SUFFOLK, Va. — With voters heading to the polls on Election Day, three candidates are making their case to represent the Suffolk Borough on City Council.
Incumbent John Rector, local business owner Dwight James and current Suffolk School Board member Tyron Riddick are running for the seat.
News 3 sat down with all three candidates and asked what they see as the biggest issue facing Suffolk. Growth was a common concern, but the candidates differed in how they believe the city should respond.
Rector, who has held the Suffolk Borough seat since 2023, said the city has infrastructure projects underway and has made changes to its Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Ordinance.
“We’ve got a lot of infrastructure projects on the books. We have a lot of corrections that we’ve made to the comprehensive plan and the unified development ordinance to try and keep pace with that,” Rector said.
James said he believes Suffolk needs to consider whether its existing infrastructure can handle additional development before moving forward with new projects.
“I believe before we rezone or bring any projects to the city, we need to check out the infrastructure capacity, see if these things will burden the infrastructure that’s already in place,” James said.
Riddick, a current Suffolk School Board member, also pointed to growth as a major concern.
"Untamed growth. And how would I address it? One, we need to really sit down and have realistic conversations with our school board and our City Council. This is realistically where we want to see growth. This is the amount of houses we want to see here,” Riddick said.
Candidates differ on priorities
While all three candidates raised concerns related to growth, their priorities differ.
James said he wants infrastructure in place before additional housing development is approved.
Riddick said he wants to stagger development to give the city’s infrastructure more time to catch up.
Rector said that, along with infrastructure, he wants to continue the city’s focus on revitalizing downtown Suffolk.
News 3 also asked each candidate what they believe sets them apart in the race.
Riddick pointed to his experience on the Suffolk School Board and said it has prepared him to work across different areas of city government.
“You want someone that can come to the table who can see school division language and run with it, Suffolk Police Department needs and run with it, Suffolk Fire Department and run with it, the community needs and run with it. I’m the only one that has that experience,” Riddick said.
Rector pointed to his approach to making decisions on issues brought before the City Council.
“I bring a lot of very sound judgment to the issues that are brought before us. I study them very hard. I talk to all the people that are involved on both sides of the issue,” Rector said.
James said his connection to the Suffolk Borough as a business owner is part of what he believes distinguishes him from the other candidates.
“I actually own a business in this borough. Not only that, I’m a strong advocate when getting out in the community,” James said.
Voters will decide who represents the Suffolk Borough on Election Day.
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