Farrell vies for Manassas Park seats
Peter Farrell
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By Kipp Hanley
Published: August 29, 2008
Being new to the game, Manassas Park business owner Peter Farrell doesn't know how partisan politics at the city council level is supposed to work.
But that didn't stop the 50-year-old Democratic candidate and New Zealand native from weighing in on the national political landscape.
"The time is great right now to be running as a
Democrat," said Farrell, who runs Peter Farrell Supercars Inc. on Manassas Drive. "There's a lot of interest and exposure for the Democratic Party."
Farrell hopes his party affiliation, business acumen and no-nonsense attitude will get him elected in November.
"I am definitely bringing a new influence to the governing body, from the businessman's point of view," Farrell said. "That's where I think I can contribute to the other governing body mem-bers."
This year is also notable in Manassas Park, as it's the first time in at least 22 years that two Democrats are on the ballot for city council. Fellow Democrat Suhas Naddoni is running unopposed for the two-year term being va-cated by Keith Miller.
With three four-year terms up for grabs, incumbents Miller, Bill Treuting and Vice-Mayor Bryan Polk will be in the race, along with Farrell and the lone Republican candidate, Brian Leeper.
Incumbent Cynde Gardner decided not to run for reelection.
Polk, Miller and Treuting are all running as independents, something that Farrell considered two years ago when he first began to think about running for office.
However, Farrell said his Democratic ideals and the open-arms attitude of the Manassas Park Democrats led him to join them.
Manassas/Manassas Park Democratic Party chairman and 2008 Democratic National Platform Committee member E.J. Scott was impressed by Farrell's passion for change at the local level and his commitment to the city.
Scott said that the state of the economy, the recent influx of voters in Northern Virginia and the popularity of De-mocratic presidential candidate Barack Obama have created the perfect storm for Democratic candidates.
"Those three elements, when you put them all together, it just makes a difference in [the] Manassas[area] as well as the rest of the state," Scott said.
Two of Farrell's main goals are for a more well-informed public and a prudent hand when it comes to gov-ernment spending. Those two issues intertwined recently when the city council decided to issue $22 million in bonds to build a new parks and recreation center in Costello Park.
Farrell said there was a lot of confusion about the details of the project even as the council voted on the matter. He also said that while a new parks and recreation center would be nice, he's not so sure that bonding a large chunk of money during uncertain economic times was the smartest move by the government.
If elected, Farrell said he would cut any unnecessary spending and would like to see homes be valued at a truer market value.
"They have to be honest and realistic with their methods of raising that money," Farrell said of the city. "You can't tell someone their house is worth $260,000 when they know it's worth $110,000 and make them feel better."
Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738.
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