By Lawrence Emerson
FauquierNow.com Editor
He cheerfully goes where most Warrenton citizens don’t.
Bob Kravetz |
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Since moving back to Fauquier in 2010, Bob Kravetz has attended most monthly town council meetings.
A resident of Norfolk Drive in Broadview Acres, Mr. Kravetz also goes to meetings of the transportation committee as it struggles with the speed of “cut-through” traffic.
Thus, he has gotten to know veteran Councilman Sam Tarr (Ward 4).
When Mr. Tarr, 76, recently decided not to run again, he asked his neighbor to consider entering the May 1 election.
Several weeks ago, Mr. Kravetz agreed.
“I just want to be involved,” the 67-year-old, retired U.S. Department of Labor executive said. “I took a while and talked to my wife about it. I thought I could contribute.”
Gerry Hyland, a Fairfax County supervisor for 24 years, encouraged his friend to enter the race.
“I’ve seen Bob in action,” Mr. Hyland said. “He’s a person who’s very perceptive. He has a good business sense and great people skills. His style is collaborative, even with those who may not agree with him. He has the ability to get right to the bottom of things.”
Mr. Hyland has served as legal counsel to the Department of Labor Federal Credit Union.
When Mr. Kravetz joined its board of directors in 1999 — and soon got elected chairman — the credit union faced major problems, which could have forced its dissolution.
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Robert H. Kravetz
• Age: 67
• Home: 184 Norfolk Drive, Warrenton
• Work: Retired in 2001 as Executive Director of Office of Adjudicatory Services, U.S. Department of Labor, after 34 years in the federal government.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree, business administration/personnel management, George Washington University, 1967; Long Branch (N.J.) High School, 1964.
• Family: Wife Sharon; adult daughter and stepdaughter; one grandchild
• Activities: Board of directors, Department of Labor Federal Credit Union, 1999 to present; served as chairman, 2000-07; teaches seminars on leadership and governance.
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The lawyer credits Mr. Kravetz with turning around the situation. As a result, he won the 2004 “Director of the Year” award from a national industry association. During his seven years as chairman, the credit union’s assets doubled to $52 million.
“He’s been required to analyze competing positions and bring people together,” Mr. Hyland said. “Few people I’ve met would be better qualified” for elective office.
The candidate promises a low-key approach.
“If I’m fortunate enough to be elected, there’s gonna be a learning period,” Mr. Kravetz said. “I don’t think a newly-elected person should show up with guns blazing.”
He believes traffic issues will remain a top priority for the town council.
“I’d like to find a way where people are comfortable letting their kids play outside,” he said of neighborhoods, including his, with heavy traffic.
He suggested the town may find better methods — other than the 15 mph speed limit on some streets — to slow drivers.
What about proposals — including a median and fewer curb cuts — on Broadview Avenue, the town’s main commercial strip?
“I know it’s an issue, but the council can’t do it alone. It affects the businesses.”
Does he favor the controversial and long-proposed Timberfence Parkway extension between Routes 17 and 211?
“It probably would help divert traffic from Broadview Avenue, but whether it should be built is up in the air. That’s probably the toughest issue” and one the board of supervisors ultimately controls, he said.
Mr. Kravetz expressed skepticism about the troubled Mosby museum, which has never opened. (Mr. Tarr voted against town purchase of the property in 1999.)
“I probably would subdivide the property, keep the land to the left (for a town park) and sell” Brentmoor, the historic home at 173 Main St., he said. (Editor's note: See the candidate's clarification of his position on the museum below.)
“I do think celebrating the Civil War is a good idea,” he added.
He also questions proposed extension of the historic district and Architectural Review Board authority down Waterloo Street and Alexandria Pike.
“They’re not historic buildings,” Mr. Kravetz said of structures that would come under ARB purview.
Mr. Kravetz and his wife moved out from Fairfax County in 1988, when they bought a home in Snow Hill, near New Baltimore.
In 2007, they moved to Arizona, near his stepdaughter and her husband. But, they missed Fauquier.
His wife came back to hunt for a house and put a contract on the Broadview Acres home without her husband seeing the place.
Mr. Kravetz likes Warrenton, especially its “outside the Beltway,” small-town charter, which he wants to help preserve
Even if he faces no opposition in the election, the candidate said he plans to go door-to-door and to meet as many Ward 4 residents as possible.
Warrenton voters will elect the five ward councilmen this year. Candidates must file by March 6 to get on the ballot.
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