POLITICIANS

It’s no secret that Republicans are outnumbered in Charlottesville. They tend to be more plentiful in the county, but even the Board of Supervisors has been traditionally split down the middle. (Dennis Rooker identifies as an independent, but votes almost solely with the Dems.) But this year, it looks like the political tables might be turning, in both the city and the county.

With the City Council race coming up in November, Charles “Buddy” Weber and Mike Farruggio are hoping to steer city voters to the right and step up as the first elected Republicans to serve since 2002. Weber and Farruggio have been quiet during the Democratic primaries, and know they have their work cut out for them if they want to turn the two open seats red.

A few blocks down from City Hall, county politicians are discussing a reconfiguration of the Board of Supervisors after Democrat Chris Dumler’s resignation. As of Wednesday, June 5, the county had 45 days to replace him—which, incidentally, gives the conservatives 45 days as the majority on the Board. Maybe more, depending on who is appointed and elected to represent Scottsville.

Ken Boyd
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Rivanna District Representative Ken Boyd began his political career in 1999, and after being re-elected in 2011 he remains an outspoken Republican who pushes for business and development throughout the county.

At the top of Boyd’s priority list is the Route 29 Western Bypass, a long-debated road that he argues will both improve traffic and boost the economy in the county. With polarized positions on most hot-button issues—especially the Bypass—it’s no surprise that he and Scottsville’s Chris Dumler often found themselves in disagreement while serving on the Board. When Dumler pled guilty to sexual battery in January, Boyd publicly stated his opinion that the “honorable thing to do would be to step down from his position.”

Boyd was the first to give a testimony in the trial to determine whether Dumler should be removed from office. He said he’d wanted to give Dumler the benefit of the doubt after his arrest, but “lost all respect for him” after the conviction. Now that there’s one empty seat, Boyd and his fellow Republicans have control over the Board, even if only temporarily.

David Toscano
New York native David Toscano served three terms on the Charlottesville City Council, with a two-year stint as mayor in the 1990s. He graduated to statewide politics when he became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 2005, and was unanimously elected to be the House Minority Leader in 2011, which kicked him into even higher political gear. With a larger audience than just Charlottesville and Albemarle, he’s been a vocal opponent to Governor Bob McDonnell’s extreme views on social issues like reproductive rights and health care, and has come out against ending the decades-long statewide ban on uranium mining. He also had plenty to say when UVA’s Board of Visitors attempted to give President Sullivan the boot, calling the action of the Board troubling and concerning and rattling some cages in Richmond. And, not unlike the Republicans, Toscano and his fellow Dems claimed victory after months of contentious debate led to the signing of the Commonwealth’s transportation bill.

Kristin Szakos
As the only incumbent in this year’s race for the two empty seats on City Council, Kristin Szakos easily secured her spot on the ballot in November with 1,370 votes in the June primary. She first ran in 2009, and was elected as vice mayor on January 3, 2011.

A self-proclaimed advocate for low-income communities, Szakos has emphasized the importance of having a representative on Council who understands the problems of underserved neighborhoods. At an open forum for the Dems before the primary election, when asked if Council needs at least one African-American member, the four other candidates gave lengthy answers arguing yes or no—Szakos simply leaned forward and said “Yes” into the microphone. Supporting the rights of low-income residents seems to be a Szakos family value, as her husband runs Virginia Organizing, a statewide nonprofit that challenges local injustices and gives voices to the underprivileged.

She’s also served on the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Planning and Coordination Council, the Housing Advisory Committee, and the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority. She was the voice behind adjusting the noise ordinance to protect residents and the creation of City Council town hall meetings, and she’s actively pushing for infrastructure to make Charlottesville more accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists.

Rob Bell
Ultra-conservative Albemarle Delegate Rob Bell announced his bid for Virginia Attorney General last year, but lost the Republican nomination to State Senator Mark Obenshain, whom Bell described as “a true Constitutional conservative.” After spending years as an Orange County prosecutor known for being tough on crime, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2001. His bills have been primarily focused on courts and crime, like the mandatory minimums for drunk drivers and stricter child pornography penalties.

More recently, Bell is known for his far right position on strict voter ID laws—even stricter than what Governor McDonnell signed last year. The 2012 bill requires voters to provide identification, but Bell said the new law isn’t enough, and his solution is a bill that would make government-issued photo IDs the only acceptable form at the polls.

City Republicans
Republicans haven’t secured a spot on the Charlottesville City Council since 2002, but two local conservatives are hoping to rise up and bring the city’s blue streak to an end. Charlottesville Republican Chair Charles “Buddy” Weber and retiring city police sergeant Michael Farruggio quietly watched and took notes during the Democratic primaries.

Farruggio said he wishes “everything was not so partisan,” but he’s confident that he can work with anybody. Council needs more diversity, he said, but he was frustrated by the idea of a candidate being selected purely based on ethnicity.

“You can’t say you’re going to hold the position for anybody,” he said. “And if that’s the case, why in the world aren’t they holding a position for a Republican?”

They know they’re outnumbered, and now that the Democrats have narrowed their candidates down to two, we’ll be interested to see how the rest of election season plays out.

Fallen star
This time last year, Chris Dumler was just a few months into his term as Scottsville Representative on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. At age 26 he was the youngest Supervisor elected when he took 54 percent of the vote in Scottsville in December 2011, and we described him as “quietly making a name for himself in local politics” in the 2012 Power Issue.

Dumler has indeed made a name for himself, but not quietly, and certainly not only politically. The young Atlanta native gained constituent support with his opposition to the Western Bypass and determination to preserve small rural schools, but was met with stark opposition when he was charged with forcible sodomy in October 2012.

Over the course of eight months, Dumler was arrested on a felony charge, pled guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery in a plea bargain, served 30 days in the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, won a court case in which Scottsville voters petitioned to force him out of office, and finally, stepped down from his post as Supervisor. He resigned at the Wednesday, June 5 Board meeting, via a letter read by Supervisor Duane Snow, bringing his local political tenure to 17 months.