EXTRA: Eight Candidates File for Town Elections May 6

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

March 6, 2014

Cape Charles voters will have a choice for each of the four offices to be filled in the May 6 elections: there are two candidates for mayor and 6 candidates for the three positions open on Town Council.

In alphabetical order, running for mayor are George Proto and Frank Wendell. Running for Town Council are Chris Bannon, Deborah Bender, Charles “Sambo” Brown, David Gay, Lenora “Lynn” Mitchell-Fields, and Joan Natali.

MAYOR’S RACE

George Proto, 68, and his wife Nancy moved to town in 2011 from Poughkeepsie, NY, built a house near the water in the Historic District, and started making “Sweet Annie’s” chocolates, sold in local gourmet food stores.

This is Proto’s first foray into local politics: he has never run for office and never served on a town board or commission. However, he was appointed president of the Cape Charles Business Association following the resignation of Dave Burden.

Frank Wendell, 56, was born in Cape Charles, and other than time away for college has lived here ever since. He is president of Wendell Distributing Co., Inc., the town’s second-largest business.

Wendell is a sitting member of Town Council, where he was elected in 2012 following a 12-year hiatus from town politics. Before that, he served six consecutive terms as a town councilman, from 1988-2000. He has observed that when he joined Town Council in 1988 he was the youngest member, and 26 years later he remains the youngest member. Wendell has one daughter, a town resident who will attend Virginia Tech in the fall.

TOWN COUNCIL RACE

Chris Bannon, 77, is a sitting member of Town Council in his eighth consecutive year. He also serves as vice-mayor. He earlier served on Town Council from 1992-2002, after which he was defeated for re-election, returning successfully in 2006.

Bannon operates Sea Gate Bed and Breakfast on Tazewell Avenue. Opened in 1989, it is the town’s oldest B&B. Bannon is active in Citizens for Central Park and Friends of the Library and is the driving force behind the town’s annual Epiphany Party.

Deborah Bender, 60, came to Cape Charles by way of Onancock and, before that, the Jersey shore. This is her first run for local office, although she regularly attends and speaks at Town Council meetings.

Bender formerly operated Scarlett’s Closet, a dress shop on Mason Avenue. She is married to Don Bender, who has lived in Cape Charles all his life. She has a grown daughter who resides locally.

Charles “Sambo” Brown, 71, retired in December as the town’s chief of police. He earlier served on Town Council from 2000-2008. He joined the town police force in 2001, serving as both an elected and a paid town official. He did not run for re-election in 2008, and was promoted to police chief in 2009.

Brown’s earlier work experience includes a job at Bayshore Concrete Products and as a deputy sheriff for Northampton County. He and his wife Terry have two daughters and two sons, who reside locally.

David Gay, 62, has owned a home in town since 2002, but only became a full-time resident after retiring a little over a year ago. He is currently restoring his home on Monroe Avenue, doing a considerable amount of the work himself. Gay serves on the town’s Historic District Review Board, and was chairman for 2013.

Gay has over 35 years’ HR experience working for Holcim Inc., General Electric, and Fannie Mae. He is married to Karen Gay, and they have two grown children.

Lenora “Lynn” Mitchell-Fields, 66, is a lifetime resident of Cape Charles and has decades of service as a civic worker. She is president of Concerned Citizens of Cape Charles and is a long-time observer of Town Council.

Mitchell also operates Mitchell’s Store, an historic small convenience store on Jefferson Avenue founded many years ago by her mother, the late Edith Mae Bailey Mitchell.

Joan Natali, 71, is completing her first term on Town Council. She is also an appointed member of the Planning Commission and a member of Friends of the Library and Citizens for Central Park. She is a voting member of the Bay Creek (Hollies) Homeowners Association and has the distinction of being the first resident in the Hollies.

Natali publishes “Cape Charles Happenings,” a subscription-only online calendar and information service.

Absent from the above list for the first time in 12 years is the name of Dora Sullivan, the current mayor, who has announced her retirement. Sullivan first ran for mayor in 2002, tying incumbent Frank Lewis. The subsequent winner, Lewis, was chosen by a coin toss, but Sullivan was then appointed to Town Council to fill a vacancy. In 2004 she was officially elected to Town Council, and in 2006 became mayor, this time running unopposed. She was re-elected in 2010.

In the run-up to the May 6 town elections, The Wave will publish candidate statements and photos as they are made available. Each candidate will have an equal opportunity to make his or her political views known. No political advertising will be accepted.