Council Unanimously Votes to Hire Hendler-Voss as New City Manager, Beginning Sept. 14

At City Hall yesterday evening, Aug. 14, the F.C. City Council voted unanimously (7-0) to hire Seth Hendler-Voss – most recently, director of parks and recreation for Prince William County, Va. – as the next City Manager of the City of Falls Church, Va. 

The Falls Church Independent attended the cheerful, emotional Council session and the community reception at City Hall welcoming Hendler-Voss, his wife Amanda Hendler-Voss – senior minister of D.C.’s First Congregational United Church of Christ – and their son Simon, who had just attended his very first day of high school at Meridian. 

We had a chance to speak to Hendler-Voss, Mayor Letty Hardi, a few Council members, several of Hendler-Voss's Prince William Co. colleagues, and community leaders about one of the City’s most significant governing transitions in recent years involving perhaps its most difficult managerial position. 

In the 6 p.m. Council session, each of the Council members expressed warm appreciation both for outgoing City Manager Wyatt Shields who’ll be officially retiring Sept. 4 after 23 years of service for the City of Falls Church Government, and for the newly–hired Hendler-Voss, who gave an exceptionally thoughtful thank-you speech, as several Prince William County executives attended the session to show their support for him as an ideal fit to take on the Falls Church City Manager position. 

The City Council also voted unanimously that Jenny Carroll, deputy city manager, will serve as Acting City Manager until Hendler–Voss’s first official day on the job, Monday, Sept. 14. 

Mayor Letty Hardi opened the session with a warm welcome to Hendler-Voss, seated with his family (minus one son off in college) in the first row of the chambers. Referring to him as “Seth,” she began, “So, the City Manager, as we know, is one of the most important positions in Fall Church. This is the person who leads our professional staff, manages our day-to-day operations, helps turn all our priorities up here into action, and ultimately has an enormous impact on the quality of life in the Little City. So finding the right person for this job was a big responsibility. We're going see a challenge up here. We had a thorough national search, lots of input from the staff and the community and from this Council."

The 'Importance of Place and Community'

“And Seth Hendler-Voss really stood out. Seth, you bring a remarkable depth of local government experience, but what impressed me personally the most is the combination of things you bring to this job. You understand how to get things done. You understand the importance of place and community, and you're someone who listens and works collaboratively,” the mayor continued. “And I think that's a really good fit for Falls Church. We're a city that wants to grow and evolve, but we also care deeply about what makes this place special. We want to be ambitious and grow without losing our sense of community, and we want to solve problems, not just talk about them. And we need a manager who can bring people together and turn ideas into results.

“So, Seth, we are very excited to welcome you and your family to Falls Church. We're grateful that you said ‘yes’ to this job, and we're looking forward to everything that we’ll accomplish together.”

From the dais, Vice Mayor Laura Downs then added, “This is a bittersweet day for all of us. You know, Mr. Shields, Wyatt, you've done such incredible things for this community. And I always use the term ‘from strength to strength.’ You've put us in a great position of strength, and I think it's going to be a perfect entry for Mr. Seth…. But in terms of just really being able to set us up on a strong path, You've really just done so many great things. I’m getting really emotional up here.... And as someone who's lived here 17 years and has just watched the City grow and watched all you've done and the care you've taken working with our citizens, the gentle approach, never jumping to conclusions, always being such a calm person. No matter what is happening, you've always been that calm presence, which is so helpful for all of us up here on the dais.” 

Someone who's 'passionate, compassionate, and warm'

“And Mr. Hendler-Voss, I will say that we, during the review and during the interview process, we had, as the mayor said, our staff very involved in this process. And the staff were tremendously enthusiastic about your candidacy,” Downs continued. “And I think because Mr. Shields has set us on a path of what it means to have someone who's passionate, compassionate, and warm, and the staff has loved working for you. And I think seeing someone come in showing those same attributes has really got the staff excited.”

Council member Dave Synder spoke in praise of the thorough and well-administered selection process. “In addition to comments that have been made, I'd like to especially thank all of our citizens who were involved in this process. We got input from our citizens as to what they were expecting, and from members of the boards and commissions. And particularly, I want to thank staff, especially our personnel department. It was tremendously helpful in this process. We had an excellent consultant, and I want to thank Council colleagues. I think this process was as rigorous as we could possibly make it.”

Council member Erin Flynn added, “I think we've heard the term enthusiasm and the celebratory nature of tonight, not only to celebrate decades of public service, but to bring in a person who’s also been so committed to public service over the last decade or two decades [turning to Hendler-Voss] of your professional career. And what really stood out to me during the process was not only your credentials and story that made sense in terms of all the pieces fitting together …. as a next step for both you and for the City, but just your level of preparedness in coming into the interview, sort of the genuine interest you took in the City, its staff, the Council, the community, making your own secret visits here to make sure that the role felt right for you and I appreciated all of that preparation and know it will serve you well both in your initial meetings with staff, helping to build relationships with staff, and the work you'll do on behalf of the community here.”

Outgoing City Manager Wyatt Shields then spoke humbly for a bit. “....I want to congratulate the City Council on a rigorous and thorough and very successful recruitment process, and I know all who participated in it, we're very thankful to be included in it, and I congratulate you on a great decision. And Sharon [Gibson] and our HR department, thank you for your support. And on behalf of the City staff, Seth, we're really excited to welcome you to the city of Falls Church workforce. And on a personal level, my wife, Patty, who's here, she and I also look forward to welcoming our new neighbors, and to welcoming Amanda and Simon. Welcome to the City of Falls Church. And I know this is the first day of school for Simon, so this is a big day in a lot of ways.”

Approaching the lectern, Prince William Co. Supervisor Victor Angry then spoke in praise of Hendler-Voss. “First [I’d like to say], I am not enthusiastic about losing Seth, but I am very enthusiastic about you all and the growth and the specialness of the city. You're getting a special person for this position. Thank you. I've been on the Board now for eight years. Seth has been there all eight of those years for me. He’s very responsive. Everything you've said, I'm living proof. He's your guy. So I simply came up here to support him because he's your guy.”

Woodridge District Rep. to the Prince William Co. Parks & Recreation Commission, Sharon Richardson, then vouched for Hendler-Voss. “All of my tenure on the [commission] has been under Seth’s direction. We serve as citizen volunteers and act as a liaison between the Department of Parks and Recreation and our county board….. I just want to say that, as you've heard, you're getting a fantastic new City Manager, and he has big shoes to fill, but I think he's the person to fill them. As a citizen serving on a county commission, I've watched Seth navigate trying to put together a comprehensive budget. He has solid proven experience listening to community members, other stakeholders, going to his staff, and trying to make sure that all of those things are taken into account. And so if he can do that for our Department of Parks and Rec., I know he’ll do it for your city. And I just want to wish Seth and his family well. It was – as you can see – it was important enough for us, many of us in Prince William, to come up here and say goodbye to him officially and to tell you what a great value you're getting.”

Hendler-Voss Describes Vision, Gives Thanks

Now the City Manager-elect Hendler-Voss approached the lectern to express his vision for serving the City of Falls Church and to give thanks. “Madam mayor, Council members, staff, guests and citizens, former colleagues, I am overwhelmed with all these kind remarks. I don't think I've ever heard so many nice things said about me in one room at one time. Truly, a humbling experience.”

“I want to start out by simply summarizing just how incredibly grateful I am for the Falls Church community. From the interview process through this evening, my family and I have experienced wide open arms. So we received congratulatory emails, a welcome packet, multiple offers to move, a plate of cookies showed up in the lobby of our apartment complex after we moved. It truly feels like we’re coming home, and that's what makes Falls Church such a special community. I truly believe, from walking your streets and talking to your stakeholders and residents, that Falls Church really exudes a brand of community spirit that is found almost nowhere else in these United States.

“I want to thank you, Mayor Hardi, and the Council members for your trust and confidence to lead this tremendous team and to effectuate, carry out your very bold and exciting strategic priorities. This is a pivotal time for the community and the organization with a lot riding on selecting a leader, who can translate ideas into action while fostering the engaged culture and the small town sense of place that has brought Falls Church so much success over its many years of existence."

A Servant's Heart

“And to that end, I just want to let you know how seriously I take this appointment. I'm eager to roll up my sleeves and dive into all the challenges with humility, authenticity, inclusiveness, collaboration, and a servant's heart. There's no doubt in my mind that the work ahead will be very, very challenging, but I'm convinced we are assured success if we work together, if we listen to one another, if we communicate often and transparently, and we always look out for the best in each other.

“.... I'm looking forward to supporting and learning from the amazing staff here tonight and those who aren't in this room. I believe the talent of this staff is the fuel that's going to help us achieve new possibilities, And I want to credit the Mayor and Council for involving staff in the selection process …. It really speaks to the importance you place in the perspective of the people who honestly are the ones who do all of the work, and many of them do that work behind the scenes. To all of the staff in the room tonight and all of the staff that may be listening online, I look forward to building your trust, and I look forward to doing really great work with you. 

“I'm also looking forward to engaging with the residents, businesses, and all the community leaders by listening deeply to your needs and your ideas and making sure you understand how decisions are made and why decisions are being made. My favorite part of public service is building relationships and fostering trust, making believers out of people when it comes to local government. One thing you can expect from me is I will always listen. I will always be focused on making government accessible and responsive to all people, and I will always be focused on excellent service delivery and providing the best value for our taxpayers, our ratepayers, and all of our residents in general.

“I'd like to thank my Prince William County colleagues and the leadership for joining us tonight. You know, over the last few days, there have been a lot of things written about our accomplishments together. But what really hasn't been reported on is how much I've learned and grown as a leader because of the team around me. And last, I want to thank my family, Amanda, Simon, who are here tonight, for all your support through the transition and all of your support for all my career successes as a whole. My eldest son, Miles, can't be here tonight. He's a sophomore at [Christopher Newport University]. He's probably studying really hard right now.

"Simon Davis finished his first day at Meridian, and so he and I are sharing a very special milestone together today. And then a special shoutout, of course, to our unsung heroes, our educators, who work their butts off over the summer preparing for what promises to be a [great year for you.] I could say a whole lot more about this community, but I'll just end by expressing gratitude once again. Thank you for believing in me.”

At the welcoming reception, we asked Mayor Hardi how she felt about the Council’s unanimous decision to hire Hendler-Voss. “Awesome,” she said. “While it was one of the biggest responsibilities we had in filling very big shoes that Wyatt leaves behind, it was actually a very easy process and we were all super excited and saw the same potential and skills that Seth brings. And in some ways, the unanimous vote reflects that.”

'You have seven bosses....'

We asked the mayor how the City Manager job might be considered the most difficult in the City’s civil service. “I think it's like the most difficult job because you're literally on all the time. You have seven bosses, so we all know how hard it is to work for one boss, right. Much less seven. And so between balancing the needs of the workforce and staff, the opinions of seven members of Council, and trying to do the right thing, I think threading the needle on that is always a really tough job. And Wyatt has done it with such grace and compassion.”

An “even keel” is highly important in the position, the mayor agreed. “Yes. That’s such an important quality, to not be ruffled by whatever new thing comes along. I mean, sometimes it frustrates me, to be fair. But also that, you know, he doesn't jump at every single thing. He waits to see, is this a big deal? Is it not? And some of that comes with time and tenure on the job. But we see a lot of the same skills in Seth. He's super enthusiastic, but he also seems like he is a listen-first kind of guy, and that's really important to the job.”

The Original Form of Place-Making

For the mayor, Hendler-Voss’s emphasis on community is key. “He talks about how he was originally trained as a landscape architect, which is the original form of place-making, right? So he understands how important it is to create a sense of place. He understands how community intersects with that. And so bringing that, I think, is really important to Falls Church. It's something we really pride ourselves on that when you come into Falls Church, you know you're in a distinctive, special place because, you know – street trees, the way we design our streets and our buildings, but also the people who are here. So I think he sees that, and he was so well prepared during the interview and that’s important. He had done, someone said, a bunch of secret shopping…. And had, visited the community, and watched hours and hours of tape of our City Council meetings. So he seemed very much immersed in the details of this job and all the issues we were dealing with, that I think he'll hit the ground running come September 14. We're super excited.”

Chatting with Hendler-Voss

Next, we were able to chat with Seth Hendler-Voss himself during the reception, after he was hearing from a resident about the Virginia Village question. “It was all very, very touching,” he said of seeing all of his Prince William County colleagues at the Council session. “I have learned so much from my coworkers and some of the leadership that came tonight. I learned how to manage within a very large complex and high pressure organization. I learned, I think, more about myself as a leader than anything else. So to have them come out here tonight and show their support was just very touching for me. It was a pretty emotional experience.”

Earlier Experience as a City Manager

We asked about Hendler-Voss’s earlier work as a City Manager in Canton, North Carolina. “Yeah, I've been a small town manager in Canton, North Carolina, which is a paper mill town just 20 miles west of Asheville, which, much like Falls Church, is a community that's known for its vibrant community, its small business culture, and its food scene, it's recreational offerings –  lot of parallels there. And that's why coming to Falls Church in a way feels like I'm stepping a foot back in Asheville because that sort of small town, community spirit, you know, I could just feel it here, as I felt it there. Just a sense of pride is really palpable, right? You know, when I'm walking down the street, when I'm talking with merchants, when I’m talking with people in my elevator, meeting folks along the W&OD trail. Everyone is so down to earth, and everyone, you could tell, just has so much pride for living in this community. And leaving Prince William County, you know, is a big life change for all of us. We've been there for almost ten years. …. So we're leaving one wonderful community and coming to another one.”

Living in Founders Row

We probed Hendler-Voss about where he’s living in the City. “We're in Founders Row, in an apartment. So, we’re getting brand new movie theaters. You got restaurants popping up. It’s another thing I told Simon to try to get him excited about this opportunity, that we’re going to live above a movie theater.”

Challenges Going Forward

Asked what challenges Hendler-Voss perceives going forward, he said, “Well, I love leaning into challenges. That's why I love what I do. I love the opportunity to collaborate with people to solve problems and look at creative solutions that may not have been explored before or to dust off solutions that have been explored and bring new perspectives to try to sort of revive them. You know, one of the reasons I think it's such a strong fit is because many of the challenges that the Council is contending with are issues I've had to work with in the past, whether it be public safety and pedestrian safety issues, climate resiliency, environmental sustainability, place-making, and really most importantly, balancing growth and progress with sense of place.... And none of it is very easy, but all of it is very manageable. I’ve found, if you have the right people at the table. And that, as I said tonight, if you're collaborating, you're communicating often and transparently, and, you know, you're explaining the why to folks and bringing people on board. And I always find that at the end of the day, as long as the process is fair and transparent, and everyone is invited into the project for perspective, then most folks will be able to accept the outcome, right?”

A Licensed Landscape Architect

We asked Hendler-Voss how his Parks & Recreation directorship experience might overlap with his City Manager work. “Well, I'm actually a licensed landscape architect. So I'm a designer by training. So, I've designed parks and greenway trails by the city's deadline. I’ve designed houses and recreation centers. So I’ve got a lot of experience. I do a lot of urban design at work and comprehensive planning work and master planning.”

Asked where he did his training, Hendler-Voss said, “I went to Penn State University. Then I got my first job in a multidisciplinary firm. I was designing Chick-fil-A parking lots and doing subdivision designs for, you know, 400-lot development residential home projects in rural Georgia. So I went from there to the community development sector for a little while, and designed and opened up a community design center and worked with underserved communities on capacity building. I advocated for anti-predatory lending legislation and did emergency home repair."

Raising Awareness in Underserved Communities

"And then I fell into local government in Atlanta through my community design center work…. I was trying to draw attention to an old African American cemetery that had been sort of grown over and forgotten about. So I worked with the community to raise awareness of that cemetery and bring grant funds to improve it. So through that process, I met the leadership in the Park Design Office, and they hired me to be their landscape architect. And so I had to learn that role…. I had to learn that role on the fly, and in a lot ways, I taught myself design, and from there, I went to Asheville, and the rest is history.”

“....So, I'm really honored and humbled by the outpouring of support from the residents, from the staff, and from the Council. It is truly an honor to be taking the baton from Wyatt and filling in his shoes…. He reached out to me, and we're gonna get together tomorrow. And I'm sure we'll get together a whole lot more. I could tell he's a very authentic down-to-earth leader with a big heart. And that's me. And so I can't help but think that, you know, his leadership characteristics were in the back of the mind of the staff and the Council when they were looking for the replacement. Of course, I'm not going be able to do everything in the same way that he’s done things, but that's what makes leadership so fascinating. Everyone has a little difference and a different way of doing it, but the core principles should be the same, which is you surround yourself with the right people, you build people up, you listen, and you execute. And you turn the community, and you turn leaders, elected officials, community leaders into advocates, into believers in government. So that's what I plan on doing here.”

Vice Mayor Laura Downs then shared her thoughts about the City’s major hire. She said she was pleased to see retiring City Manager Wyatt Shields the other day on his farewell bike tour through all the City’s roads and streets as he rode downtown. “ I thought the search process went well,” Downs said. “We were a little nervous because Wyatt gave his notice in March. And we knew we were on a limited time frame because he was going to be gone in early September. But I thought that we did a nice job. We found a search firm, and they did a good job engaging the community. We had a community survey that went out. And then, we came up with the idea of it having a panel of employees helping with the interview. So that's important… While it was a quick process, we did a nice job because it was during the summer too.”

Few Jobs as Difficult as City Manager

Downs agreed with Mayor Hardi that there are few jobs as difficult as City Manager. “Well, you know, it's interesting because you need someone who’s going to oversee 250 employees, right? So one of the things that really stuck out with us, with Mr. Hendler-Voss is that he was very warm and very engaging. And for the staff, he must have reminded them of Wyatt. They love working for Wyatt, with just sort of that, calm presence, but also someone who's energetic and enthusiastic and all that. But I think you're leading a workforce of 250 people, but then you're also answering to a seven-member City Council, and then you're also hearing from the community. So it's sort of like you're wearing three different hats.”

And the City Manager is not immune from public criticism on sticky issues?   “That's right. So you’ve got the budgetary aspect. And I think that would be probably the main piece of it is just having to have all these different constituencies. And that's one of the things, like, Wyatt, he always joked that he has a poker face. You could say anything during a meeting, and he would sort of just [stay] very calm.

“And that's great. You don't need someone who loses their cool in the middle of a Council Meeting or something. You just need a calm presence. But, I think that's probably the most difficult part of City Manager’s job, is the balancing of all three of those aspects.”

The Economic Highwire

A top priority for Hendler-Voss will be to ensure that economic uncertainty and federal government unemployment in the area don’t lead to revenue losses for the City, Downs said. “All of our localities, you know, Arlington, everyone, are worried about finances. So I think that it's going be one of the things as we want to continue to lower the tax rate for our citizens. But they also expect high level services. We’re a great place to live and so our property assessments keep going up. Which means our taxpayer dollars have to go up even when we cut the tax rates.”

A Unique Breed

Jim Coyle, vice president of the the City’s Economic Development Authority also described how difficult the role of City Manager can be. “The truth is you could lose your job the next day, right? Over some kind of an issue that you didn't see coming! And it’s a very sensitive position. I was a City Manager in Pennsylvania at one time, and it was a tough town, right? And so the manager is in a tough position. You gotta walk that fine line of being aggressive about community issues that really need leadership. And be careful you don't step on the Council's priorities. It's a fine line…. So City Managers are a unique breed, and every community is different. So the manager you pick has to bring the right kinds of things your community needs. So, you have to really be good at all of that. Wyatt was good at it, and this guy sounds like he’s gonna be very good at that as well.”

Hal Lippman, former Vice Mayor, Council member, and current President and Board Chair for Citizens for a Better City (CBC), also expressed enthusiasm for the Council’s selection of Hendler-Voss, while observing that he will have “big shoes to fill.” 

“I think the City has made a wise choice. It seems so. It was unanimous across-the-board. And he had a big contingent to come see him off. That’s a good sign…," Lippman said. "We were on the Council when Wyatt became City Manager 23 years ago. He was actually Interim City Manager before that because he came into office when Dan McKeever was City Manager and then passed away.”  

Former D.C. Police Chief and now Chief of Police for Prince William Co., Peter Newsham, in full uniform, chatted with us next. He applauded the City’s choice of Hendler-Voss as well. “I’ve been [in this position] almost six years now. And I had the pleasure of working with Seth out there. One of the things that strikes you about him is – that the things he said up there at the podium are exactly true. He really, really cares about people, and he cares about the community. I think you guys have made an excellent choice. I really think that's awesome.”

Chief Newsham agreed there’s a lot of overlap between Parks & Rec work and the county’s police department. “Interestingly, we do have a lot of overlap,” he said.

“In fact, we were recently working on a project where we could provide some of the properties in his [Parks] system, that we were actually able to allow police officers to live in. So it gives us an opportunity to have some more of our officers live in the county. Because, as you know, it's very expensive in our counties – and on a police salary, especially. So, it’s nice to have some housing for these guys. And Seth worked with us on that.”

Chief Newsham remarked on what a “great place” the City of Falls Church is. “I mean, people are very welcoming. It's got a very small town feel even though you're kind of a big deal because you're so close to the big city.”

Asked if he were sad to see Hendler-Voss leave the county, Newsham reassured, “You're never sad to see somebody succeed. Of course we would love to be able to keep him because he's so good at what he does. But …. you saw his wife and his son, and I'm sure his other son – they're all very proud of their dad. So, it’s going to work out well for Seth and it's going to work out well for Falls Church at the end of the day.”

By Christopher Jones