Jeffery Staples is a candidate for Chesapeake City Council. His name will appear on the ballot on November 5, 2024.
Staples is running against eight challengers for Chesapeake City Council.
The first day of in-person early voting at your local registrar’s office for this election is Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Click here to see who is on your ballot.
10 On Your Side reached out to all of the candidates running in this race, with a request for a bio and a list of questions to answer. If you do not see the candidate listed with a profile, we did not receive one.
Biography: Jeff Staples is a native Virginian and moved to Chesapeake in 2002, from Virginia Beach. He has been an advocate for social and conservation issues for many decades. Jeff is currently the Founder and Director of a non-profit that advocates for the ecological and historical integrity of the Great Dismal Swamp. He is also an Independent Candidate for Chesapeake City Council.
A 1984 graduate of the University of Lynchburg, he worked as many as 3 part time jobs to support earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He then continued on in his career as an automotive repair professional, and also owned an automotive tool sales business.
Jeff is a dedicated outdoorsman who hunts, fishes and camps across Virginia from the mountains to the sea.
His resulting passion for a clean environment and clean government, have resulted in countless hours of volunteering, organizing and action.
Jeff has been a candidate for the Virginia legislature in the past.
He has never accepted any corporate donations. Jeff looks forward to listening to and serving the people of Chesapeake.
Why are you running for this office?
I have engaged with Chesapeake City Council on a variety of different issues over many years. It seems that this Council has stopped listening to citizens and only sees the issues from a “campaign” donor’s points of view. The City Council’s process for hearing items is very much skewed to the applicant. Individual citizens only receive 3 to 5 minutes to speak during the entire hearing process. In contrast, the applicant, and their brokers who are seeking approvals, have a lot of pre-session time to lobby the council members. During the council meeting, the applicants speak first and then the citizens get their 3 minutes. After the citizen comment period, the council then calls applicants back, asks them leading questions, and decides almost always in their favor. These same applicants also provide the council members with “campaign” donations.
Because time and again, citizens were not being treated fairly, I decided to run for Chesapeake City Council.
What is the top challenge facing Chesapeake, and how would you address it?
School overcrowding. I would not vote for any more residential construction projects in a school zone where any of the schools are at or over capacity. We have schools that are approaching 200 percent capacity. This is not acceptable.
What is your view on preserving agricultural land while also addressing the affordable housing crisis?
There are much better ways of addressing affordable housing than building on existing agriculturally zoned land. There are many parcels that can be infilled in the north of our city. There are also areas that have abandoned buildings which could be transformed. These areas already have much of the needed infrastructure, such as water, sewer, electric and transit services.
These infill-able areas are much more affordable to the end user than new developments of $480,000 townhomes that developers and some current council members claim is affordable housing in the rural area. The current citizens of Chesapeake also have to pay taxes for water, sewer, road and other infrastructure on the formerly agricultural zoned land.
How do you view promoting environmentally sustainable policies like recycling when compared to costs?
I am very much in favor of a responsible recycling program for our city. I am willing to consider a fee based system to achieve this. However, there will be a referendum on the ballot in November that will tell us what the direction the citizens want us to go in. I believe in a representative style of governance, and I will go with what the people decide.
What is your view on taking money from individuals who will likely have business before the city?
I am 100 percent against taking money from those with business before the city. I pledge to never take money from individuals, corporations or developers with such business. I plan on introducing a resolution which forbids any council member who receives a “donation” to recuse from voting on business related to the gift giver for a one-year period after the receipt of the “campaign contribution.” Let’s work for the people, not the developers!
How do you view promoting environmentally sustainable policies like recycling when compared to costs?
I am very much in favor of a responsible recycling program for our city. I am willing to consider a fee-based system to achieve this. However, there will be a referendum on the ballot in November so citizens can make an informed decision and tell us what they prefer. I believe in a representative style of governance, and I will go with what the people decide.
How will you still value constituents with whom you disagree with?
I value all constituents because they are needed to make a democracy function. I plan to be a representative of all the people. I realize that I am able to learn something from any and all of our citizens. If I gauge the room and see that a majority is for or against an issue, then I will likely plan on going with the people.
Should the City of Chesapeake explore a ward/district system versus continuing to elect members At-Large?
Yes, absolutely I do. This will have to be done carefully though. Each ward/district will have to be drawn competitively so that no one ward/district representative can be enshrined in a position. If districts are set up competitively, then responsibility and accountability will be placed on those who are elected. People will also know their council person better and not be voting by name recognition.
