QUESTIONNAIRE: Matthew Kelly
Candidate for City Council - Ward 3
Questions
FXBG Advance: Have you previously run for office?
Kelly: Yes
FXBG Advance: Have you previously held office?
Kelly: Yes
FXBG Advance: Have you ever been convicted of a felony?
Kelly: No
FXBG Advance: Briefly explain what experiences you would bring to this office should you be elected.
Kelly: My previous service on council is a record of community engagement, accommodating different perspectives, and getting results—The River Easement, the baseball stadium, the Historic Preservation Plan and the first Regional Housing Affordability Action Plan are a few examples. I’m candid about challenges we face and considering all sides of issues. I take advantage of the wealth of knowledge in the community. This approach beings much better results.
FXBG Advance: Briefly explain two issues that are most important to you as a candidate.
Kelly:
1. Transparency in government and robust community engagement. The City Council is currently working in a vacuum, ignoring diverse views. It withholds and charges residents for information for which they are legally and morally entitled. We must encourage community engagement and a diversity of views that will result in more positive results.
2. The city is becoming nothing more than another pit stop on the I-95 corridor. We are currently heading down an unsustainable level of development and bringing congestion, degrading the environment, and pricing people out of the city. We need to actively work to bring growth that compliments the city’s unique historic small-town character. Let’s avoid the potholes in the road the city is currently heading down.
FXBG Advance: Briefly explain why you would be a good fit for the office you are pursuing.
Kelly: I am known for this attention to details. I ask the difficult questions and express different perspectives during Council meetings to show that I understand all the multiple angles of what we Councilors are being asked to consider. I do not deflect to an ideology, as is currently happening, that has nothing to do with the document on our screens or the pothole that needs fixing on your street.
Someone needs to look out for our citizens’ best interests. No one on Council pays attention to the cost of major projects, or considers the impact on the budget, which drives up taxes, making it impossible for half of all of our citizens to afford to live here. Why does Fredericksburg pay nearly twice the construction cost per square foot for a new school that Stafford does? Because none of our elected officials are paying attention. I will.
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