The paperwork is in, and the Council & School Board candidates are official. Council-wise, Kathy Graziano will run unopposed in the 4th while Marty Jewell has 2 competitors, realtor Mark E. Brandon and Lee Shewmake (a name that should be familiar to area residents) in the 5th. 9th District incumbent Doug Conner also has 2 competitors, former School Board rep and City Councilman Eugene Mason and Adrian R. Preston.

On the School Board side, the 4th District race should prove to be interesting. Regular readers are by now getting familiar with Bert Berlin. Jon Mallard, John Lloyd and Adria Graham Scott are also in, making this the most crowded school board race of the year. 5th District incumbent Betsy Carr has one challenger, Rev. Otis Mallory, while Evette Wilson runs unapposed in the 9th.

And on a related note, the good folks at the Virginia Public Access Project have already started adding contribution data for council races.

According to a list of filed candidates, Jonathan Christopher Mallard has thrown his hat into the 4th District School Board race. Bert Berlin had previously announced his intention to run for the seat being vacated by George Braxton. 5th District representative Betsy Carr is the only candidate who’s filed for that particular seat.

On the City Council side, Kathy Graziano is so far unopposed in the 4th, and nobody has yet filed to run in the 5th.

Gray brought this up comments to another post, but I thought it warranted a more prominent mention. The school board discussion on the Patrick Henry charter school initiative is scheduled for the 4:30 portion of today’s meeting, with a closed meeting to follow. It’s likely too late to do anything about it, but contacting your board rep today might be therapeutic, if not exactly productive.

With the news that 4th District rep George Braxton wouldn’t be returning to the School Board after his current term is up, we wondered who would be best for the 4th District. The first candidate has stepped up in the form of local blogger Bert Berlin. We’re hoping to catch up with Bert for a brief Q&A regarding his candidacy (and if you have any burning questions, shoot ‘em our way).

This begs the question: will Bert run unopposed, or will other hats be thrown into the ring?