Linwood Branch is a candidate for Virginia Beach 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 a 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.
Name: Linwood Branch
Race: Virginia Beach City Council
Biography: Linwood Branch has strong Virginia Beach roots. He is the son of a Naval Academy graduate and veteran of World War II. Branch spent summers working at the resort and has long been involved in making it great for residents and visitors.
Branch is a small business owner and has served Virginia Beach in many capacities, including chair of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce Virginia Beach Division and the Blue Ribbon Task Force on tax, fee, and spending. He has also served as president of the following groups: Sandler Center Foundation for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach Hotel Association, Resort Retailers Association, and Virginia Beach Police Foundation. He has been a board member of the Resort Advisory Commission, United Way, and Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities. He was selected Outstanding Young Citizen by the Jaycees in 1994 and First Citizen of Virginia Beach in 2007.
Branch ran for Virginia Beach City Council in 1992 and served until 2002. During that time, he supported initiatives such as the Virginia Beach Aquarium, Convention Center, the Amphitheater, Open Space and Agricultural Reserve Programs, and Town Center. In October of 2021, Branch was appointed to serve out the unexpired term of Vice Mayor Jim Wood. He currently serves as Virginia Beach City Council liaison to the Process Improvement Committee, Bayfront Advisory Committee, Resort Advisory Commission, Atlantic Park Community Development Authority, Advertising Advisory Committee, Open Space Committee, and the Virginia Aquarium.
Branch is a graduate of Randolph-Macon College and resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, Robin, and children, Easton and Lindsey.
Why should residents elect you to City Council?
I previously served on the Virginia Beach City Council from 1992 to 2002 and learned from some of the best council members, city staff, city manager, and city attorney this city has ever seen. I have brought this decade of experience back to this city council.
The most important lesson I bring is that governance works best from the ground up and not top-down. When important issues are thoroughly vetted by as many eyes as possible, you get a much better product and support of our citizens. This process takes longer, but anytime we bypass a robust stakeholder and public input process we seem to pay the price of having to fix things down the road.
What are the top three priorities you would tackle if elected?
Our most important issue heard from citizens is the need for good paying jobs and economic development. The current inflation and previous shutdowns have left people very economically insecure, and Virginia Beach has the opportunity and responsibility to set the stage for our economic future now. Overseas data cables and offshore wind present great local job opportunities and our resort is poised to be the most successful it has ever been. I will continue to lead in these areas to bring more jobs and economic activity to our city.
Virginia Beach is consistently one of the safest large cities in America. We are blessed with an exceptional police force led by a fantastic police chief, and the Council has stepped up with increased pay and incentives to attract and retain the very best.
Virginia Beach has made a major commitment to fund flood mitigation projects with passage of the 2021 referendum. My commitment to you is to make sure the projects are completed on budget with the greatest transparency possible.
What are the top three priorities you would tackle if elected?
Our most important issue heard from citizens is the need for good paying jobs and economic development. The current inflation and previous shutdowns have left people very economically insecure, and Virginia Beach has the opportunity and responsibility to set the stage for our economic future now. Overseas data cables and offshore wind present great local job opportunities, and our resort is poised to be the most successful it has ever been. I will continue to lead in these areas to bring more jobs and economic activity to our city.
Virginia Beach is consistently one of the safest large cities in America. We are blessed with an exceptional police force led by a fantastic police chief, and the council has stepped up with increased pay and incentives to attract and retain the very best.
Virginia Beach has made a major commitment to fund flood mitigation projects with passage of the 2021 referendum. My commitment to you is to make sure the projects are completed on budget with the greatest transparency possible.
What is the most pressing economic issue facing your community, and how would you address it?
COVID-19 really challenged our city and made us look at ways to economically diversify our economy and bring quality jobs and growing revenues as we come out of the pandemic. We’ve done that. In addition to the technology sector and energy, we are making major steps in sports marketing to bring more sporting events to Virginia Beach, bringing families to our city both during the summer and during the offseason. We’ve also partnered with overseas companies to house their North American headquarters operations here in Virginia Beach. Our future is bright.
What are your community’s biggest infrastructure needs, and how do you plan to fulfill them?
Our highest infrastructure investment will be flooding improvements. We took the lead with citizen approval in the referendum to step forward and confront the flooding issue and now we will implement what the voters approved.
How is gun violence impacting your community, and how do you plan to address gun violence?
I’m honored to be endorsed by our Sheriff Ken Stolle and our Police Benevolent Association because I believe that highly-trained, well-compensated law enforcement is the key to a safe, large city. I was never in the corner of the “defund the police” crowd. Our police chief is among the best any city has ever seen, and his community engagement and strategies to keep our neighborhoods safe are excellent.