Leroy Bennett is a candidate for Suffolk City Council. His name will appear on the ballot on Nov. 8, 2022.
10 On Your Side reached out to all of the candidates running in this race. If you do not see the candidate listed with a profile, we did not receive one.
See who is on your ballot by viewing the candidate lists on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
Candidate: Leroy Bennett
Race: Suffolk City Council
Biography: Leroy Bennett provided the following biographical facts.
About:
- Born in Lugoff, S. C.
- Married to Susie Harrell Bennett
- Has one adult son; one grandchild
- U.S. Navy veteran
- Retired: Newport News Shipyard, general foreman (Huntington Ingalls)
Affiliations:
- East End Baptist Church deacon
- Suffolk Boys and Girls Club
- Rotary Club
- Salvation Army
- Star of Sharon #231 Masonic Lodge
- Secretary Suffolk Foundation
- The Crime Line
- Project Lifesaver
- Vice Mayor of Suffolk: 8 years
Past community service experiences:
- Wilroy Civic League president
- South Suffolk-Pleasant Hill Civic League president
- Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority chairman
- Suffolk Economic Development Authority chairman
- Auxiliary deputy sheriff:10 years
Why should residents elect you to City Council?
Residents should re-elect me as city councilman for the Cypress Borough because if re-elected, I pledge to serve with the same dedication to commitment, to honesty, integrity, and independence that have been the hallmark of my 24 years of service as a member of this city’s governing body. I am proud to have been a part of the many positive changes that have taken place during my time of service. One has only to look around to see that Suffolk has become one of the fastest growing cities in the Hampton Roads region; however, with all the great strides that have been made, much remains to be done. If re-elected, I pledge to faithfully work to leave Suffolk to even greater accomplishments.
What are the top three priorities you would tackle if elected?
The top three priorities that I would tackle if re-elected are:
- Support full funding fore employees in the public safety, public schools, and personnel sectors. The pandemic and current period of high inflation has had a particularly adverse effect on these public servants’ quality of life.
- Continue to seek lower taxes and fees, especially water rates.
- Advocate for more family-friendly recreational and entertainment venues in the city.
What is the most pressing economic issue facing your community, and how would you address it?
The most pressing economic issue facing the community is the need for more industry, thereby creating more jobs. I plan to continue my efforts of promoting a business-friendly atmosphere (tax incentives, for example) in order to attract more industry.
What are your community’s biggest infrastructure needs, and how do you plan to fulfill them?
I consider my community’s greatest infrastructure needs to be:
- Regulation of train traffic through the city
- More roads that are capable of of accommodating heavy truck traffic going back and forth from the many large warehouses to the shipping terminals
I will keep seeking means of requiring the Virginia Port Authority, train companies, warehouse companies (especially Amazon), and state and federal agencies to help provide funding for more roads and other infrastructure that is needed to ease congestion problems within the city.
How is gun violence impacting your community, and how do you plan to address gun violence?
Suffolk has seen a disturbing increase in gun violence, as have many other cities. Some ways I intend to address the problem are to:
- Promote the alliance of community leaders and law enforcement agencies in actively outlining the actions needed to confront gun control issues.
- Visit youth groups in schools, churches, and recreational organizations to get their input.
- Support law enforcement in seeking funding for more surveillance cameras in public places in high-crime areas.
- Sponsor a city-wide gun buy back program.
