It’s that time of year! Candidacy season! Former Obama campaign go-to person, or more formally, volunteer coordinator Kristin Szakos announced this morning that she is running for City Council.
A writer, editor, activist and animal lover, Szakos worked for area nonprofits and is married to Joe Szakos, executive director of the Virginia Organizing Project.
Szakos, who has lived in the city with her family for 15 years, is the first to announce her candidacy for November’s elections. Mayor Dave Norris and Vice Mayor Julian Taliaferro are up for re-election.
“The next few years will be a challenging and exciting time for the Charlottesville City Council,” she writes on her blog. “Budget constraints, the housing crisis, long-standing inequalities in income and opportunity – all these challenges demand a City Council that is creative and flexible in adapting new solutions to new realities.”
Szakos will formally announce her candidacy on Saturday, February 14 in the plaza between City Hall and the Downtown Transit Station.
The deadline to run for Council is June 9, but in a traditionally Democratic town like Charlottesville, the trick is to win the Democratic nomination. Typically, Charlottesville Dems have determined candidates for Council at a mid-day caucus, but this year, they are discussing whether to alter that process.
The party will make a decision on the nominating process at a meeting Thursday night.
