Norris: No status quo

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris said the past few months have felt like a performance evaluation — one that is likely to continue over the next six weeks as the lone incumbent continues his City Council re-election campaign.

“You can’t let incumbency become an excuse to simply maintain the status quo,” Norris said. “We have to constantly ask ourselves, how can we do better?”

There was little uncertainty that Norris, 39, would seek another term to the five-member body. But out of the four official candidates running for the City Council this year, Norris has the unique challenge of defending his record of the past few years to show voters that he deserves another four years in office.

“I hope people will see that I’ve worked hard,” he said.

After moving to Charlottesville in 1994, Norris has spent most of his professional life working for nonprofits, including Madison House, the Public Housing Association of Residents and People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, which runs a seasonal homeless shelter. Norris this week started a new job as executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge.

It is not surprising, then, that Norris has become known as an official to bring social justice issues — such as affordable housing, poverty, workforce development and expanding youth programs — to the forefront of the city’s agenda after being elected in 2006 and starting as mayor last year.

Norris has been one of the strongest advocates for increasing the city’s affordable housing stock. He played an integral role in getting an affordable housing fund established in the city budget for such projects. Having worked with public housing residents through PHAR and serving on different committees and boards of the Char-lottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, he has also pushed for the city to redevelop much of its crumbling public housing, saying it is the city’s biggest opportunity to expand affordable housing for poorer residents.

“We’ve done a lot in three years,” Norris said. But, he added, “The payoff isn’t going to be immediate, necessarily.”

Norris said his professional experience has allowed him to become results-oriented and to examine the area’s systemic issues — such as why the city has the poverty levels it does, among other things.

“We still haven’t solved any of them,” Norris said.

Along with other councilors, Norris has also pushed the city to adopt more sustainable practices to lower carbon emissions and help to protect the environment. He helped author a clean energy resolution in 2007 that obliged the city to purchase electricity from renewable energy sources and has helped to create other initiatives that would help residents retrofit old homes to make them more environmentally friendly.

For the next four years, Norris has expanded his list of campaign promises. Among them are calling for increasing the city’s green spaces, such as by upping Charlottesville’s tree canopy and purchasing more parkland; and having a more diverse workforce by expanding the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program and upping workforce development efforts.

The area’s long-term water supply plan still proves to be a contentious issue.

Norris said there should be an increased focus on conservation and efficiency and maintaining the area’s existing infrastructure. Although, in a diplomatic stance, he said he is not certain whether dredging would fit into the plan’s entire picture or whether it would satiate the region’s future appetite for water.

“For me, it’s always been about creating positive change,” Norris said of his desires to sit on the council again. “This isn’t a political power trip or ego trip.”