Haymarket incumbents vie for re-election
By Dan Roem
Four members of the 2007-08 Haymarket Town Council are seeking re-election, along with the mayor who is running unopposed. They will have their work cut out for them as five challengers are also vying for those six seats. But incumbency has given the current council members name recognition and the ability to run on their records.
Bob Weir
The council’s most outspoken member is Bob Weir. As the liaison to the Planning Commission, Weir has specialized in land-use issues and often is the voice for the town to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.
Weir’s last year on council has been a turbulent one to say the least:
* He resigned in protest in January because he felt the council had inappropriately overridden planning commission concerns about a Town Center property deal.
* He returned to the council after his letter of resignation was unanimously rejected by his colleagues.
* He was on the losing end on four of the town’s most major votes as he voted against the a meal tax, against installing Ellie Cole to fill her husband John’s vacancy on the council and against the Kennedy deal twice.
* After a fiery speech in front of the Board of County Supevisors opposition to the rezoning of Haymarket Landing and the University of Virginia Foundation near the town, he watched as the supervisors then voted 7-1 in favor of both.
No other incumbent has his sort of record.
Those in town who also have repeatedly dissented with the council, like the Greenhill Crossing residents who oppose the Town Center deal, have an ally already in power.
“It didn’t make fiscal sense,” Weir said of developer Gerry Kennedy's Town Center deal, which has been the town's single biggest issue in the last election cycle. “It still doesn’t make fiscal sense and it’s going to end up putting the town in a deeper hole than it’s already in ...they’re going to be further in debt with fewer assets and nothing to show for it.”
On the meals tax, Weir joined fellow council member Shelia Jarboe in voting against its initial creation. But unlike Jarboe, he later voted for the budget, which included the tax.
“I was opposed to it because I thought it would hurt the restaurants,” said Weir. “It’s unclear at this point if it has or hasn’t.”
Weir’s upcoming goals include getting a new cruiser for the town’s police department and annexing the rest of Greenhill Crossing and property to the west of U.S. 15. He also plans to “stringently object” to a VRE stop in Haymarket but supports a stop in nearby Gainesville,
Sue Shuryn
While Weir has been the council’s mouthpiece at times, Shuryn has taken the exact opposite approach to governing.
She rarely speaks at all during town council meetings aside from roll call votes. During the 2007-08 council, she generally voted with fellow council members Ozzie Vazquez and John Cole on issues like the meal tax, Street Scape design and the Town Center deal.
“I was in favor of that because it was a way to increase revenue for the town with what I thought was the least impact to the residents in town,” Shuryn said of her vote to institute a 4-percent meal tax.
Because Haymarket is located right off Interstate 66, the town tends to receive a lot of pass-through traffic. When those passing by stop to eat in town, they are hit with the meal tax, which means they’re helping pay for the Street Scape project.
As for concerns about whether Kennedy’s plan to bring up to 18 small retail businesses onto the Town Center property is viable and fiscally sound, Shuryn said, “That is up to the developer to determine with his investors. It’s not really up to the town council to determine that.”
She added, “I think our job is to try to read the pulse of everyone in town, the residents and businesses, and do what they want us to do.”
Shuryn said she would like to give more thought to a VRE stop in Haymarket. Among her top priorities for a second term is completing the Street Scape project, which is designed to make Washington Street more “walkable.”
Cole
Cole is technically not an incumbent because he officially resigned from the council this year. Cole is working for the U.S. Department of Defense in Iraq and will not be home until this summer.
However, with his wife Ellie filling his seat and a multi-term record to run on, Cole is a well-known figure in Haymarket politics. The former vice mayor acted as an arbitrator of sorts between Vazquez and Weir when the two were yelling at each other over the Kennedy deal during a December meeting.
Before leaving for Iraq, Cole said his biggest plans include studying the potential annexation of the land across from U.S. 15 and completing the Street Scape.
He resigned specifically because of the Kennedy deal. By leaving council, he allowed the town to install someone else who would support the deal as he does. His wife ended up as the council’s pick but she is not running for a full term.
Vazquez
Vazquez, who also was not at the town council continuation meeting this week, is the town’s Street Scape manager. He has repeatedly mentioned that his number one goal is to turn Haymarket into a “walking town.”
Like Cole, he voted in favor of the meal tax since the money all will go to the Street Scape project. The two joined forces again in supporting Kennedy’s original Town Center proposal and Vazquez voted for it again the second time around, after Cole had resigned.
A candidates’ forum will be held at Town Hall on Saturday, April 26, at 3 p.m. It is set to be moderated by Gainesville District School Board representative Don Richardson and should run about two hours.
Election Day is Tuesday, May 6.