After eight years of service on Charlottesville's City Council, Mayor Maurice Cox is taking a break from politics.
As a mayor, University professor and partner in an architecture firm, Cox often has had to juggle his various commitments, leaving little time for much else.
"The first thing that strikes me about the man is his enthusiasm for public service," fellow Council member Kevin Lynch said.
Now, Cox said he hopes to focus his energy on other priorities, such as his wife and two children.
"We haven't seen him, almost," said his wife, Giovanna Galfione-Cox. "Work is his hobby."
Cox met his wife more than 20 years ago in Florence, Italy, where he was serving his apprenticeship as an architect. Together, they designed public buildings such as hospitals and schools.
After first arriving in Italy as a student, Cox, who is fluent in Italian, ended up living there for 10 years before returning to the United States. Having gained experience abroad as a professor, Cox said he could not pass up the opportunity to come to the University.
"My first love is teaching," he said.
Once in Charlottesville, Cox, an architecture professor, said venturing into public life was a natural progression.
While at Cooper Union in New York, his alma mater, Cox learned that in order to be a successful designer, he had to become a leader as well. Later, while living in Italy, Cox said he was influenced by the amount of political activism in the country.
"Italy is a very politically engaged community," he said.
Cox was first elected to Charlottesville's City Council in 1996. After winning a second term, Cox was appointed vice-mayor in 2000. Two years later, he became mayor.
Expanding public transportation in the city has been a priority for Cox, an avid biker who does not have a driver's license and takes city buses to work when conditions outside prevent him from biking. "It's been really good having two councilors who ride bikes," fellow biker Lynch said.
As a council member, Cox helped to implement over 10 miles of bike lanes along city roads. That effort foreshadowed what Cox hopes will be his most lasting legacy -- the city's new zoning ordinance passed last September, the first major revision in over 30 years.
For Cox, who grew up taking the subway to school from Brooklyn to Manhattan, allowing Charlottesville to develop into a more livable, urbanized city was a major goal of the ordinance.
"There appeared to be a perception that Charlottesville has nowhere to grow," he said.
Cox said he hopes the new regulations will help the city take advantage of millions of square feet of underutilized space.
As an architect, Cox's work has extended beyond Charlottesville. In the town of Bayview, on Virginia's eastern shore, Cox has helped to revive a struggling, impoverished town into a vibrant, revitalized community. Working with local leaders, Cox developed a plan to construct a rural village with homes, shops and public buildings.
"Very often, people don't think of social problems as being a part of the physical environment," he said.
Though he's leaving public office for now, Cox said the break would provide him an opportunity to step back, reflect, retool and come back with a clear vision.
"Public service is clearly something I hope to pursue in the future," he said. "My hope is to keep helping Charlottesville evolve."
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