Staunton City Council to gather citizen input - September 23

Staunton City Council will conduct up to three forums around the city
to gather citizen input on a proposal to shift city elections to
coincide with state and federal elections. The Staunton Electoral Board has
asked City Council to consider such a change to save money and to
potentially increase voter involvement in local elections.

City elections are currently held in May. The proposed change would
schedule them to occur with the general election in November.

Since changing dates for elections is a significant step for the city,
the members of City Council want to hear from city residents before
taking action.

The public forums on election dates will be held:

* 7 p.m. Monday, October 1 in the Lee High School cafeteria, and
* 7 p.m. Monday, October 22 in the Shelburne Middle School cafeteria

A third forum may be scheduled later. Members of City Council will be
present at all forums and any resident of the City of Staunton is
invited to attend and speak to the subject. Residents may also submit their
opinions by mailing them to: Election Date, City Council Clerk, P O
Box 58, Staunton, VA 24402, or by emailing them to
customer_relations@ci.staunton.va.us. Please include your name and
address with any submittal.

Although City Council may change the date of elections by ordinance,
such action would have to occur before the end of this calendar year in
order for the change to be effective with scheduled 2008 elections.

We would appreciate your assistance in publicizing these forums.

Doug Cochran APR
Customer Relations
City of Staunton