Softballer ready to play hardball on City Council

A sign printed with “REBEL HQS” on Bob Fenwick’s Charlottesville home, while discreet compared with the giant black-and-white placards of “SaveMcIntire.com” and “VoteBob.net,” says plenty about the independent candidate’s run for City Council.

“‘You can’t fight City Hall’ is what I heard a lot,” said Fenwick, 64, who works as a general construction contractor. “I figured there was a place for a citizen to stand up.”

Fenwick’s property has recently become home to political statements, and there will be nary a City Council meeting without him sitting in the audience. But he said he had never imagined running for public office. He began his entrance into the limelight because of one move made by the city government — the previous decision to eliminate softball fields in McIntire Park and replace them with a multi-sport rectangular field.

Fenwick, along with other area softballers, was enraged by the decision and said it was done behind closed doors without bringing players into the process.

“That’s what started it all,” said Fenwick, who has played softball in the Charlottesville area for about seven years and been an area resident for 33 years. “I found out very quickly that the city government was not listening to the people.”

Since then, Fenwick has started on a City Council campaign for what he sees as a need to restore responsiveness of the city government. He is hoping voters will be won over because of his ability to say what he thinks and stand up to the local political establishment.

“They have to reconnect to the people, not just consultants and city staff,” he said of councilors.

What started out as a plea for keeping the softball fields has morphed into Fenwick becoming one of the most ardent activists to prevent any new development in McIntire Park.

He was the instigator for the “Save McIntire Park” signs posted around Charlottesville.

He has criticized the Piedmont Family YMCA for securing a lease to build a new center within the park’s western side, and the 2-mile Meadow-creek Parkway, which will go through the park’s eastern side.

Fenwick said he considers himself to be a bit of a preservationist who does not want to see the city’s central park torn apart by development. Having raised his children in Charlottesville, he said he used to frequent the park weekly and still goes regularly to play softball.

An avowed Republican, Fenwick has not hesitated to voice his opposition against some of the City Council’s decisions and stances, often done during his weekly “Fenwick Forums” held on the Downtown Mall on Saturdays.

The park, while central, is only part of his platform.

Denouncing the city’s fiscal policy, Fenwick said he believes that more needs to be done to control government spending, take care of infrastructure and help unemployed residents find work, whether it’s through the public or private sector.

“Politicians like to spend money,” Fenwick said. “I am trying to save money.”

He also supports restorative dredging of the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir for the area’s long-term water supply plan and has said there is no need for a costly new dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir and a pipeline to bring water into it.

The position is a departure from the more diplomatic one of current councilors, who say dredging should be looked into but who have not decided whether it is the best way to fulfill the area’s water needs.

“It’s been my experience that politicians soon forget that they represent the people,” Fenwick said. “And that’s when they get into trouble.”