To the chagrin of his colleagues, Falls Church City Council member David Snyder ("Team Dave") skipped the 2008 council planning retreat. The retreat is an annual offsite meeting designed to facilitate internal council communication and set operational ground rules for how public business is conducted, how council interacts with city staff and boards and commissions, and how members represent the city on regional boards.
Snyder made a perfunctory appearance on the first day, where he answered work emails and did not participate in any discussions. The meeting had been planned for several months. The day before the retreat Snyder notified his colleagues he would miss the retreat because he had to travel on Friday evening for a work-related meeting the following week. He shared no planning suggestions, offered no input, and just stopped in on the way to the airport.
All other city council members attended both days of the retreat.
Snyder has been openly critical of the other council members and city staff on a variety of key issues this past year. He has voted against six of the last eight city budgets, voted against the hiring of the current city manager, refused to acknowledge the service of retiring council member David Chavern, voted against the selection of the mayor and vice mayor, against all mixed use projects in the city, against the historic affordable housing initiative, tried to gag the Economic Development Authority from holding a public forum on the city center south project, criticized opponents of the "abuser fee" transportation funding compromise, tried to gag the city manger and city staff from providing citizens data on the city center initiative, supported a charter change resolution which would have transferred local development authority to the Virginia Assembly, voted against first reading of budget resolution to fully funding the 2009 school board budget, openly campaigned against the CBC organization which endorsed his 2006 election, and quit the Virginia GOP.
Snyder's decision to skip the council retreat is seen by many as a signal he intends to continue to work on council to undermine planned economic development initiates and continue his criticism of our school system and city staff. Snyder's term is up 2010.
