By Brian Trompeter
Vienna Town Council member Ed Somers announced on Facebook June 11 that he would not be seeking another term in November.
According to Somers’ statement, he needed to focus on ongoing health matters, both for himself and his family.
“I am not one to undertake a venture with anything less than 100-percent effort,” he wrote.
Somers called serving on the Council for the past three years, as currently as mayor pro tempore, one of the highest honors of his life and that he had learned much.
He also was proud of the Council’s accomplishments during this period, including using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase body-worn cameras for the town’s police department, building a new police station, constructing sidewalks, investing in core infrastructure and improving the environment by planting street trees and promoting safe battery collection.
The Council and town staff also has undertaken “Code Create Vienna,” a zoning-code rewrite that will be the subject of public hearings July 10 and 12.
“And we have done all this while being fiscally prudent and lowering our property tax rate year after year,” he wrote.
The Council has a strong spirit of cooperation, said Somers, who also gave credit to town staff, Town Manager Mercury Payton, members of Vienna’s volunteer boards and commissions, and the town’s engaged residents and businesses.
Somers thanked his wife Anna and daughter Alex for their support and Mayor Linda Colbert and former Mayor Laurie DiRocco for encouraging him to run for Town Council.
“Over the next six months, I will work hard – up until my last hour in office – to continue with the mission I set out on three years ago,” he wrote, adding, “Thank you, Vienna. As one of my fellow Council members often reminds us, we are blessed to live in such a compassionate, committed, knowledgeable and engaged community. And serving on the Vienna Town Council has been a blessing for me that I will never forget.”
A Vienna resident since 2009, Somers joined the Council in 2020 after serving as chairman of the Vienna Transportation Safety Commission.
Originally from Cleveland Height, Ohio, Somers holds a political-science degree from American University and now is chief of staff for the United States Conference of Mayors.
Somers’ departure from the field makes him the third incumbent not seeking re-election in this cycle. Council member Steve Potter bowed out for health reasons and colleague Nisha Patel did so because of professional and family obligations.
Before the June 20 filing deadline, which came hours after the GazetteLeader went to press, the field consisted of Mayor Linda Colbert as the only candidate seeking that position. Council incumbents Howard Springsteen, Charles Anderson and Ray Brill Jr. are seeking new terms and will be joined on the ballot – and on the Council next year, unless additional candidates file at the last minute – by Roy Baldwin, Jessica Ramakis and Sandra Allen.
A new state law moved municipal elections from May to November, to coincide with the general election and, in theory, encourage more voter participation. Vienna in the past had run Town Council elections every May with three seats up for grabs, and the mayor’s position up for election in even-numbered years.
Under the new system, the mayor’s job and all six Council seats will be up for grabs in November of odd-numbered years.
