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Council members gear up for next city mayor election

Following Charlottesville Mayor Virginia Daugherty's announcement that she will not seek re-election to City Council next fall, an additional Council seat has opened up for the May elections.

After serving on Council for eight years, Daugherty announced last Thursday that she will not be running in May.

When her term ends in July, Daugherty will have served as mayor of Charlottesville for two years.

Charlottesville elects its Council members for four-year terms and the mayor is chosen by the Council to serve a two-year term.

Council will choose the next mayor at their first July meeting.

Daugherty said she feels it is a good time for her to end her Council service.

"I've been on for two terms," Daugherty said. "That's plenty of time."

Three seats are available for the Council's May 2 elections - those of Daugherty, Vice Mayor Meredith Richards and Maurice Cox. Both Richards and Cox are seeking re-election to Council.

Richards said choosing the next mayor is an "extremely variable" process with many factors going into the decision.

Although seniority is one factor when Council decides a mayor, she added that the mayor has been a newly elected Council member in the past.

Still, Councilman David T. Toscano said the next mayor "is highly likely to be someone on Council."

Although Toscano has been on Council since 1990 and is the most senior member, he said he probably will not seek the mayoral position.

Being mayor requires "an incredible amount of time" to do it right. It would be difficult to find the time," said Toscano, who served as mayor from 1994-1996.

Richards also stressed the importance of time and availability for any potential mayoral candidates.

"Time is a big factor," she said. "The mayor is expected to be at a lot of ceremonial occasions."

But one issue appears to be a consensus non-factor: money.

Council members earn $6,000 per year, Richards said, while the mayor earns an additional $2,000.

"One would not do it for the money," she said.

The financial benefit of being mayor "doesn't make a difference," Toscano said.

Richards, who now holds the office of vice mayor, said she is not worrying about the mayoral election yet.

"I don't think the progression [from vice mayor to mayor] is assured," she said. "I think I need to get elected first."

She added that now she needs to focus on securing a nomination from the Democratic Party for her Council election, which will be in May.

There has been some discussion by Council officials that the construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway could return as a major issue for the upcoming election for Council candidates.

Council approved the Meadowcreek Parkway in a 3-2 vote in July and two of the Parkway's supporters - Daugherty and Richards - have their seats open for contention in the May election.

"Parkway opponents are interested in making it an issue," Richards said.

The Parkway will be "hopefully not the only issue," Councilman Blake Caravati said.

Toscano said he doubts a candidate could get elected solely on the Parkway debate.

He said he thought more people in the communities of Charlottesville and Albermarle County were in favor of the Meadowcreek Parkway rather than against it.

Should the next Council vote to cancel the Meadowcreek Parkway project, the city of Charlottesville would be required to reimburse the state $1.4 million for all of the state's expenditures on the project up until now.

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