At the second to last City Council candidates forum, held in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood that Democratic nominee Dede Smith calls home, the contenders faced a wide range of questions but wound up duking it out over the ethics of receiving money from political action committees that represent the business community.
The pointed moments that punctuated an otherwise friendly forum emerged from a question, directed at incumbent Satyendra Huja and fellow Democratic nominee Kathy Galvin, about accepting financial campaign contributions from the Monticello Business Alliance, a political action committee with business interests that has previously supported Republican candidates at the county level.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, both Huja and Galvin accepted and received money, $1,000 and $1,000 respectively, from the Monticello Business Alliance.
Smith, who has gone to great lenghts to show a unified front with Galvin and Huja since her nomination, broke rank with them on that question.
“I have not [accepted money] and they haven’t offered it to me either,” said Smith. “But if they did I wouldn’t take it.”
“I was offered some PAC money from local realtors, which I chose not to take, I don’t think they are a terribly evil organization, but I just made the commitment of not taking that money,” said Smith.
Independent candidate Scott Bandy, who called his potential victory on Tuesday a “long shot,” was among a number of other candidates who trumpeted the fact that they had not accepted any PAC money, “in fact, up to a certain point in this election, I haven’t taken any money.” Bandy ranks last in campaign contributions among the seven candidates.
More after the photo.
City Council candidate getting ready to answer questions from Fry’s Spring residents.
For fellow Independent candidate Brandon Collins, who also did not receive any PAC money, called the acceptance of the contributions on Huja and Galvin’s part “telling.”
“You are going to hear from Ms. Galvin and Mr. Huja that there is nothing illegal or unethical about accepting that money, and they are right, there isn’t," Collins said. "But it does show whose interests the Monticello Business Alliance and people like the Free Enterprise Forum, who they really think is going to support their agenda."
Huja defended his decision, saying he had no problem taking support from the business community.
“I am not opposed to business,” he said and added that it is the business community that can create jobs around Charlottesville.
Galvin, who said she accepted the money only after her platform was made public, wanted to remind residents that “this is Main Street, not Wall Street.”
“Main Street is what provides us all with the wonderful destinations we like to go to,” she said pointing to the Downtown Mall and Preston Plaza as prime examples of how the business community contributes to local improvements.
Referring to the old, renovated Michie Building, Galvin said that it was a developer who “transformed those old buildings, adaptive re-used them into wonderful spaces.”
Independent candidates Bob Fenwick and Andrew Williams both said they would not accept any PAC money.
As usual, the local water supply plan was another issue that separated the candidates.
Asked whether they would support a referendum that would protect local assets in the water supply–the reservoir and surrounding land–Galvin and Huja said they both support the current water supply plan and don’t see the need for a referendum.
“I believe that there was diligent study, to the tune of $5 million worth of studies on this particular plan and it does serve what is the intent, which is to provide water to the growth are of the urban ring as well as the City of Charlottesville,” said Galvin.
Smith, a vocal opponent of the current plan, said she would support a binding referendum, partly because the loss of these resources would be “devastating” for the city.
“If we lose the resources that we already own, and we have enough to carry us through, and I am including city and UVA in this, … for at least 50 years, if what the city owns today we stand to lose that, we will have to buy into the new plan,” she said.
The last candidate forum will be held Sunday, November 6 at Random Row Books at 315 West Main Street.