Rona Marsh is a candidate for Virginia Beach City Council. Her 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: Rona Marsh
Race: Virginia Beach City Council
Website: Virginia Beach City Council District 8 – Rona Marsh
Biography: Rona Marsh provided the following biographical information to WAVY-TV 10:
- Age: 66
- Certified fraud examiner, retired from Bank Financial branches auditing
- Resident of Virginia Beach, 22 years, of Chesapeake, 8 years, and Virginia Beach District 8, 15 years
- Thalia Civic League board member, 3 years
- Bachelor of science and graduate coursework
- Endorsement by Virginia Beach City Councilmember John Moss
Why should residents elect you to City Council?
Being a retired certified fraud examiner with 35 years of financial experience and being available full-time to help citizens. I have been involved since 2017, attending and speaking up at Virginia Beach City Council, school board and planning commission meetings on issues important to citizens. I publicly challenged $45 million in proposed spending for “Resort Site Acquisitions” at council meetings in 2022. It was removed from the final FY2023 budget, saving millions of dollars in tax-supported debt.
What are the top three priorities you would tackle if elected?
- Tax relief and lower taxes to include refunding the tax surplus collected in FY 2022.
- Flooding/ditch maintenance to minimize the impact from flash flooding/hurricanes and putting the work schedule for flooding/ditch maintenance on VBGOV online.
- Support public safety with more funding needed for full staffing and maintenance of equipment. Consider RE property tax reduction for public safety staff that have their home in Virginia Beach.
What is the most pressing economic issue facing your community, and how would you address it?
Lack of affordability. The city budget jumped up 6.9% in one year. Most citizens did not have their income increase to cover the higher taxes on their home real estate, family vehicle/personal property, and, due to inflation, more restaurant meal taxes.
What are your community’s biggest infrastructure needs, and how do you plan to fulfill them?
The $567.5 million flood bond referendum passed in 2021 should be helpful for flooding. The most needed flooding and maintenance projects around the city appear to have been prioritized. Transparency of the spending is essential and each district should have information on VBGOV about the progress.
How is gun violence impacting your community, and how do you plan to address gun violence?
The ShotSpotter technology was shown to me when I did a police ride-along this summer. It appears to be helpful as a deterrent because arrests are made and information is shared on social media. More education about gun violence should happen and it could be via social media.