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Roanoke City Council Member Democratic Primary {_getChooseLabel(this.selections.length)}

The six-member City Council is Roanoke s governing body. Council members, elected at large (that is, to represent the whole city rather than specific districts), serve four-year terms. The three winners of this Primary Election will be the Democratic Nominees for this race on the November Election ballot. The Republicans did not ask for a primary to choose their nominees for this race.Virginia is an open primary state, meaning that voters do not register by political party. Any registered voter is eligible to vote in any primary election. However, because both the Democratic and Republican parties are holding primaries on the same day, voters must choose the one party ballot that they wish to vote.Campaign Finance Information for candidates in this race can be found on the VPAP website.

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    Jamaal L. "JL" Jackson
    (Dem)

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    S. Terry McGuire
    (Dem)

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    Phazhon T. Nash
    (Dem)

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    I Benjamin Woods
    (Dem)

Biographical Information

What motivated you to run for this office?

What specific issues do you plan to focus on if elected?

How do you plan to promote transparency and accountability in local government?

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing our area, and how do you plan to address them?

How will you ensure that all voices in the community are heard and represented in the decision-making process?

What is your stance on crime and gun violence?

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Website http://www.benjaminwoods.org
Campaign Email bwoods@benjaminwoods.org
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557185263234
Twitter Handle https://twitter.com/I_benjaminwoods
Problems arise and the current council has continually kicked the can and delayed fixes to existing problems. Council has done this for so long, those problems have piled up and they refuse to display any leadership to get the job done. I have built my career on solving problems and getting things done. I waited for others to step up, but none did. So, now I'm running to solve the problems and get this City healthy and growing again.
Reducing property taxes first and foremost. Roanoke is a working class city and needs a tax system that reflects that fact. We need to bring enterprise and creative entrepreneur centers to expand our small business base and create jobs for Roanokers.

Fix downtown parking to increase the patronage in the Downtown district.

Keep our schools fully funded.
Roanoke has a great neighborhood system in existence. I think creating an official feedback loop based in these existing organizations to address neighborhood problems, get input, and disseminate information about city business is the fastest way we can increase communication, accountability, and keep people engaged in their City. The city of Roanoke also needs better, stricter policies on getting citizen requests for information and internal communications.
Long term planning to mitigate for oncoming crisis's. I think climate change, national instability, and the attacks on women's autonomy is going to all come to a head in the decade to come. People around the SE are going to start to look for safe places to move to get away from hurricanes, strict abortion laws, and political instability. We need emergency structures in place, we need greater housing to accommodate potential influxes, we need a greater economic base to keep the city running without further burdening homeowners. We can plan, become a haven for Americans seeking safety, and be fiscally sound. But, we need to start now.
The City has improved on how they engage in diverse neighborhoods. I think we build on that by listening to the existing input and changing the way we receive and apply feedback. Voices are being heard but ignored. Creating a more transparent and accountable local government will serve everyone.
We need to focus on minimizing poverty within Roanoke. Increasing educational attainment and economic opportunity is the golden ratio of reducing crime and violence. Roanoke has started down this path and I think we should keep going down it. In regards to short term violence, the City officials need to create a zero tolerance policy towards gun crimes and make it known that there will be no leniency for violent criminals and those supplying them. We need a carrot, and a stick.
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