In central Virginia, there are many local elections without candidates

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Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022

With all precincts  reporting, local election results are in around central Virginia.

But for many places, the results are less important than who actually ran for office. This year in the central Virginia counties in Charlottesville Tomorrow’s voter guide, nine of 20 local races were either uncontested or did not have enough candidates for open positions.

Why? It’s a combination of politics and pay that keep people from stepping up to serve on councils, school boards and as mayors and commissioners. Here’s more.

In central Virginia, there aren’t enough candidates to fill open seats in local governments

Want a full rundown of who won? Our 2022 election guide is now updated with results from six counties in the region.

2022 Voter Guide

Here’s a story about a local school board in action:. In an attempt to convince more people to apply to be school bus drivers, the Albemarle County School Board voted unanimously on Oct. 27 to raise driver starting pay to $21.50 an hour.

Why? Several months into the school year, students are still struggling to get to school on time. Albemarle schools have 127 bus drivers but need 33 more. 

The week of the vote, 63 students arrived at school more than an hour late. More than 320 students were between 16 minutes to more than an hour past the first bell. Additionally, about 1,365 Albemarle students reached school between one to 15 minutes late.

Here’s more.

Dozens of Albemarle kids miss the first hour of school each week because their buses arrive late

“What we’re doing is not sustainable,” said Albemarle routing and planning manager Renee DeVall. “If we were fully staffed, we wouldn’t be doing routes like this.”

Finally, here are some updates about the victims of the shooting at UVA, and their communities.

The Cavalier Daily reported on the Saturday memorial service at John Paul Jones Arena for Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry, who were shot and killed on the UVA campus on Nov. 13.

There’s more to read and watch today about Mike Hollins, one of the two students who was shot and injured. His mother, Brenda Hollins, gave ESPN a moving interview about his recovery and his courage that night. He ran off the bus and returned to try to get more students to safety. Brenda Hollins says she has already forgiven suspected shooter Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. “I had to in order to heal so I can help my son. I mean, I don’t have a choice,” she said.

Brenda Hollins wrote on Twitter Monday morning that her son has been discharged from the hospital. Another UVA student, Marlee Morgan, was discharged last Tuesday.

Charlottesville Tomorrow will be taking a holiday Thursday and Friday, so we’ll see you again in your inbox next week. We hope you too have time and space to enjoy the long weekend.

Thanks as always,

Angilee Shah, editor-in-chief

Charlottesville Tomorrow is 501(c)(3) nonprofit. To make a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA or a gift of stock contact mhood@cvilletomorrow.org.