Fairfax City Residents Meet One-On-One With Mayor, Council Candidates

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — A majority of the candidates on the ballot in the City of Fairfax for the Nov. 8 general election took part in Wednesday night's Candidate Meet & Greet at American Legion Post #177. The event was co-hosted by the Central Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area.

After each candidate running for mayor or city council had a chance to make a 2-minute statement, they went to predesignated stations around the building where members of the public could meet them face-to-face.

Chamber Executive Director Jennifer Rose was pleased with the turnout on Wednesday night.

"There's so many new folks coming on the city council, and a new mayor that we're going to have, they're interested and they want to learn more about the candidates," she said. "For the chamber, being a nonpartisan entity, it's important for us to help educate the voters. The most dangerous voter is the uneducated and ill-informed voter."

Pat Fege, co-president of the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area, was also happy with the number of people he came to hear the candidates speak.

"I think it's particularly important in local elections for people to get to know their neighbors who are running for office and meet them on a personal level and then being able to ask them a question," she said. "It's very rare to do that when the senator runs for office or the president. A lot of people think that the presidential election every four years is so important, but I would argue that a local election is just as important.

In the interest of saving time, candidates running for the City of Fairfax School Board were not able to make a formal statement, but they participated with the other candidates and greeted the public at stations around the American Legion Post.

The following are portions of the statements made by Wednesday night by the candidates in the mayoral and city council races.

Sang Yi, Candidate For Fairfax City Mayor

"If elected as mayor, one, I will focus on affordability issues for our residents and our businesses, especially with the uncertainties of economics. Two, I will always promote sensible development and preserve our natural resources because it's not a tagline. These are musts. And three, I'll do whatever I can in my power to work with the city school board to ensure our students always receive the best education possible, because our students' success and teachers' success are tied together."

Catherine Read, Candidate For Fairfax City Mayor

"We could do more to have a better relationship with [George Mason University] to build a dynamic thriving downtown so that there are things that we as citizens want to be downtown for and things that the students want to come into town for. I do think we need to center the environment in everything we do. I think young people care about climate change. I think they care about whether or not we are good stewards of the open spaces and the parks in our community."

D.T "Tom" Ross, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"These special events we do, the incredible array of wonderful services we have in this community from health, police, fire, schools, parks and recreation [make it] the kind of place where you're proud to grow up and have your family living in, and we do it with several things in mind. One, we maintain our fiscal integrity. We still have the second lowest real estate property tax in Northern Virginia and yet we provide exceptional services. We have a growing economic kind of climate, which is wonderful because it means jobs and opportunities for our young people. But we still need to maintain those relationships that we've developed over the years with George Mason, with our county partners, and with others."

Jon R. Stehle Jr., Fairfax City Council Candidate

"Looking forward in this next team of six, you're looking for a group that can collaborate and talk to each other. They can see a vision and move it forward. This is going to be very important because we face some serious issues. The community center is in our downtown. What is the future and how do we build it for the next generation with our school board and really think about the future of education for our community?"

Billy Bates, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"There's no place that will ever be more special to me than Fairfax. It has been my home all my life. To ensure that it remains a special place for ourselves and all future generations, we need to take action now to maintain the ability of our neighbors to move in and have a place to live. That means more affordable housing and working with organizations such as the American Legion to make that happen, and to make sure that we're making better use of the limited supply of land. To do so, that means prioritizing walkability, affordable housing and a more efficient road network."

Kate Doyle-Feingold, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"My priorities are preserving the green spaces, helping our local businesses and downtown Historic District thrive and ensuring that we have a more responsive process and government so that all of you feel heard and feel like your opinions and views matter on issues that come up in front of the city council and mayor for votes. Also, ensuring that the process is transparent so that you know what's happening and you don't feel like it's happening behind closed doors and making sure that it's efficient, that your tax dollars are used wisely and carefully."

Joseph Harmon, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"Development, of course, is happening all around us and here in our city. While I've served, I tried to balance the competing interests with the people who live there, the developer who may want to build whatever it is they want to build, and looking at our comprehensive plan and thereby coming up with a well-informed, balanced decision on any council actions."

So Lim, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"I understand what it takes to start a business and stay successful, going through the ups and downs. I do my council work very similar to how I run my business. I'm a good listener with a great work ethic. I will continue to listen to you so we can come to a win-win solution. I want to hear about your concerns and issues and I want you to learn more about my platform."

Jeff Greenfield, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"I think the issues of transportation, quality education, we're going to have the need to start talking about serious renovations to our two elementary schools. That was done over 20 years ago. I'm the only one who's running for office, whether it's school board or city council, who has been through all four of the renovations of our city schools and what it takes to move that forward."

Ana Renner, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"Many of the criteria used to approve development done during an environment of abundant cash and steadily rising real estate prices may have made sense at the time, but as the cost of everything continues to rise, we need to keep that in mind. Are we going to approve units that are going to be empty or dirt lots and lost revenue for the city?"

Craig Salewski, Fairfax City Council Candidate

"I really hope to join the council as a voice of reasonable growth and financial responsibility. You don't want to bring all these people in and have our current residents actually have to leave because the city has become less and less attractive through things like new fees and additional higher tax rates. I want to make sure that is addressed as we move forward. ... We do have aging school buildings. I want to make sure that they are looked at to become a safe places that are modernized so our children can learn, teachers can teach, and they be something that we actually can take pride in for our citizens.