Good Morning George,

As usual you raise many thought provoking issues. I will limit my comments to one: residency.

I think residency is very important as to someone's eligibility to serve on City Council. The council determines tax rates, etc. and if someone is not subject to the consequences of the actions council takes I think it seriously damages their objectivity and credibility.

Obviously an Albemarle county resident has much different interests at stake than a city resident. Therefore I think it is important to find out where Joan Fenton and the other candidates have voted in the last several elections. Though she may be legally able to run for office in the city I think it is important for the voters to see where she has been voting. Then they can make up their own minds whether or not to support her.

Just because somebody doesn't live in the city doesn't necessarily mean they can't represent the city's interest fairly. My father served as Commonwealth's Attorney for Albemarle County for 20 years and did a hell of a job though he lived in Charlottesville all his life. Too good in fact. He was in large part responsible for helping the county defeat annexation which has hurt the city ever since.

Have a nice day,

Downing Smith (electronic mail, February 4, 2002)

Editor's Note: As you know, I do not believe the residency issue, per se, is a very compelling one. I believe that it is a weak stand-in for attachment to the community and that voters are better advised to closely examine the time each of the candidates has lived and/or worked in Charlottesville and their policy proposals and positions with respect to the city council race.

This said, according to voter registrar for Charlottesville Sheri Owens, records of whether someone voted in a particular jurisdiction in past elections are open to the public. To view those records, you have to go down to the office and demonstrate that you are a registered Virginia voter. And you are not allowed to take notes.

Records for individuals who voted in the November 2001 election and the December 2001 special election are due back from the state shortly. Presumably Joan Fenton voted in Charlottesville for those elections, if she voted, as she was already a candidate for the Charlottesville City Council at that time.

In the June 12, 2001 Democratic primary, records at the voter registrar in Charlottesville indicate that Blake Caravati, Bern Ewert, Alexandria Searls and David Simmons all voted in the city. There are no records indicating that Joan Fenton or Waldo Jaquith voted in Charlottesville in that election.

Voter registrar records do indicate that Waldo Jaquith voted in the Free Union precinct in Albemarle County, while there is no record of Joan Fenton's having voted in that the Democratic primary in Albemarle County.

In the November 7, 2000 Presidential election, records at the voter registrar in Charlottesville indicate that Blake Caravati, Bern Ewert, Alexandria Searls and David Simmons all voted in the city. There are no records indicating that Joan Fenton or Waldo Jaquith voted in Charlottesville in that election.

Records do indicate that Joan Fenton voted in the November 7, 2000 election in the Ivy Precinct in Albemarle County and Waldo Jaquith, a.k.a. David Landers Jaquith, voted in the November 7, 2000 election in Free Union in Albemarle County.

Apparently none of the current crop of Democratic candidates for the Charlottesville City Council crossed-over to vote in the February 29, 2000 Republican primary in Charlottesville. However, a number of Democratic favorables did so ....