Candidates

Congratulations to Leah Puryear for her selection to fill the vacant seat on City Council!

Here are a few paragraphs from her City Council application providing some background information:

“Since moving here from Washington, D.C. in 1980, I have come to know and L O V E our wonderful city. I met and married my husband here. We raised two beautiful children who are products of the Charlottesville City schools and were raised in a nurturing community of family and friends. I have grown into adulthood here and I have proudly learned a great deal and developed personally as I have witnessed our city’s growth, development, and progress! I have made countless friends and established life-long relationships socially and professionally with people from diverse backgrounds, circumstances, and perspectives. Through my community board involvement and administrative work at the University of Virginia, I have had the opportunity, responsibility, and great privilege to work with hundreds of students in the Upward Bound (now Uplift at UVA) program and witnessed their triumphs and celebrated their successes. I have been blessed and fortunate to have been the director long enough to work with and mentor the next generation of the children of many former students and participants of the program. I profoundly appreciate the opportunity I have had to have a multigenerational impact in my community and city. I humbly and gratefully have been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions from organizations. One of the ones I treasure most was being selected as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Award winner for 2021. The award speaks well to passion and dedication to being a servant leader. I am committed to the continued growth and advancement for all of Charlottesville’s residents, the larger community, and a city with many opportunities to become even greater! I am a loving and gregarious person who has always been a consensus builder and group oriented. I have leveraged my skills and talents with the help and support of family, friends, and colleagues to help and promote others. I would love the opportunity to work with the Council and the Community to continue building relationships and move our city forward. My commitments to my family, friends, and social and professional community and my more than forty-year history and hope for our city have given much knowledge and skills that would be beneficial to the council. I feel I have knowledge of Charlottesville and its residents which will be beneficial to the Council.

As a member of the Charlottesville City School Board, I met with the City Council throughout several terms. Over the years I have garnered how the Council functions. I learned and continue to appreciate the many responsibilities the Council has to the residents of our community. Mostimportantly, I served on the School Board’s three joint committees and collaborated extensively with the Albemarle County Public Schools system, CATEC, the Piedmont Regional Educational Programs and the Charlottesville/Albemarle Public Education Foundation. My professional experience and strong collaborative relationships with and within both the City and County have given me the knowledge and expertise to assist in navigating the opportunities, cooperative possibilities, and challenges as both divisions move forward.

The Council will soon begin its budget process. As a former School Board member, I have extensive knowledge and expertise to how the Council’s budget process works. I am humbly confident; I would be valuable to the success of the budget and its other administrative responsibilities.