This is the second part of a multi-part series profiling candidates for Haymarket Town Council

Perhaps no one was more surprised Bob Weir filed for re-election to the Haymarket Town Council this year than Bob Weir.

"I still feel like I'm banging my head on the wall," said Weir, who opted to seek another term with 15 minutes left to register last month.

He joins vice-mayor John Cole as the only two incumbents seeking re-election to the six-member board that are not freshmen or appointed. Mayor Pamela Stutz is running unopposed for a third term and former council members Jay Tobias and Ellie Cole, the vice mayor's wife, are also running.

Cole's offered that his reason for running against is he wants to continue honing his "ability to try and reach agreements" between various factions of the council.

Both Weir and Cole have multiple elected terms under their belts and both share some similar visions for the town while sharply contrasting in other areas in the run up to the May 4 election.

Weir

Repeatedly during the last two years, Weir considered dropping out. He quit the council in protest in early 2008 only for the council to reject his resignation and asked him to stay on. He called for the mayor to consider resigning because of how she lead a town hall public hearing. He also swore off a re-election run but, sure enough, appeared on the May ballot and easily won another term.

Since then, he's said repeatedly that he would not run again as it takes up "too much time," that the town does not take proper care of its finances and that written procedures are not always followed, such as spending money for Christmas celebrations that was not specifically approved for the occasion. Weir caught that error and the town council had to retroactively appropriated money for it this past year.

He said the town's work on updating its comprehensive plan is what brought him back in 2008 because, "quite frankly, I didn't trust the rest of the council to finish it in a fashion that was acceptable."

Weir got what he wanted then.

"There wasn't anything I wanted that didn't go my way: protecting the residents on the south side of Washington Street," he said, "and keeping the commercial [zoning] away from the residential."

No one else on the council spoke out and voted against commercial developer Gerry Kennedy's $2.3 million offer to buy the town center property and transform it into a series of small businesses while also transferring and restoring four historic buildings from nearby to the property. Weir fought vehemently against the proposal due to several reasons, though chief among them was that he said the business model would be unsuccessful, especially without an anchor store.

Kennedy has not been able to secure financial backing for the plan from a bank and his project has been left in a state of limbo.

"Riddle me this: it's been more than two years since that plan was approved, and where does it stand?" asked Weir rhetorically. "I don't see it. I see three buildings that are in greater danger of collapsing now than they were two years ago."

Weir chastises the town for overspending and spending priorities. He shares a majority opinion with the council thought that they should pursue annexation of some commercial and residential properties within one mile of its borders, such as the Home Depot development on the west side of U.S. 15 and the rest of the Greenhill Crossing subdivision. His problem is that he's seen a void in leadership.

"It's not me that hasn't pulled the trigger on it," said Weir.

He took issue with the mayor's spending priorities, particularly on a $16,000 proposed spending item for live entertainment, saying, "We haven't even fixed the current year's budget. It's fiscally irresponsible to do that."

In fact, it is the latter point that drives him toward another two-year term.

"Somebody's got to say something about the fiscal problems, the fiscal issues," he said.

Cole

When it comes to the big issues on council, the two council veterans Cole and Weir have consistently clashed, particularly in regards to the Kennedy project, meals tax, and even some general spending items. To Cole, the Kennedy plan fell victim to bad timing more than bad planning.

"Kennedy had the right idea," said the vice mayor. "Had the economic (collapse) delayed two or three months, it might have gone through."

Cole explained that just because the development project stalled does not mean the town has nothing to show for it. For instance, the town has an approved site plan readily available for a potential developer to use.

"You can start tomorrow" in theory, he said.

Cole concedes that once the town's building inspector says certain buildings must be demolished for safety, the town will have to do it as much as its council member make "hate" do so.

To Cole, the town did what it was supposed to in regards to securing the Kennedy deal.

"It's not our job to get the funding. He's the developer. that's his job," said Cole adding that the town now has "one of the best site plans" put together that he can remember.

His pitch to potential developers would be, "Here's an approved site plan that will save you half a million dollars."

In lieu of the millions that would come in from Kennedy's deal actually going through, annexation could potentially provide the town revenue, which Cole supports. His argument to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors is that for all of the approved housing projects built right outside the town's borders, the county should have "a sense of responsibility" for the consequences of increased residential development.

"If you're going to do this to our town, there's a part of this you have to own up to," he said, later adding that he would "press for this whether the Kennedy deal went through or not."

Unlike Weir, Cole voted for the 4 percent meals tax. He said the town is fortunate to have it from a fiscal point of view, which was implemented during his first full term on the board during the 2006-2008 cycle.

"Everyone is thankful we have the meals tax," he said, though he did reckon, "We're going to get much less (from it) next year than we did this year."

While Weir is a stickler for procedure, Cole said individual circumstances means the town can't always afford to be "dogmatic" following it.

"Almost all of our proposals are single-case scenarios," he said.

Cole pitched the Street Scape is moving along as planned, which few dispute though questions have been raised before about the length of the process. He's also a big supporter of Haymarket Day, and joins the mayor in calling it important for the town.

"If Kennedy is the only thing that you can label as a failure," he said, before trailing off. He made a simple case for how he knows things are going well for the town from the outside looking when just based on what he hears even from non-residents that pass through.

"They tell me Haymarket is looking great," said Cole.