Six Democratic candidates for this year's Charlottesville City Council election squared off in a forum Wednesday night at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, focusing on the issues of transportation, regional planning and the environment in Charlottesville.
The candidates present at the forum were former deputy city manager Bern Ewert, University nurse David Simmons, businesswoman Joan Fenton, photographer Alexandria Searls, Web site designer Waldo Jaquith and Mayor Blake Caravati.
Two seats on the five-person council are up for election May 17, Caravati's and retiring Council member David Toscano's.
"Given the record of Democratic nominees going on to win local elections, it's very likely that the two candidates that emerge from the Democratic convention will effectively be our future City Council members," said Maurice Cox, Council member and Architecture school professor.
Currently, all five members of the City Council are Democrats.
The forum was the second of three leading up to the Feb. 23 Democratic convention.
The candidates debated a range of issues on how the University interacts with the City of Charlottesville, including provisions for water conservation on Grounds.
While some candidates supported such measures, Caravati pointed out that he thinks the University's water conservation plan is ahead of Charlottesville's plan.
Because all the candidates are Democrats, they "tend to agree a lot on fundamental issues," Cox said. The true distinctions between them will "emerge when they talk about the realities of city/county/University cooperative transportation planning," he added.
This issue arose when the forum focused on the controversial Meadowcreek Parkway, which would connect the Route 250 bypass with Rio Road, in an effort to decrease Route 29 traffic.
While four of the candidates supported the proposed parkway, they varied in their opinions on how to preserve parklands that the road will be built on. They also discussed ways to minimize traffic in nearby neighborhoods.
Jaquith, who spoke out against the construction of the parkway, said, "I think it's a red herring. We don't have the money."
"Make no mistake about it, there remain significant decision points that this next council will have to make," Cox said of the debate over the parkway.
Among the other issues discussed were promoting alternative forms of transportation by increasing pedestrian safety, reforming the bus system and installing a light rail system in the city.
The event was sponsored primarily by Democrats for Change, a group which describes itself as a progressive faction within the local Democatic party.
The next candidate forum will be held in City Hall on the Downtown Mall Feb. 16. It will focus on the issues of education, health care and finances.
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