"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Waldron Not Running For Re-Election
By Greg L | 11 December 2007 | Manassas City | 8 Comments
Manassas City Doug Waldron has been a highly respected and effective mayor during his term, and enjoys a level of effective political invulnerability as a result that is rare and valuable. Despite frequent challenges faced by the city, Waldron has exerted a calming influence, quietly built consensus, and established a tradition of moving deliberately to address issues. While some like myself have wanted to see the city act more quickly to address some issues, the consistent approach Waldron has encouraged has garnered widespread respect for his leadership, and his consistency has earned our trust. He is a mayor that has earned nearly universal approval in the city.
So it was with some degree of surprise that I’ve learned that Doug Waldron sent out an email last evening announcing that he would not run for re-election as Mayor of Manassas City. The job is essentially his for as long as he wants to have it, and the conventional political wisdom held that he would either be mayor for many years, or perhaps take a shot at higher elected office when the opportunity arose. With no apparent vacancies or favorable opportunities on the horizon in the House or Senate delegation expected for several years, to see Doug Waldron step down at this point is somewhat surprising. His next political opportunity, should he be interested, would be for the 29th Senate when Chuck Colgan retires sometime during the next four years and which is not expected before 2009.
The typical municipal election cycle in Manassas starts in January, and had Waldron intended to make it as easy as possible for a hand-picked successor to replace him, this announcement would have happened a few weeks out from the time a Republican convention would have happened. Making this announcement now is an opportunity for a much wider field of potential candidates to emerge, and Waldron’s intent here appears to be that he would like to see a vigorous race to select his successor. The expected candidacy in these circumstances of Hal Parrish, flush with a bank account that dwarfs any need due to his inheritance of his late father’s campaign account, is something that would have been easy for Hal to execute with a late announcement and a short campaign cycle. Perhaps Waldron wants to make sure Hal Parrish doesn’t get this seat in a walk.
Another potential candidate for Mayor would be councilman Andy Harrover, who has done yeoman’s work as the author of pro-active zoning enforcement efforts, worked very hard on nuts-and-bolt issues affecting quality of life, and has a pretty solid voting record. He may be the closest fit to the legacy that Doug Waldron has established, and his tremendous margin of victory in the last municipal elections shows his political clout. Yes, he has only served since 2005, but during that tenure he’s proven himself more than adequately.
Other council members such as Marc Aveni and Steve Randolph aren’t nearly as well positioned for this kind of race, and would have a hard time overcoming Hal Parrish’s money advantage. Jon Way is too junior on the council to take a shot, and Steve Smith is facing a real danger of not getting the Republican nomination, even if he wasn’t opposed. Beyond that, there really aren’t any other credible candidates for mayor.
This would also open up another spot on the City Council. David Core has more than the inside track to unseat Steve Smith, but with another opportunity for a seat developing here there are few well positioned to run. Although the promotion of Jackson Miller to the House of Delegates caused a number of city residents to apply to fill his seat, those that might have also been willing to actually campaign for the job and remain available are few. Deirdre Pennefather who would have been among the strongest possibilities here is not in a position to run. Maureen Wood is a possibility here since she’s actually campaigned before, but hasn’t announced. Sheryl Bass is probably the most likely addition to the list of candidates, and while she has political experience from her tenure on the city School Board, her positions on many city issues don’t quite resonate with local activists.
Get ready for a lot more political posturing in the city over the next month than anyone had expected.
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8 Comments
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Wow, this is a bit of a shock. He seemed to really enjoy being Mayor, and I thought he did a good job.
Maybe he doesn’t want to learn Mexican.
When did Mexican become a language?
I thought Mayor Waldron did an excellent job also. Good luck to him.
Yeah he’s probably off to somewhere else just like many of our neighbors, to an area less overrun with illegal aliens.
Maybe he didn’t want to get up and have to debate the issue and deal with the Help Save Manassas crowd. He’s a level headed guy who had the best interest of the City.
Deal with HSM? You have to be kidding. You obviously have no clue when it comes to local politics.
Mayor Waldron has always been kind and fair to us HSM folks. He will be missed!