Ed. — Archived from the Sunday, Aug. 25, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — Four people are running to join the City Council in the upcoming District 8 special election.
They are Cody Conner, Stacy Cummings, Phillip Hines and Leland Jones, and all are first time candidates for local office in Virginia Beach.
The winner of the special elections will complete the unexpired two years of the term from January 2025 through December 2026. City Councilmember Chris Taylor, who was elected in 2022, submitted his resignation from the District 8 seat effective at the end of the year because he is a candidate for mayor.
The filing deadlines in the special election passed on Friday, Aug. 16. The candidacies of Cummings, a retired auto sales executive, and Hines, a real estate appraiser, were reported by The Independent News earlier this year. They are joined by Conner, maintenance supervisor for a large military housing community, and Jones, a businessperson and national representative for an automobile care product.
Conner became active in the community as a parent in response to issues involving the School Board. His interest in local government grew from there.
“A big part of my priorities are things that I believe benefit everybody in our community, but especially the working class,” Conner said on Friday, Aug. 16.
Issues include transportation, public safety, education and affordability — with the latter issue, he said, as something that supports economic development, too.
“I’d really like to be a voice of reason but also a voice of making progress,” Conner said. “When you remain content in a city like ours, you fall behind.”
Jones said he is running because he hopes to bring new perspective and help the city get spending under control while addressing issues such as affordability and keeping communities safe and family friendly. He owns a business that provides protective coatings for autos and serves as a national executive representative for the product.
“There’s a lot of things in our area that I think have gone unheard by our current leadership,” he said on Friday, Aug. 16.
“I’m a family man and a business owner and I’m not beholden to anybody,” he said.
Cummings on Tuesday, Aug. 20, said he would bring a mix of experience in accounting and running a major business to the table, as well as a strong relationship with colleagues on the council to deliver results.
He said he would be someone “who can bring about collaboration and a true consensus.”
He formerly served as the vice president and chief financial officer of Priority Auto Group, and is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Hines is a residential real estate appraiser and vice president of the Thalia Civic League.
He said he plans to continue campaigning to keep neighborhoods safe, protect from overdevelopment and make investments in communities that make them stronger and attract economic progress.
“Voters will have options, and I think that’s a good thing,” Hines said on Monday, Aug. 19. “It’s promising that there’s four people who want to make a change.”
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