RICHMOND, Va. – The three 1st District City Council candidates will face off for a final debate ahead of Election Day.
Candidates Andreas Addison, Johnathon Cruise and Harry H Warner Jr. are running for the seat currently occupied by Jonathon T. Baliles, who is making a mayoral bid. The candidates will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday night, Nov. 1, at Mary Munford Elementary School.
The debate is sponsored by the Westhampton Merchants Association and will focus on needs and issues relevant to both the 1st District and the City as a whole.
Mr. Addison, who spent eight years in City Hall working as a Civic Innovator, has several civic endorsements which include Lorena Molina-Irizarry (NextGen Training Summit partner), Ben Berkowitz, founder/CEO SeeClickFix and Steve Ressler, President & Founder of GovLoop.
His platform is “calls for supporting and growing city schools, improving essential city services, and holding City Hall accountable.”
Mr. Addison has raised $28,953, according to online election data.
Mr. Cruise, an Information Technology Project Manager, is running on a platform which emphasizes unity among City Council, School Board and the Mayor’s office to fix city schools. He also called for increased government transparency and improved city services.
He has raised $4,181 in the race. His top donor, aside from family members, was a Stafford County school teacher.
Mr. Warner, a former U.S. Army Captain with banking experience and nonprofit consulting, is running a platform which includes “improving city schools, financial integrity and accountability, sensible economic developments and regional cooperation.”
He has served on the Save the Diamond Committee, in addition to holding other volunteer roles. Warner is endorsed by the Richmond Coalition of Police and the Richmond Firefighters, Richmond Education Association, the Home Building Association of Richmond and the Richmond Crusade for Voters Association.
He has raised $52,615 total, with his biggest donors being from Claiborne, Robins Jr. and Marcus Weinstein.
Organizers are asking people to submit questions through the Westhampton Merchants Facebook page.
