Wednesday, May 2, 2012
City gets a new mayor and a new council member.
Fairfax City voters chose new leadership and added a brand new member to the council Tuesday. Scott Silverthorne followed in his father's footsteps to become mayor, while Michael DeMarco won his first ever term on the council. "Politics in the City of Fairfax is a family business," Silverthorne told the Old Town Hall crowd after the last votes were counted. He thanked his 87-year-old mother, who trekked from Arizona to be with him on election night. Bette Silverthorne presented her son with the gavel his father used during his two terms as mayor starting in 1978. David Meyer won the most votes of the council candidates. He pledged to lead the council in helping the less fortunate within the city limits, "from those on free and reduced …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
He says the council needs to make smart, short-term strides toward city goals.
Fairfax City's key issues haven't changed much since Jeff Greenfield won his first council seat 18 years ago. Economic development, fiscal responsibility and quality of life still rule in City Hall, but Greenfield knows first-hand how a tanking economy can make those issues more complex and urgent. Now the city faces an $8 million general fund deficit thanks to small economic improvements, higher education costs and a growing list of infrastructure needs. The key to getting through the tough times, Greenfield said, is focusing on the need-to-haves as opposed to the nice-to-haves. "If you look back to 18 years ago versus now, I've always been a budget hawk," he said. "I really paid attention to the bottom line, providing services at the …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Council and mayoral candidates talk about Fairfax City's traffic woes.
Cobbdale residents heard candidates talk about their campaign issues at the Henry Masonic Lodge on Oak Street Wednesday night. Along with the familiar mentions of economic growth and water, they discussed traffic, an issue that had only been glossed over in previous debates. Candidates talked about rallying with regional forces to secure more funding from the state, building a bypass around the city and using traffic calming measures to mitigate problems within the city limits. Hosted by the Cobbdale Civic Association, the candidates night was a last chance to meet school board, council and mayoral runners in one go. A resident took the opportunity to ask what the candidates could do to alleviate traffic problems throughout the city. This …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Country Club Hills residents pose questions to the 2012 election line-up.
Fairfax City candidates discussed cyberbullying, fiscal responsibility and water with Country Club Hills residents Sunday. The Country Club Hills Civic Association hosted their own informal candidate meet and greet at the neighborhood's Commons on Spring Lake Terrace. Mayoral, council and school board candidates chatted with residents before lining up and answering questions from a small crowd. Here's a quick recap of the topics. Feel free to jump to the ones you're most interested in. Cyberbullying One resident asked for advice in dealing with a group of students using Twitter to harass his 12-year-old daughter. "We used to think of these problems as high school problems," candidate Toby Sorenson said, hinting at a larger issue with real…
Friday, April 13, 2012
Two candidates stand out at first debate night.
The 2012 Fairfax City mayoral and council candidates have similar goals. They believe in economic revitalization, emphasize a focus on Fairfax Boulevard and Old Town, and love the taste of Fairfax City water. But two candidates stood out from the crowd Thursday night at the American Legion Post 177 debate. Council candidate Gary Perryman portrayed himself as a common man standing up to preserve the small town nature of Fairfax. The 56-year Fairfax resident and Westmore Civic Association president cleaned up for his campaign. He cut his signature long hair, dressed up and still embraced his everyman roots throughout the debate. "I'm not a college graduate or a business man," he said, adding that his common-sense philosophy will likely …
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Monday, February 6, 2012
The deadline to file all candidate paperwork is March 6.
So far there's only one Fairfax City Council candidate who has his paperwork turned into the city's registrar to run in the 2012 election. Michael DeMarco, Fairfax City resident and chairman of the city's Economic Development Authority, is officially on the ballot. This is his second time running for council. But he'll have some competition. "Catherine Read and Scott Silverthorne have filed a Certificate of Qualification, which basically states that if they were to run for local office, they meet the legal qualifications to be a candidate which we have verified," said General Registrar Kevin Linehan. "However, this is a pretty good indication they intend to run." Current council members Dan Drummond and Silverthorne made their campaign …
Philip Krastman
7:55 am on Friday, April 20, 2012
the only real solution to fairfax city traffic problems is to moxe far far away. Oklahoma is looking like a good option.   more ›