Thoughts on the September 30th Town Candidates Forum

Friends and Neighbors,

I hesitated to hit send on this, but I strongly believe in fairness. At a time when our Town and County are experiencing a significant uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with a likely surge this fall, a certain shortfall in the Town’s budget (due to the economic downturn, with no replacement in sight for our former Tourism Director), along with the many other issues concerning our beautiful community, it was surprising and disappointing last night (after witnessing an otherwise encouraging and even uplifting town candidates forum), to witness mayoral candidate Chris Holloway chose to spend his two minute summation (of why he should be elected Mayor) to attack local attorney and Virginia Beer Museum property owner, David Downes, who isn’t running for any public position, as well attack fellow mayoral candidate Mike McCool, and his thriving media business. Neither Mr. Downes nor Mr. McCool was permitted to defend themselves, after Mr. Holloway’s unacceptable and disappointing attacks. Perhaps, Mr. Holloway knew this was part of the protocol?

David is far from perfect. He and I have had many disagreements and will, no doubt, have many more. Equally, and to be fair, Mr. Downes has advocated on behalf of victims of the opioid epidemic, sweeping the Town that recently culminated in the formation of a drug abuse coalition on another serious problem facing the next Mayor and Town Council. While it is certainly fair to state that some of these individuals affected are, also, clients of Mr. Downes, the reality is that David has a first hand look at the devastating effects of the drug problems in our community; So much so that Mr. Holloway used his final minutes to share why he should be elected mayor to, instead, accuse Mr. Downes efforts to take partisanship out of the Council and mayoral races as spelled out in the Town Charter as a front for the Democratic Party.

While I am far from being a Democrat, last I checked, there wasn’t anything criminal about being one. As a matter of fact, the four candidates Mr. Downes is supporting for Town Council and Mayor ARE ALL REPUBLICANS, including one candidate endorsed by the local Republican Party, who is in favor of local nonpartisan elections. Again, back to that “reality”.

As far as Mr. Holloway’s comments against The B.E.E.R Party, The B.E.E.R. Party states support of candidates who are for transparency, and putting Town concerns over personal or party interests. I admit that I, personally, have some serious disagreements with some people affiliated with this organization, which is why I have limited personal involvement. However (and again, to be fair), they do something really weird, which I support one hundred percent… They think for themselves, and do not tick their party’s boxes (if they have one), to achieve personal gain. These positions appear to be a bridge too far for Mr. Holloway.

Another interesting fact, Mr. Downes is (actually) a Republican (with exceptional support for the 1st and 2nd Amendment), who also happens to support property owners being able to do what they want with their property, with minimal governmental interference. It is worth noting that Mr. Holloway was the deciding vote against Mr. Downes being able to expand use of his property to benefit the museum, which has become a major tourist attraction in and for Front Royal. David has the menus of many of our local restaurants in the VBM, and proudly supports and encourages people to patronize them, even going so far as to help pair that establishments food with their own beers.

Mr. Downes is supporting candidates who see a need to change Town Council’s priorities, to address the real issues facing our community. While David and I differ on some of these individuals, as well as what approach to always take, Mr. Holloway, currently on Council, amply demonstrated the need for new blood for our town leadership.

Most Respectfully,

Michael S. Williams
Front Royal, Virginia