Well, well….looks like we're gonna have us a little candidates forum. Mark over at HMI asked me to put this up here so folks would know that it's happening. Since we don't have a paper anymore, I agreed. This should be a relatively interesting deal. We have 4 candidates and 3 jobs. The candidates are also pretty diverse in terms of worldview and experience. You have Mr. Aveni who has 8 years in office. He is pretty far to the right and his priorities are social and budget issues. Also in the mix we have Sheryl Bass who has a bunch of years in government experience divided between the School Board and Council. She's a bit right of center and her priorities will be oriented more towards what I would call traditional local government activities.
Also up for election are Ken Elston and Patricia Richie-Folks who are with the newly resurgent democrat party in Manassas. They're both newcomers to elected office and I've chatted with both a bit. I think they'll be pretty centrist (at least on local issues) in their thinking and voting. However, you just don't know until you actually have to vote! Ultimately at least 1 of the democrats will get elected and that's bound to change the Council's thinking somewhat. That has the potential to be positive. I'd rather they were republican candidates but new blood and thinking can be useful in the life of any organization. Hard to tell how that will emerge or what it will look like but whatever happens we need to pull together for our shared success! Come on out and see the candidates for yourself!
This will not be televised as the City's TV channel can't be used for political activities. I wonder who gave that opinoin and intend to seek clarification. I can understand that we can't run ads for the republican party but the citizens interest is certainly served by being able to see their candidates in action…
October 8, 2014 at 9:02 am
– Note that on 1-1-2015 the Manassas City Council will have no Independents.
Since 1873, when the Town of Manassas was chartered, there has always been
at least one.
October 8, 2014 at 9:13 am
Another footnote – This is the first Manassas Council election without
a local paper "of record" to cover it. The Manassas Gazette started publishing
in 1869 and was purchased a few decades later by the Manassas Journal
that lasted until after the 2012 council election.
October 8, 2014 at 10:01 pm
With local issues we need reasonable people who are willing to work with – not against – the other council members. I personally don't care which letter is after their name since I vote for the person I think will best serve our community. But hey, after 43 years maybe it's time for a Democrat…or two! I hope lots of people come out for the forum so they can at least be informed voters and not just ones who vote for a letter.
October 10, 2014 at 7:51 am
I really miss the "local paper" recordings of council meetings. While I try to watch the televised meetings the absence of the local paper covering council and the obit section is truly missed. If the City can run a utilities department etc., possibly we could start publishing or paying someone to publish a local paper?
October 10, 2014 at 9:49 am
Mo- I think that ajust about the last thing that you want is the City (or any government) directly involved with being a media source.
October 10, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Things are heating up. Dems are claiming "someone" snatched their signs
from near the Post Office in Old Town Manassas. Could be a some folks
were playing sign vigilante thinking the P.O. lawn is Federal or City land —
it isn't. The building and land belong to private party who, I am told, gave
permission for the signs to be posted. (The P.O. leases their space from
the owner of the property.)
Stay tuned.
October 10, 2014 at 5:43 pm
I've seen many democrat signs stolen. It's ridiculous and juvenille. The republicans should explicitly reject this kind of behavior.
October 10, 2014 at 7:31 pm
Agree with Julie. The post office had many signs and someone trashed them all. That's bull crap. Bush league punks. Also, Mo, is that really you? I agree that we need a paper but I'd never agree to the government printing the news…..
October 12, 2014 at 8:36 pm
Seems as though some City democratic yard signs got pinched over the past few days. You’d hope that it was juvenile pranksters but apparently only demo sign were taken not GOP ones. Are we headed to a new low in local politics? Who could benefit from such activity? Hmmm, the Shadow wants to know.
October 14, 2014 at 8:34 am
Has Historic Manassas Inc, Old Town Business Association, or Manassas City Education Association ever been involved in past elections or is this a first?
October 15, 2014 at 7:50 am
Andy & Mark,
I agree that my statement doesn't sound like something I would suggest but we are really lacking in some form to distribute local information such as what's going on in City government and other local news. To many times we find out things about 2 or 3 days after the event has occured. Since Council is spending my tax monies and I hear that many are asking for even more monies to spend, how can we get the word spread to the citizens?
October 15, 2014 at 8:02 am
GMan, there have been various non-partisan civic groups involved in local
elections for at least the past thirty years.
October 21, 2014 at 6:56 am
Andy,
Many thanks go to the HMI, OTBA & MCEA for sponsoring the forum/debate last Friday. It was very informative.
October 22, 2014 at 7:23 am
Interesting right-up from InsideNova…..although I ponder the way words get sliced by Candidates regarding Parks & Recreation. If we don't have a P&R Director, what exactly is the paid "Neighborhood Recreation Supervisor" doing?
http://www.insidenova.com/headlines/manassas-candidates-forum-focuses-on-immigration-schools/article_e4a242f8-59a8-11e4-a9e8-5b58cf7c40aa.html
October 22, 2014 at 7:26 am
And another write-up from Potomac Local. We may not have a local print paper, but at least there are some sources of information for those who could not attend…..well, at least if people go looking for it 🙂
http://potomaclocal.com/2014/10/20/manassas-city-council-candidates-talk-taxes-economic-development-schools/