendum, while also promising it will never be enacted.
Canvassing neighborhoods this week, Nader Baroukh ran into several "vote no" residents who said they were not supporting Nader Baroukh because of his outspoken support for the controversial proposed charter change. The Falls Church News-Press refused to endorse Nader Baroukh, in part, because of his avid support for the charter change (see FCNP Endorsement here). Nader Baroukh said the radical proposal to permanently change the Falls Church City charter was "really designed to just send a message" to developers and he was confident the Virginia Legislature would never actually allow the radical charter change idea to become law. The same message, "vote for the referendum because it will never be enacted," was delivered by Nader Baroukh's campaign manager at the lightly attended Nader Baroukh campaign rally held last Saturday.
Deathstar charter change candidate Nader Baroukh has based his campaign almost entirely on a NIMBY platform and support for making a radical change to the Falls Church City Charter. He has been criticized for his close ties to anti-development interests and for his outspoken criticism of the Falls Church City public school system.
Nader Baroukh has repeated characterized Falls Church City schools as "poorly managed," "declining in academic reputation," and "over crowded." Nader Baroukh has targeted new children coming into the City as the cause for the problems he has identified. As part of campaign platform, Nader Baroukh has vowed to stop new residents with families from moving in by stopping residential development and promising he would be a more hands-on manager of the school budget if elected to City Council. Nader Baroukh's characterization of the poor quality of Falls Church City schools, and his promise to disrupt the delicate, but vitally important, relationship the City Council has with the school budget, have been contradicted by a number of PTA parents, teachers, former elected officials, and current candidates for both the School Board and City Council.
Nader Baroukh is a new resident of Falls Church. Nader Baroukh has never voted in a local election. Nader Baroukh has never served on a board or commission in the City. He is politically conservative with limited ties to the area and no connection or experience with our school system or budget process. He has aligned himself with a group of discredited hyper-political Republicans who have been ousted from local office for running various stealthy and risky schemes in the City.
Deathstar is a controversial charter change. It places a zoning restriction in our City Charter where it cannot be undone without the consent of the Virginia Legislature. It targets families and children as unwelcome new residents. It undermines our entire form of representative local government and substitutes instead a California-style system of "government by resolution." It is aimed specifically as a "cut off your nose to spite yourself" warning to developers who are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to build on vacant and abandoned properties on the main corridors of the City and bring much-needed revenues into the City.
The message already being sent to the market as a result of the current charter change campaign is chilling commercial interest and investors who are wondering exactly how committed Falls Church City is to implementing its comprehensive plan. The charter change campaign has already cost City taxpayers real dollars, and if it passes, as indicated by the Arlington Circuit Court and even sponsors of the effort itself, the contradictory "reach back" language will almost certainly lead to litigation - even before it is evaluated by legislators in Richmond.
Newcomer Nader Baroukh is playing a risky game of chicken with the future of Falls Church City. Has has tied his campaign to passage of a radical charter change, while being a vocal critic of our public school system, and promising voters the charter change he is supporting will never actually become law.
The message of Nader Baroukh is the height of political cynicism. It is nearly identical to the torqued flip-flop politics of his political mentor and chief supporter Republican Team Dave Snyder and appears to be a stealth conservative power play to accomplish through threats and perception what they have not been able to accomplish at the ballot box.
