ON TUESDAY, May 2, Charlottesville voters face a crucial choice -- a choice between moving forward or going backward. I urge Charlottesville citizens, especially students, to continue moving forward by voting to re-elect City Councilor Rob Schilling next Tuesday. Charlottesville and its citizens are well served by his steady, dedicated and responsive leadership -- qualities which, quite frankly, have been far too rare on City Council in past years.
In the face of being in a 4-1 minority, Schilling has steadily stood up for reason and fiscal responsibility in City Hall. He has consistently fought for reasonable spending and smart planning. Affordable housing is the hot topic of the moment, and it is an important issue, but it must be addressed at all levels. Affordable housing is in reality affordable living. The high cost of living in Charlottesville is directly proportional to the high cost of city government. Schilling championed the elimination of the decal on cars registered in the city. This smart planning saves Charlottesville taxpayers over $40,000 annually.
His dedication is demonstrated every week -- he is the only Charlottesville City Councilor since 2002 to have a 100 percent attendance record at regularly scheduled City Council meetings. Four years ago, when Rob Schilling defied conventional wisdom and won a seat on City Council in an area which had been under one-party rule for a decade and a half, he set goals for his time representing the citizens that had urged him to run. One of those goals was to bring accountability to Charlottesville's school system through an elected school board.
Through Rob Schilling's dedication to all citizens of Charlottesville, he led a bi-partisan effort to collect more than 3,000 signatures of registered voters in Charlottesville, personally collecting well over 800 himself. Schilling's dedication did not end with the question getting on the ballot in November 2005, he campaigned for it tirelessly while other councilors did everything but openly oppose it. With over 73 percent of the city voting yes, we will also have our first School Board elections in Charlottesville next Tuesday, thanks in large part to the dedication of Schilling.
Rob Schilling's responsiveness to local citizens is unparalleled. You cannot attend a forum or a debate without hearing from or meeting in the hallway someone whose life has been touched by Schilling's sense of duty to Charlottesville. More often than not, these are people who have contacted other councilors and never got help. Countless crumbling sidewalks have been repaired, concerned listened to, and phone calls returned -- these are things that Charlottesville citizens have not been used to receiving from their elected leaders, and I think it would be a terrible step backward to not return the man who has earned a reputation as a citizen advocate to City Council.
Schilling's experience as a father, small business owner, teacher, musician and current city councilor all blend together to give him the qualities and skills needed to represent the diverse citizenry of Charlottesville. For the long-time citizens worried about being taxed out of their homes, Schilling has pushed to reduce the tax rate by 12 cents over the past 4 years when there was only a 2 cent decrease in the 20 years prior to his election. For University students who fall in love with Charlottesville and put down roots, you may own a house here, and your children may go to school here. The elected school board will help to ensure that you do not have to worry about whether your child will be in a school with plenty of funds or one that is ignored and crumbling, because someone will be accountable to the voters for every single school.
Schilling's steady, dedicated and responsive leadership should not be as rare as it is in government when we make the decisions in the voting booth each year. He has handled personal attacks with aplomb, citizens concerns with compassion, our tax dollars with responsibility, and our trust with a sense of duty. I ask all Charlottesville citizens to handle your choice on Tuesday by voting to re-elect Charlottesville City Councilor Rob Schilling.
Amber VerValin is chair of the College Republicans and a fourth year in the College of Arts & Sciences.
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