I attended Paul Riddick’s campaign kick-off this morning. Also in attendance were five other council members: Paul Fraim, Barclay Winn, Don Williams, Randy Wright and Anthony Burfoot. Noticeably missing was Daun Hester. I understand that Vice Mayor Hester is supporting Riddick’s opponent, Kerry Lynch.
The surpise in this bunch was the presence of Anthony Burfoot. Burfoot was visibly supported by Hester in the last election, when he ran against incumbent Herb Collins, who had previously run against Hester for her superward seat.
Also missing was either candidate from Ward 2, the seat Paul Fraim is vacating to run for mayor. And the other candidate for mayor, Dan Montague, showed up after nearly everyone had left.
In his remarks, Fraim pointed out that without the support of Riddick, we would not be electing our mayor this year. I still wish the 4-2-1 plan had been approved but I think we are better off electing our mayor than not.
Wright mentioned that he will have competition for his Ward 5 seat. The man – whose name I did not get – has not perfected his filing yet.
I hear that the candidate for the the Ward 3 is not going to run. I have been monitoring the State Board of Elections website to see who has filed. The filing deadline is this Tuesday, March 7. Once the filing deadline has passed, check back for profiles on the candidates.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
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poetryman – if you have something to say, please say it; otherwise, I’ll continue to delete your links to your blog.
Sad state of affairs, ain’t it? We finally get an elected mayor and we only have TWO candidates? Jeez Pete, sometimes I wonder why we even try!
Btw, I would support Riddick were I in his ward. He was the only councilman that stood up for those women, all minority, almost all single mothers, who lost their jobs from social services for taking disaster relief funds after Hurricane Isabelle. I found that admirable. Although, I don’t think they ever got their jobs back or were helped in any way by our leaders. I guess empty words is just that, but there is something to be said for standing for something, right?
Well, at least Riddick stood up. Sometimes, folks won’t even do that.
Can you explain the 4-2-1 plan?
Norfolk currently has a seven member council, with 5 small wards and 2 superwards, which overlap the 5 small ones. The 4-2-1 plan would have reduced the 5 small wards to 4, kept the 2 superwards, and added the mayor. This would have kept the council at 7 members. Instead, the plan adopted by the city (and approved via charter change by Richmond, as well as the US Justice Department) simply adds the mayor to the existing council. So we will have an eight-member council.
I will never understand Norfolk, Vivian. What a confusing way to do things. But, I do understand the hope of this system producing a more equitable representation of the city.