While talks are already in full swing what candidates will be running against each other this fall, Town of Haymarket residents have some more immediate choices to make.

All six members of the town council, the mayor and two former council members have all registered to run in the May 4 election. Like in 2008, Mayor Pamela Stutz is running unopposed. The biggest surprise from the list of eight council contenders is incumbent Bob Weir, who said he was done repeatedly during the last two years and previously tried to resign from council before the 2008 election.

Other incumbents running for council include Susan Edwards, David Leake, Milt Kenworthy, Mary Lou Scarbrough and vice mayor John Cole. Former members trying to reclaim their old posts include Jay Tobias and Ellie Cole, the latter of whom filled the vacancy created by her husband John in early 2008 after he resigned from council while he served as a civilian contractor in Iraq. He won re-election that May.

Kenworthy and Scarbrough beat out Tobias and Ellie Cole last year for appointments to the council. Leake and Edwards are freshmen from the 2008 election. Cole, Weir and Stutz have all served multiple terms.

Mayor Stutz

Barring an unforeseen and extraordinarily strong write-in campaign against her, the two-term mayor should coast to re-election in five weeks. She said during a Sunday interview that her reason for running again is that the town simply has too much work left to do from her last term.

"We didn't finish what we started," said Stutz, particularly honing in on the unsold Haymarket Town Center property.

When the stock market collapsed in September 2008, any chance commercial developer Gerry Kennedy had to secure financing from a bank for his $2.3 million project to turn the center of town into a series of small businesses died. That project was supposed to be one of the hallmarks of the town council's accomplishments from the last three years. At the council level, only Weir has constantly voted against it.

"I cannot help that the finance institutions of this world went crazy," said Stutz.

So now what? Stutz said she would rather still be working with Kennedy that accepting the offer from a crematorium company to buy and convert the property. Because she said she does not want to raise taxes, Stutz said that during the next two years, "We're going to have to tighten our belts."

A major spending items she's planning for is the possible demolition of the dilapidated blue and gray house directly northeast of Town Hall. Upgrading the parking lot and water lines in front of town hall is also among her priorities as is securing grants to redo the Red Rooster property. She's considered subdividing the town center property to find out if it would be easier and more economical to sell some of the land that way.

When asked about prioritizing the wants and needs of the town, such as the town spending thousands of dollars on its annual Christmas party instead of using the money for other items, Stutz said, "Well, when you do your own budget, do you allow yourselves some privileges, like 'we'll go to the movies, are we just going to sit at home?' I don't think so."

Regarding the financing of town events, Stutz added, "To me, it still stays as part of the priorities... I think if you polled (the) residents, they would say that's a necessity."

Though Stutz has yet to form an official campaign platform, she discussed the possibility of either adjusting the town's boundary line outward or calling for a complete annexation of land, residencies and businesses within a mile of the town's current boundary. She's also calling for a public hearing regarding the renewal of the meal's tax, which has turned out to be a vital revenue stream for the town, because the money going into it has not strictly been used for what it was originally intended: the Street Scape project.

"I think if the meals tax is kept, I think we need to make sure all the residents are well aware of the fact that we're extending it and why we're extending it," she said.

Stutz's last two years as mayor has had its success stories and failures. Among the most notable pluses for her, the Haymarket government has not laid off or furloughed its employees unlike the county government. Haymarket Day is routinely a financial boon for the the town and is widely well received by town residents. The Quarles redevelopment at the intersection of Washington Street and James Madison Highway (U.S. 15) is almost complete, and the Street Scape program designed to make the town more walkable continues to progress along Washington Street. The town also secured several sizable grants from the state and federal government.

On the other hand, the Kennedy deal, which she strongly supported and still supports, is stuck in a holding pattern, some buildings owned by the town need major maintenance and the town has not produced the money to fund the trolley she's championed despite available grants.

"I still want to see the small town of Haymarket developed," said Stutz. "Is it an unrealistic dream because of the economy? It may be... but at the same time, I think sooner or later, this will develop into a small walking town."