Vienna Town Councilmember George Lovelace has started a run for Mayor of Vienna. Lovelace is considering a run, he said, and is out collecting necessary signature to get his name on the ballot in May. "I'm out knocking on doors," he said. "What's really prompting me to run is there are quite a few people who have asked me," Lovelace said.
Although the Mayor is up for election every two years, there have only been four contested elections since 1976, said Marie Kisner, Public Information Officer for the Town.
"I think its important that the citizens have a choice," Lovelace said.
Mayor Jane Seeman, who is running for re-election welcomed Lovelace to the race. "I think the competition is good for everyone," she said. "I think the citizens of the town will be the beneficiaries of this."
Lovelace estimated that he is halfway to the necessary 125 signatures. The deadline is March 7.
Lovelace said he seeks a more responsive government. He hopes to allow members of the public greater input into decisions made by the Town Council, and to educate them more about the issues. "I have always been one to go out and talk to people," he said.
Lovelace served on the town council from 1980-1996. He was a member of the House of Delegates from 1997-99 and then was reelected to the Town Council in 2000.
He has been an at-large member of the Fairfax County Park Authority Board since 2004 and the state library board since 2005. If elected, he would become Vienna's first African-American mayor.
Seeman was first appointed to the Town Council in November 1996. She was elected to the town council in May of 1997 and again in 1999. She was first elected Mayor in 2000.
Election day is May 2. If Lovelace wins, the council will appoint someone to fill out the remainder of his term which ends in 2007.