 Mitch Van Yahres |
Charlottesville lost one of its longtime public servants on Friday, February 8, when Mitch Van Yahres, 81, died in the Martha Jefferson Hospital of complications after surgery to remove a tumor in his lungs. As mayor and city councilor, Van Yahres cast a crucial vote to create the Downtown Mall in 1974. A Democrat, he went on to a 24-year career as Charlottesville’s representative in the state House of Delegates, retiring in 2005. “Mitch was the original progressive,” UVA Politics Professor Larry Sabato told The Daily Progress.