Mayor Norris announces re-election bid

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris will run for re-election to the City Council, making him the second candidate to enter November’s race to sit on the five-member body.

“We have a lot of irons in the fire right now,” Norris, a Democrat, said in an interview. “Many of the key themes I ran on in 2006, while we’ve improved our efforts, we still have a long way to go.”

Norris, 38, sent an e-mail to his supporters late Wednesday outlining his decision. Democrat Kristin Szakos, a community organizer who spearheaded President Barack Obama’s local campaign, announced last month that she would seek her party’s nomination for the City Council.

The executive director for People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, Norris first ran for the council in 2006, championing causes such as affordable housing, environmental sustainability, improving race relations and reducing poverty.

During his first term, Norris was a key force in getting officials to pass an energy resolution that commits the city to purchasing electricity from renewable sources and encourages energy efficiency and conservation. He was also one of the biggest advocates for setting aside millions of dollars to address the city’s affordable housing problems.

Norris said that of his top issues, he thinks the city has made the greatest progress on environmental issues, such as by incorporating energy-efficient equipment and methods in the city’s municipal and school buildings, and by creating programs and incentives to convince residents to retrofit their properties.

“We’re now in the forefront, and not just statewide,” he said. Charlottesville has received at least 12 environmental accolades in the past year for its green building efforts.

But Norris said the city is still not where it needs to be in terms of providing affordable living choices for its residents, though a dent has been made.

“It’s taken too long, for my taste, for the dollars to actually hit the street,” he said.

Reflecting on his time in office, Norris said the local government must better involve the city’s residents in decision-making and must be more responsive to their concerns.

“I think one area where we have dropped the ball, but hopefully we are learning our lessons, is with citizen engagement,” he said. He cited examples such as when councilors voted to change a Charlottesville Transit Service bus route without consulting residents affected by the change, and when councilors approved the master plan for McIntire Park’s western side without fully involving softball players to let them know they could lose two lighted fields.

“I think sometimes you have to be flexible, you have to be adaptive,” he said. “Even if that means sometimes changing directions.”

Incumbent Julian Taliaferro has yet to decide whether he will run for re-election, but said Wednesday, “It won’t be long.”

As for Norris’ decision to run again, Taliaferro said, “I think he’s doing a great job, I’ve enjoyed working with him.”

The Democrats and Republicans each have the option of nominating two candidates for the City Council in this year’s elections because of the number of open seats, and independent candidates must collect 125 signatures of registered Charlottesville voters to get on the ballot.

Norris and Taliaferro ran unopposed for their party’s nomination in 2006. But leading up to the Democrats’ primary this spring, Norris said, “I’m certainly prepared for a competitive two months.”