I had the pleasure of attending the Williamsburg City Council Candidates Forum this past Monday at the Scotland Street library, and was happy to see many of you there as well. (Thanks especially to Jim Penny, Nancy Bolash and Kerry Mellette who worked so hard to bring off the event.) I’d like to take this opportunity to provide highlights for those of you who were unable to attend, and recap for those who were there.
The format of the event would be familiar to anyone who has watched a League of Women Voters debate, at least in theory. The candidates had a minute to give an opening statement. Then the moderator, Jim Heller, posed questions. Each candidate had a minute to respond in turn. At the end of the question period, each candidate had two minutes to summarize.
In actuality this event was nothing like any of the national-level debates I’ve seen. First, the candidates mostly respected the time limits. Second, they did not interrupt each other. Finally and most surprisingly, the candidates generally answered the questions asked. I often play, “Spot the Fallacy,” whenever I watch political debates. The most common fallacy being ad hominem. Why answer a question when you can just call your opponent stupid or unfeeling? I was pleased and surprised when the event ended and I could not think of a single time one of the candidates sidestepped a question by deflecting, either with an ad hominem, or some other fallacy. (Those who sidestepped did so simply by ignoring the question.) If it is true that, “All politics is local,” I can only wish that our “national” local politicians would behave more like our “local” local politicians.
Another surprise was the number of students who attended and stayed until the end at 7:00 p.m. The library auditorium was nearly full, and over half the attendees were students. I theorized, incorrectly as it happens, that some undergraduate Poly Sci prof decided to give extra credit to any student attending the forum. When asked by Flora Adams after the event, one of the students denied this incentive, and said students were very interested and invested in the outcome of this election.
I didn’t record the forum, but I did take a lot of notes. I’m going to list my interpretation of the questions and answers at the end of the blog. Here is a short introduction to the candidates (In last-name alphabetical order) with their most memorable answers from the event.
Stacy Kern-Scheerer is a law professor at William and Mary. She has an interesting academic background in both law and public health, and is the founding director of The Immigration Clinic, advocating for non-citizen crime victims and asylum seekers. Her notable answer is that she “listens.” This may sound like content-null political speech, but I don’t think it is. On two occasions the three other candidates simply ignored questions they didn’t want to answer. However, SKS actually did answer, if only to say that the question couldn’t be addressed by the City Council.
Ted Maslin has been on the City Council since 2018. He has also served Williamsburg as a paramedic/firefighter. (I Admit I lifted the last sentence from his official bio.) Ted earned his MBA from W&M, and served in the volunteer fire department while a student. His most notable answer is that one sure way to increase rents is to increase taxes, and he opposed increasing the real estate tax rate from 60 cents to 66 cents. Here is a link to the opinion piece he wrote for the Virginia Gazette.
Rick Overy is the current chair of the Williamsburg Economic Development Authority, which “…works to assist existing businesses, attract new businesses, and market the City as a premier business location.” He has an MBA from W&M and has worked as Associate Dean for the law school, and started his business, Compass Wealth Strategies, in 2009. His most notable answer is that Williamsburg doesn’t need more studies and surveys. Williamsburg needs to use the data already collected, make a plan, and act.
Doug Pons is the current Mayor of Williamsburg, and has been on the City Council since 2010. Here is a link to his election facebook page. He is the owner of The Flats of Williamsburg on York Street in Williamsburg and is a member of the Williamsburg Hotel Motel Association. His notable answer concerns safety on Jamestown Rd. He advocates more crosswalks with flashing lights, expanding the bike route parallel to 199, and additional radar speed signs to let drivers know when they need to slow down. Oh, and he says we should be better pedestrians.
Below is a summary of the questions asked and answers given during the forum. These are not quotes. I’m relying on my notes, so it is likely I’ve made some mistakes. Apologies in advance.
As for the candidates, most of the time they gave nearly the same answer, just phrased differently. So I’ve generalized the consensus answer here and noted where the candidates’ answers differed in substance, not just in expression.
| Question | Consensus Answer |
| What is the role of the City Council, and should its role be strengthened? | CC does what CC does. All candidates except Kern-Scherrer ignored the second half of the question. SKC explained that any expanded authority would need to flow from the VA General Assembly. |
| What is your top priority for downtown? | This is one of the few questions where the candidates didn’t give a consensus answer, so here is the gist. SKS: More community space. TM: Parking. RO: Students welcome downtown and free parking for residents. DP: More mixed use of space in Merchant’s Square. |
| The CW Foundation has a large footprint downtown. What can the CC do to make CW more of a partner? | Continue to communicate with them. |
| W&M Plans to increase the size of its student body and decrease dorm space. How can this work while also pushing for more owner-occupants in downtown neighborhoods? | Williamsburg needs more affordable housing for all lower-income residents, not just students. W&M needs more projects such as the midtown development. |
| Some students behave badly. Some landlords do not maintain their properties. What can you do? | People should welcome the students and make them part of the neighborhood. We should all be polite to each other. Identify problem landlords and report them. |
| What can you do to promote neighborhood balance? | We don’t know what ‘balance’ means. And if we did, it would change depending on which voter was asking the question. We need tax breaks and private investment to encourage first-time home buyers to buy, renovate, and live in downtown properties. |
| What is the one thing you would do to improve the downtown area? | More affordable housing, more inclusive neighborhoods. |
| Are you open to new solutions for the W&M Housing problems? E.g. revoke landlord privs when landlords do not maintain properties or when tenants misbehave? | Unsurprisingly, all the candidates answered, “Yes.” It would have been funny, although not funny at the same time, if one of them had said, “No, I’m not open to new solutions.” Answer: Affordable housing. |
| What is your stance on the 3-person rule? Posed by a W&M student who wants more people allowed in a house. | All support the 3-person rule in general and 4-person exceptions in some cases. |
| What can the city do about landlords who don’t maintain their property? | Call the code compliance inspector when there are problems that can be seen from the street. Discuss the problems with your Neighborhood Resource Officer who can keep an eye on the property. |
| Will the Rent Ready program reduce affordable housing in Williamsburg? (Note: I was not able to find a reference for this program. Anyone have a document or link?) | Nobody much answered this question except to say that we don’t want a housing shortage causing rents to increase. Notable answer by TM: One sure way to increase rents is to increase property taxes. I voted against the latest tax increase. |
| What can you do about Jamestown Rd. safety? | Fix the problems. |
| What about parking? | W&M needs to provide more affordable parking for students and faculty. $499/semester is not affordable. |
| Do you support changing the noise ordinance from 11:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.?(In residential areas, noise is limited to 65 decibels from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 55 decibels from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.) | Nope. |
| Can W&M be more fun so students will stay on campus more? | Probably. |
| If elected, will you walk the neighborhoods to experience our issues and problems. | Sure. |
| What can you do in the next 2 years to resolve the W&M housing crisis where students can’t find affordable off-campus housing? | First, this is a W&M problem as well as a CC problem, and we can’t resolve a crisis like this in 2 years. Second, we need more affordable housing. |
Again, I stress that these are my interpretations of the questions and answers. I won’t be able to attend any of the other fora, so would anyone like to volunteer to attend and write a summary?
My next post should be back to introducing a new neighbor, so keep reading, and I hope to see you at the picnic.
Chris Gareis
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Marcie Liebel
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