City of Roanoke

Our country is facing several unprecedented crises all at once. The COVID-19 pandemic, police brutality, and racism are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems we need to tackle head-on. The 2020 Presidential race comes at a defining moment in our history, and this is a pivotal election that will decide the fate of America for generations to come.

Joe Biden was the 47th Vice President of the United States, serving in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. He represented the state of Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009. During his time with the Obama administration, he was an influential adviser to the President, helping usher in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a monumental reform to America’s healthcare system where 20 million Americans gained health coverage. Biden also oversaw infrastructure spending under Obama’s stimulus package response to the 2008 recession and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

If elected President, Biden has pledged to codify Roe V. Wade, restore federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and repeal the Hyde Amendment. His response to the coronavirus pandemic involves widespread, free testing, and the distribution of a vaccine with no out-of-pocket costs. Biden wants to make affordable healthcare available to more Americans by strengthening the ACA and offering a public option for health coverage. Biden believes that gun violence is a public health crisis and plans to ban the manufacture and sale of assault rifles and high capacity magazines, close loopholes that allow guns to get in the wrong hands, require background checks for gun sales, and institute red flag laws.

Biden’s platform to address climate change involves embracing central components of the Green New Deal––getting the world to net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 and aligning environmental and economic policies. He announced a $2 trillion plan to invest in clean energy while creating economic opportunity and strengthening infrastructure.

Biden also pledged to restore the Voting Rights Act. As a U.S. Senator in 2006, Biden co-sponsored legislation to renew key sections of the Voting Rights Act. It was signed by then President George W. Bush.

Biden plans to address economic inequality by increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, increasing affordable housing, ending discrimination in the housing market, investing in transportation, protecting tenants’ rights, boosting the power of unions and workers’ rights to collectively bargain, and checking corporate power over workers.

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, is the incumbent and Republican nominee. He won the 2016 election by capturing a majority of votes in the electoral college votes while losing the popular vote by 3 million votes. In 2020, Trump was impeached for requesting foreign assistance in the 2016 election. During his time in office, he attacked affordable healthcare by attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, overhauled the U.S. tax system to benefit the richest one percent of Americans and wealthy corporations, and took away Title IX funding for Planned Parenthood. He appointed conservative judges to the judiciary who are hostile to abortion rights, denied amnesty to thousands of immigrants fleeing violence from Central America, attempted to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protected young immigrants from deportation, sided with racists during times of racial upheaval in our nation, and completely botched the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to Trump’s racism, attacks on immigrants, attempts to take away healthcare, and proven inability to lead our nation, Joe Biden is the clear progressive choice for the 2020 Presidential election.

Senator Kamala Harris is the first Black woman and South Asian American woman to be nominated for Vice President of the United States by a major party. As the daughter of immigrants, Harris’s groundbreaking nomination is a win for people of color. She was elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate in 2016, before that she was Attorney General of California. As a Senator, Harris serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Budget.

During her time in the Senate, Harris became known for grilling Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Attorney General William Barr during their confirmation hearings. 

Harris blames the Trump administration for the severity of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. 
Harris believes that the federal government should respond to the coronavirus pandemic by giving Americans $2,000 monthly stipends while banning evictions, utilities shutoffs, foreclosures, and rent increases. She signed onto the Masks For All Act, which would provide free masks to Americans at no cost. Harris introduced legislation that would establish a task force to address health inequities made apparent by pandemic. She also believes free and widespread testing should be available. 

Harris supports a $15 minimum wage for working families. While in the Senate, Harris worked to repeal Trump’s 2017 tax breaks for the richest one percent through her legislation called the LIFT Act, which would cut taxes for the working class and lift 9 million people out of poverty. Harris also introduced a bill to help Americans with housing by offering 13.3 million families tax subsidies to afford rent. Harris received a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO. She also introduced legislation to strengthen the rights of public sector workers and their right to collectively bargain. 

While in the Senate, Harris co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act of 2019. During her run for President, she proposed a 10-year transition plan for universal coverage where private insurers would be allowed to compete provided they follow certain rules. As candidate for Vice President, Harris supports Joe Biden’s plan to strengthen the Affordable Care Act by offering a public option.    

In response to the police murder of George Floyd, Harris introduced with other Senators the Justice in Policing Act, legislation that would bans chokeholds and no-knock warrants, set national standards to hold police officers accountable for misconduct, prohibit racial profiling, and established a national data collection system on police misconduct.  

Kiesha Preston is a progressive advocate and author of the Victims of Domestic Violence Act, which was signed into law this year in Virginia. Preston also serves on the advisory committee for TAP Domestic Violence Services and is a contributing writer for ColorsVA Magazine. She has firsthand knowledge of abuse and violence against women both in her community and on military bases, after spending five years as a military spouse. She is passionate about racial justice and gender equality issues and is running for Roanoke City Council as an open progressive.

Preston’s platform includes plans to create an elected school board in Roanoke, a participatory budget that allows for civilian input, and a civilian review board for Roanoke’s police department.

She intends to focus on creating affordable housing in high opportunity neighborhoods to create more economically diverse schools.

Preston plans to create co-responder initiatives that will develop teams that respond to mental health issues with trained behavioral health professionals, reduce adverse outcomes of drug and alcohol use, and work to decrease gun violence and gun suicides.

Preston will work toward sustainability by finding realistic solutions for landfill waste, supporting efforts to promote recycling and decrease pollution by increasing public transportation availability.

Given her advocacy work for survivors of domestic violence, her stance on racial justice issues, and her ambitious progressive platform, Kiesha Preston is a progressive choice in the race.

Pete Volosin was born and raised in Roanoke. During his work as an EMT, he fought for fair wages for himself and his fellow first responders. He has also worked as an economic planner to improve communities. He currently serves on several local boards, including Local Colors, the Roanoke Fair Housing Board, the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, and the Roanoke Diversity Center.

Volosin wants to help local small businesses by encouraging mixed developments. He believes it has been a successful model for growth in parts of the city, such as Grandin Village and Wasena. He also wishes to encourage economic growth by promoting ecotourism in the city.

He believes that it is the city’s responsibility to provide all children in Roanoke with a high-quality education that prepares students to succeed in the 21st century. He will work to ensure that affordable Pre-K and afterschool programs are available for all residents in Roanoke.

According to Volosin, secure, safe housing is an essential human need. He wishes to continue the work he has done on Roanoke’s Fair Housing Board to ensure that all Roanoke people have access to affordable housing. Volosin considers the internet an essential utility, not a luxury. He will focus on making sure that Roanoke’s internet prices are reasonable and that high-speed internet is accessible to all of Roanoke’s residents.

Peter Volosin is a progressive choice for this race.

Robert Jeffery is a Roanoke native who moved to Seattle after college, where he worked for The Seattle Times. While living in Washington, he founded ColorsNW, a magazine that focused on people of color living in the Pacific Northwest. Upon returning to Roanoke in 2015, he started ColorsVA, a magazine that focuses on people of color living in Southwest Virginia. He also serves on several local boards, including as the Chair of the Roanoke City Democratic Committee and Vice-Chair for Goodwill Industries of the Valley. He also serves on the boards of Family Promise of Greater Roanoke and the United Way of the Roanoke Valley.

Jeffery’s platform focuses on community engagement and open communication with citizens to combat homelessness, hunger, and poverty within Roanoke. He also wishes to focus on rebuilding Roanoke’s economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on job training with an emphasis on cyber and programming professions, improving public education, and creating support for small businesses in the city through a micro-lending program.

He wants to address public safety issues by investing in communities, including initiatives to address gun violence, poverty, homelessness, and supporting vulnerable youth.

Robert Jeffery is a progressive choice for this race.

Former Roanoke City Clerk Stephanie Moon lists several strategic areas of importance -  good government, education,  infrastructure, livability, community safety, and human services. She also mentions the importance of working with neighborhood leaders and local non-profit organizations to identify and address neighborhood blight and poor living conditions. Her goals include pushing the city to respond promptly to citizen concerns and deliver quality city services in an effective manner; work with neighborhood leaders and nonprofits to address neighborhood blight; promote business and job growth to reduce generational poverty; advocate for lifelong learning opportunities and support community policing programs.

Stephanie Moon is a progressive choice for this race.
 

Trish White-Boyd has served on Roanoke City Council since being appointed to fill a vacant seat in early 2019. She is now running for election to the Council for the first time. She is currently the president of Star City Management Services and has served on the Roanoke Board of Higher Education and the League of Older Americans.

During her time on City Council, White-Boyd supported a plan to paint a mural reading “END RACISM NOW” along Campbell Avenue downtown. She has voted to remove Confederate monuments and remove the names of Confederates from city parks. White-Boyd has also supported green initiatives, such as funding e-bike programs and voting to expand the city’s trails.

She is running for re-election on a progressive platform that includes improving neighborhoods while preventing gentrification and expanding affordable housing options within the city.

She will improve education by increasing access to preschool education, continuing her work to develop a suicide prevention program for Roanoke city schools, and working to join the My Brother’s Keeper initiative to help close opportunity gaps experienced by young men of color.

White-Boyd is also committed to sustainability and combating climate change on the local level. To improve the city’s sustainability, she wishes to improve public transportation, search for viable options for solar and renewable energy sources for municipal buildings and local businesses, and implement neighborhood-specific sustainable development strategies.

White-Boyd is less proactive on issues of police reform. She supports more training for officers that will allow them to better deal with people experiencing mental health crises or addiction but has not advocated shifting any first-responder duties away from police. Most of her statements about the George Floyd protests have been supportive of protesters’ rights to express themselves, but stop short of acknowledging the need for reform.

Trish White-Boyd is a progressive choice for this race.