Candidates Speak 7 P.M. Tonight at Palace Theatre

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

April 29, 2014

Candidates for Cape Charles mayor and Town Council will speak 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, at the Palace Theatre on Mason Avenue. The forum will be conducted by Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore. CBES has been sponsoring Meet the Candidates Forums for all county-wide elections in both Accomack and Northampton for 15 years, but the Cape Charles forum is the first that CBES has conducted for a town election.

Over the years, CBES has developed a forum agenda designed to give each candidate a fair opportunity to make his or her best case for being elected. Candidates are sent several questions in advance to provide an opportunity to prepare their responses. After each candidate has made a brief introductory statement, they are asked to answer those questions.  After that, members of the audience are invited to submit written questions.  The questions are screened by several CBES members for appropriateness and significance, and those deemed most useful are posed to the candidates by the moderator. The forum concludes with each candidate making a summation of his positions and an appeal for the citizens’ votes.

The moderator of the forum will be Wayne Bell, and Margaret Van Clief is in charge of arrangements.  The free event is open to the public and the press. A second forum sponsored by Cape Charles Rotary Club is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, May 4, also at the Palace Theatre.

There are two candidates for mayor and six candidates for the three positions open on Town Council.

MAYOR’S RACE

George Proto, 69, 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 elected 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.

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