Paul Long (I)
People have gotten very cynical, people have gotten very iso-
What is your top
Challenger
lated from each other….And that was why I decided to run
for City Council, is that I want to bring that energy to the city
[My] top priority is bringing new industry, bringing new busi-
level. I want people to realize that they can have a huge im-
nesses into the City. I also believe in the creation of expand-
pact, each person, on what happens in the city….
priority for action
ed public transportation system. That would be one of my
top priorities and I also believe that another one of my top
The flipside of this very same thing is that we have a com-
priorities would be the creation of affordable housing for
munity in which about probably 80%-85% of us, and I in-
by City Council if
people in the lower economic levels in the City.
clude myself in this, have a wonderful place to live. It’s a ter-
rific city….And yet we have far too large [a part] of our com-
munity that isn’t able to access the wonderful things that we
you are elected?
Dave Norris (D)
have in this community….
Incumbent We have amazing pockets of poverty for such an affluent
Specifically one project that I have been heavily involved in
community. And it’s persistent poverty. It’s generational
for years now, even well before I got on City Council, regards
poverty. And I think that what I want to see us do in this
our public housing neighborhoods. We have seven public
community - I don’t know if you have heard of the project in
housing neighborhoods in Charlottesville that were built sort
Harlem, Children Zone, where they - it was really one person
of on the old model of public housing which essentially has
kind of had this idea and it has grown incredibly. Geoffrey
meant segregating people by class, by income, creating
Canada, where they looked at the whole community and
pockets of poverty in our community that have been neglect-
they said, you know our kids are not making it, our kids
ed over the years and have become areas of high criminal
aren’t graduating from high school, they are not going to col-
activity, or higher criminal activity than the rest of the City.
lege, what can we do about this? And they set their entire
And areas of low educational attainment.
community to figuring out how to make sure that their kids
made it - really their goal was to have their children gradu-
I think it’s a huge, huge challenge to re-envision public hous-
ate from high school, or from college at the same rate as
ing in a city like Charlottesville and to think about how do
other kids….
we change the dynamics of poverty in our community and
basically take these seven neighborhoods and - working very
And so the community needs to realize the impact that we
closely with the residents of these neighborhoods, because
have on our kids. And I don’t think that we are a Harlem,
it can’t be seen as something that’s been done to them,
and I don’t think that we need to do what Harlem did, but I
they have to be fully engaged in this…changing the dynam-
think that what we need to do is take that same process
ics from isolated pockets of poverty to mixed income neigh-
and say, what do we need to do to make sure that all of our
borhoods, maybe even mixed use neighborhoods....
kids have a chance to make it? And then, you know, figure
out how we can come together as a community to make
This isn’t going to happen overnight, this is going to be a pe-
that happen.
riod of years, but we’ve got to start and we’ve got to start
somewhere and it’s also frankly our best opportunity in the
City for expanding our supply of affordable housing. It’s 45
Andrew Williams (I)
acres that we own, the public owns…. Challenger (Write-in)
There is so much good that can come out of this, but we have
Action. Balanced representation. In this process I have
a history in this community, Vinegar Hill and other efforts, that
learned many things and spoken with a lot of people and I
have created lot of fear and suspicion on the part of low in-
talk about balanced representation, but I think that bal-
come families rightfully so, and African American families right-
anced representation in Charlottesville will be difficult with-
fully so, that we are going to go in there and knock down the
out a ward system. I would like to see discussions regarding
Bob Fenwick (I)
neighborhood, put something different in its place, displace
a ward system and at-large election for Charlottesville Mayor.
Challenger the people and never let them come back. And that’s not what
we want to see happening in that process.
Well I think my top priority would be to, in these condi-
tions…to try to increase jobs in the city. Many people recog-
nize me now because my work on Save McIntire. But it is my
Kristin Szakos (D)
feeling that the people always should come first. There are
Challenger
people sitting on benches on the Downtown Mall who are
willing to work but cannot find work. There are empty store- One is civic engagement. As I was working with the Obama
fronts on the Downtown Mall. There are empty storefronts campaign one of the things that excited me about that can-
across the City. I focus on the mall because I live about a didate and about the campaign was the commitment to
block and a half from the mall and I walk it every night. drawing people in not just into getting someone elected, but
into a long-term participation in the public process, in caring
So my top priority would be to increase the infrastructure
about public issues, in getting involved in public issues, in
maintenance. That is probably, I would guess, 30-40 jobs
pushing for the change that people said that they wanted….
right there that the City should be doing. And you start with
something small, you build it and you put people to work. I think when we have done important things in this country, it
And then immediately, once we got out of this recession, I was when people got involved in civic life. And over the past
would turn my attention back to saving McIntire Park. quarter century we have gotten increasingly uninvolved.
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