None of the people elected to City Council in either 2015 or 2017 opted to run for a second term, but two members of the 2019 cohort want more time to represent Charlottesville voters. One of them made an announcement yesterday at the Free Speech Monument on the Downtown Mall.
“I’m here to announce that I am going to be running for election as a City Councilor on the June 20th Democratic primary,” said Lloyd Snook, who wanted to make certain he was not running for another term as Charlottesville’s Mayor. In fact, he said he would not seek another two-year term if he is re-elected.
“Because the Mayor is chosen only by the City Council by whoever is elected, so the five who are elected in the first meeting in January will then select who the Mayor is,” Snook added.
Snook said he ran four years ago to try to restore a sense that Charlottesville’s government could work again, and to address affordable housing, climate action, and school reconstruction. He wants another four years to see the work through.
“For example, we will have completed the Buford reconstruction by time,” Snook said. “We will have implemented a fair amount of the climate action plan by that time. We will have finalized the rezoning and finalized all of the affordable housing plans and really gotten those moving forward.”
Snook said that the current Council has demonstrated that Charlottesville’s elected body is capable of getting things done as a unit.
“It doesn’t have to be a pitched battle every time, and I think that’s really helped, and for me if had been a battle, I was still going to be part of it because that’s just who I am but for some people it was just so frustrating to deal with the last few years,” Snook said.
Lined up behind at the event Snook was Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade. Not lined up behind Snook but present at the event was City Councilor Michael Payne who has announced via email he will seek a second term.
Anyone else who wants to run for the Democratic nomination in the June 20 primary has until April 6 to submit paperwork as well as the signatures of 125 qualified voters. Learn more on the Virginia Department of Elections webpage.
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