Collegiate Times

Do you want to get to know your future city council? Do you like coffee?

"Coffee with the Candidates," an informal, informational weekly forum, gives Blacksburg citizen a chance to meet the town council candidates over the aroma of cappuccinos and mocha lattes.

In fact, anyone with an interest can meet at Easy Chair Coffee Shop with the candidates, eager to discuss their campaigns and plans for the Nov. 3 election on a personal level.

A new candidate for town council is scheduled almost every time for a two-hour Q&A session about their campaign, their stance on important local issues, and why they should receive a vote.

All ten candidates running for the four available positions on Blacksburg Town Council are scheduled for a meeting.

"Providing more opportunities for people to get involved and talk one-on-one is really important," said Bryce Carter, a town council candidate. "It's not something that should be a one-time thing. This type of interaction is essential to any campaign."

According to Carter, the venue is perfect because of its emphasis on sustainability and close relationship with the community.

"It was a bigger turnout than we were expecting.  We're hoping the next one is even bigger," said Easy Chair Coffee Shop employee Nicholas Ross. "Our shop benefited from the increased revenue but that's definitely just a secondary goal."

"We're more excited that people are getting involved with the local politics, so this event benefited everyone," Ross said.

Twenty-five local attendees took advantage of the Aug. 13 meeting.  

"It was very responsive and people built off each other while talking about a lot of issues. I think it was a great experience for everyone," Carter said.

Current town council member Susan Anderson must compete with her new challengers, but attended a meeting as well.  

"The atmosphere felt really good and people felt very comfortable asking questions. It was definitely successful," said Anderson, admitting she thought the meeting was also effective and successful for Carter.

She will be attending the 7 p.m. "Coffee with the Candidates" again on Aug. 27, when she has the chance to educate residents about her own plans for the future.

"I think I would like to give the attendees a general sense of who I am and what my campaign is about, and what issues I think are coming up," said Anderson. "I definitely want to have plenty of time for the attendees to ask questions of me and see their concerns."

Anderson plans to address important issues such as Blacksburg's growth and development of the downtown area.  She is also concerned with the sale of the Blacksburg Middle School property.

"I'm hoping most of the time won't be me standing up telling my platform, but rather a series of dialoging," said Anderson.

Candidates feel strongly that the community should take advantage of these meetings and the low-key environment. "I think it's really important for (the people of Blacksburg) to come out to these meetings and get educated about who's running and what issues they stand for to be involved," said Carter.

Meetings will be scheduled every Thursday at 7 p.m. before the election. All Blacksburg citizens are encouraged to attend.