Blake Shepherd hopes to bring a community voice to the city council board if elected. Shepherd works behind the scenes with The Breeze, a student-run news organization based at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Shepherd’s job includes securing advertising money for the paper to ensure it continues to operate as it has for years.

Shepherd runs on community voices. He said he often travels around town, parks in front of people’s houses or lawns and listens to constituents. Whether it’s tax breaks, affordable housing or other addressable issues, Shepherd said the needs of the community should always be the No. 1 priority. 1. He also hopes to improve the school system.

“We need to invest in the Staunton City Public School system,” Shepherd said. “It is one of our greatest assets; our school system has improved dramatically over the years because we have invested in it.”

Shepherd said the zoning changes were a necessary part of his campaign. He said people in the Greater Augusta region are struggling to find affordable housing because supply is far less than demand. If elected, Shepherd hopes to increase the supply of affordable housing in the area and make it much easier to live in the Queen City.

Along with affordable housing, Shepherd said he hopes to bring more tourism to the city. When Shepherd isn’t in Harrisonburg with journalism students, he’s working in some of the city’s historic parks. He said he hopes to strengthen those parks and work to make the downtown area more attractive so people stay in the city longer — and spend more money while they’re here.

Dan Gunnells

WHSV’s coverage of the Gunnels will air on Tuesday’s News at Five. The video will be added to this article after the news.

Dan Gunnels is a name many Stauntonians may remember after the sudden resignation of former Staunton Mayor Andrea Oakes. Although Gunnels did not win that seat, he is seeking to serve his community through the city council in the 2024 election.

Gunnels is the sole acting attorney for the candidates. He has been an acquisition attorney for over 20 years in multiple organizations and currently works with defense organizations based in the Washington, DC metro area. He is also an active voice and member of Staunton’s LGBTQ+ community.

“I represent a part of the community that isn’t always represented, and if it is represented, it’s under wraps and it’s not talked about,” Gunnels said. “As diverse (as) our city is, so should our city council.”

After visiting the Queen City, Gunnels decided to move away from big city life and move to Staunton in 2018. He previously worked with homelessness and HIV policy reform in the early stages of his career. Gunnels said he hopes to bring a connection to the city and the legal system to foster relationships and improve the quality of life in the city.

Gunnels said he favors fostering external relationships and hopes to strengthen internal ones — specifically, the relationship between the city council and the Staunton City School Board.

Corrie Park

WHSV’s live coverage of Park will air on Tuesday’s News at Five. The video will be added to this article after the news.

Corrie Park’s name may be familiar to people who live in the Queen City, but unlike some of her election opponents, she has never run for elected office in the city. Rather, she is the owner of a local business whose storefront is in the heart of downtown – Made; by People for the People.

Park is also the only military veteran on the list who served in the Virginia National Guard after graduating from college. She was sent to Washington, DC after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Park is a current teacher at Stuart Hall School in Staunton, where he teaches government and social studies. She said education is one of the cornerstones of the decision-making process, and she knows how important knowledge is when making decisions — especially for a candidate to represent them on the city council.

“I want people to be able to have an open discourse and be able to think about issues, think through issues, and recognize how others feel, their perspectives, and what we can all do together,” Park said.

Park hopes to reconnect the community that he said has been divided since the rise and importance of social media and the Internet.

Jeff Overholtzer

WHSV’s coverage of Overholtzer will air on Tuesday’s News at Five. The video will be added to this article after the news.

Jeff Overholtzer is a longtime resident of the Queen City. For 35 years, Overholtzer lived in Staunton and worked in many areas of the community, including his time as editor of The News Leader, a Staunton newspaper.

After his time in news, Overholtzer worked closely with collegiate information technology organizations to help reduce expenses and increase efficiency. He said negotiations and collaborations are his forte and he can work to bring Stauntonians affordable projects to improve the quality of life in the area.

“We need to support our local businesses to make it as easy as possible to do business in the city while meeting environmental health and safety standards,” Overholtzer said. “We need to attract new businesses to the city and diversify economic growth.”

Like his competitors, Overholtzer understands the need for affordable housing in the SAW area. He said Staunton is experiencing a boom in industry and tourism with the development of Staunton Crossing and the prominence of downtown neighborhoods, but there is more to do.

If elected, Overholtzer said he hopes to preserve Staunton’s values ​​and traditions while adapting to societal changes across the country. He said one of his best traits is bringing people together to accomplish projects, and he hopes to bring those skills to the city council.

You can vote for four of these five candidates on Election Day, which is Tuesday, November 5.

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