Five Vie for 5th

Councilman Park Agelasto moved out of the 5th District and after some legal back and forth he announced he would step down. The announcement was made in April but the stepping down will not take place until November 30th.  This leaves his seat wide open and people are lining up to grab it in a special election to be held November 5th. So far there are five candidates. The filing deadline is August 16th so there could be even more options by the time November 5th rolls around.

• Chuck Richardson – Former city councilman and was one of the folks that initiated the lawsuits that ultimately forced Agelasto to step down. Richardson represented the 5th District from 1977 to 1995 before serving prison time for a felony conviction for distributing heroin.
• Nicholas Da Silva – Is a local activist and Chair of the VCU chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America,
• Stephanie Lynch – A social worker most recently working at GoodNeighbor, one of Virginia’s largest providers of mental health and disability services – particularly in disadvantaged communities.
• Jer’Mykeal McCoy – Is the business development manager at Schutt Sports and is the President of Urban League of Greater Richmond Young Professionals.
• Thad Williamson – Is an Associate Professor of Leadership Studies at University of Richmond and former adviser to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.

I’ve included links to candidates websites where I could find them. If you have links to the three I’m missing let me know and I’ll update.