June 7, 2005
Its nearing election time. The Democratic primary is just one week away. All three candidates answered questions from the public at a town hall meeting tonight having to do with one thing: The University of Virginia.
Staff Union at UVA sponsored the forum, which was a question and answer session. Candidates had several minutes to respond and occasionally question their opposition. Many of tonight's topics centered around how the University treats their employees and money. All three spoke about the living wage.
"The wages at UVa and the wages for contract employees at UVa need to reflect the high cost of living in this part of the country," said candidate Kim Tingley.
Another went further to offer solutions on the state-level. "First, why shouldn't we talk about raising minimum wage in the state as a whole," said David Toscano, also running for the nomination.
Classified Staff, graduate students, and members of the community filled the room asking several questions about workers rights, specifically healthcare. Former UVa Professor Rich Collins spoke towards graduate students.
"I would favor including them into the bundle of services that we applied to other faculty members," said Collins.
Other questions included Gay rights and health insurance, impact of tuition increases, and local appointments to the Board of Visitors.
One of these men will be running against Republican Challenger Tom McCrystal for a seat Mitch Van Yahres held for 24 years.
