Charlottesville Republicans outline official platform

The Charlottesville Republican Committee supports changing the configuration of the city’s schools, electing a full-time mayor and creating electoral districts instead of having at-large elections, according to the party’s new platform.

The issues are just three of several outlined in the Republicans’ official platform for the city, which was released Thursday in an attempt to encourage public discourse, committee Chairman Charles Weber said.

“This is a necessary document just to get debate started,” he said.

Infrastructure — such as the Meadowcreek Parkway and the area’s long-term water supply plan — were not included because those are not political issues, Weber said. But the six-page platform outlines specific measures for the city government to take regarding education, public housing, economic opportunity, government structure, property taxes and racial issues.

“Republicans believe in empowering people and constraining government,” Weber said.

Recommendations include adopting a public housing program that would be modeled loosely after the Homestead Act of 1862 — which would allow eligible residents of public housing to purchase their property after fulfilling certain criteria and showing self-reliance; supporting an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would restrict government’s eminent domain power; holding non-partisan local elections; and requiring the City Council to be candid with voters and explain the necessity for any new tax increases.

The party would also like to see a kindergarten to eighth-grade schools model that would abandon middle schools and group those grades together in one school, rather than have students move schools multiple times between grades. The proposal comes as the schools administration is discussing a possible restructuring.

“The goal here is to get these things incorporated in Charlottesville,” Weber said.

The Charlottesville Republicans have had a difficult time getting political footing in a city as blue as Charlottesville, where Democrats fill every elected position.

The Republicans did not put up a candidate for this year’s City Council race and also failed to do so in 2007, when three Democrats and two independents ran in the general election.

“The current monopoly on power serves no one well,” Weber said.

The party released its platform now because “this has been a work in progress,” he said, and he hoped it would inspire political choice.

In response to the platform points, Jonathan Blank, Charlottesville Democrats’ co-chairman, wrote in a statement: “The Democratic Party of Charlottesville was surprised that the Republican Party of Charlottesville would choose this time to release a platform since they chose not to nominate any candidate for the November election. The Democratic Party of Charlottesville believes the best way to engage in the democratic process is to put forth strong candidates.”

For the Nov. 3 election, Democrats Kristin Szakos and Dave Norris, the mayor, plus independents Paul Long and Bob Fenwick are seeking to fill two of the council’s five seats. Blank wrote that the city Democrats welcome political participation by their party’s opposition.

Spectators at the Thursday announcement included city resident Eugene Williams and former Democratic Councilor Blake Caravati, who sat on the council with Rob Schilling, the only Republican elected in recent years.

Williams and Caravati both declined to comment on the Republicans’ announcement.