For candidates in the May 7 City Council election, Sunday kicked off the final month of campaigning.
"The public side of the campaign is starting up this week," said Blake Caravati, Charlottesville mayor and a Democratic candidate for Council.
Caravati, the only incumbent in this year's race, is running alongside newcomer Alexandria Searls on the Democratic ticket to fill the two seats in the five person Council that are up for election next month.
While the Democratic party long has controlled Council and currently occupies all five seats, their election is by no means guaranteed.
Republican candidate Rob Schilling and Independent Stratton Salidis have posed challenges to the Democratic dynasty and introduced new issues to the race.
"I'm interested to see why [the Democrats] want to maintain their power base and why they refuse to relinquish that power to the hands of the citizens, where it belongs," Schilling said.
He said that thus far, his campaign activities included holding his own conferences to address issues of education reforms and public safety.
Door to door campaigning also had played an important part, he added.
"One of the things that I find most surprising is that there are so many people who feel left out of the process," Schilling said.
He said he believed he was able to reach out to Democratic voters through his interactions with Charlottesville residents.
"I haven't heard any of the other candidates putting forth platforms," he added.
Salidis said public forums would provide him a good opportunity to get out his message centered around strengthening pedestrian transportation amd providing incentives for alternative transportation modes.
The message "is gaining in popularity," Salidis said.
However, Democrats have also been working hard to gain votes.
"We've been knocking on doors apace," he said. "I'm over 200 and Alex [Searls], I believe, is ahead of me."
Searls said the most important issue in the campaign was preserving the quality of life that Charlottesville's citizens enjoy.
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