Local Politics Primer

Tis the season, Blacksburg residents! This coming May 2nd brings a new election to Blacksburg and I hope you will all be involved in the campaigns and the issues. If you're new to the local political scene, allow me to give you a quick primer.

All Town government is run by town staff (paid employees) at the direction of a Town Manager. This manager is appointed by the Town Council and basically does their bidding. The Town Council is the leading authority and is comprised of 7 voting members. The Mayor is a member of the council and chairs the meetings; however, his or her vote counts the same as the other 6 members; therefore, the Mayor seat is one that is more ceremonious; however, the Mayor has been very influential in the past. Elections are held every 2 years when each of 3 council seats are open. Every other election, the Mayor's seat is open as well.

This year, we have 3 council seats open PLUS the Mayor's seat for a total of 4 "votes" that are up for election on May 2nd. In addition to this, the Mayor and one councilwoman have decided NOT to seek reelection, thereby opening the race up quite a bit for new faces. There's a lot at stake about the future of Blacksburg and there are a lot of good candidates running for council this year. I'll post more in the future about history, current issues and general direction, but for now I wanted to get the word out about some upcoming events.

Citizens First, a non-profit, local, grass-roots PAC, is sponsoring a "Conversations with the Candidates" forum over the next several weeks. This is a chance for an open discussion Q/A time with each candidate. These will be held on Monday and Wednessday evenings in March at the Blacksburg Public Library (downtown, across from China Inn and the Police Station) in the community room. They all start at 4pm and end at 5:30pm or sooner. Here's a schedule for next week:
Mon, 6th: Frank Lau
Wed, 8th: Mary Holliman

I plan to be at both, assuming we stay in town through wednesday night. You should come out and join me!