Name: Conrad Schesventer
Race: Virginia Beach City Council, Rose Hall District
Biography: I’m Conrad Schesventer, an underemployed Oceanfront hotel worker who was born in Virginia Beach in 1986 and has always lived here. I’ve got two degrees from Old Dominion University, political science and sports management. I teach chess to youngsters and have for over 5 years.
Why should residents elect you to City Council?
People go to the polls with bones to pick. The bones I pick at are frustration with both parties, government indifference to real human issues, and a dimming American dream. I can whine about them or work to change them. Residents will see that.
What is the most pressing issue facing your community, and how will you address the issue?
Far and away it is flooding. Yes, we have some diminished road infrastructure and a recently passed budget that hiked taxes. But those won’t destroy residents’ well-being. One persistent heavy down pour will take out Virginia Beach cars, and possibly ruin many houses. So, on council I will use the voice of the position beyond just voting to make sure stormwater fees aren’t transferred to pay for a road. I’ll lobby to “flood” Virginia Beach with Richmond and D.C. grants to speed up flooding prevention projects.
What are your community’s biggest infrastructure needs, and how do you plan to fulfill them?
Floating on from the previous question, stormwater and flooding infrastructure take that lead. But that does not mean select roads in the city shouldn’t be elevated, old schools replaced, and intersections like Kempsville and Indian River reformed. Virginia Beach is already working on that with the recently passed budget. My drive is to foster city conviction to their stated goals.
Do you believe there are any policy, legislative, or community changes that should be made to prevent tragedies like the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center?
All the above, and policy/legislation would need to be national in scope. That doesn’t mean council members should try to remove themselves from the conversation. I spoke in front of council on the debate for a resolution supporting a state bill granting the city permission to prohibit firearms in public buildings. They voted to do nothing, and I called them cowards for punting it. That is what I call the indifference of government to real human issues, because council just recently voted to ban e-scooters at the Oceanfront due to fear of injury. Meanwhile we’ve suffered a mass shooting, not to mention the weekly 757 shootings that are a slow, death by a thousand cuts variety “only” injuring or killing a few people at a time. It’s numbing us all to a crude acceptance of gun violence, and it’s intolerable that the city then gets out of their seats and runs to ban e-scooters.