Who is B-J Huff?

TFR uncovered a little background about him here. He seems to be the first to have a campaign in full swing (witness by the campaign cards, Huff for Council stickers and full website http://bjhuff.com/ - be sure to click on about and issues on the left column).

This morning I had the opportunity to meet City Council candidate B-J Huff. We were both riding VRE north. He was an I-95 commuter for 10 months before switching to VRE.

Lets get over the obvious stuff first. B-J, as he prefers to be called, is 22 years old. He is quick to point out that he isn't like most 22 yr olds, with several years of work experience in a variety of companies already under his belt. Completing college at UMW in 3 yrs, while also holding down an internship gave him experience even before graduation.

B-J rents on Caroline St, and enjoys walking downtown. He stated that he is happy to see the efforts underway to enhance the downtown area. He relayed to me that he would like to see more done to help current business owners that are interested in improvements, not just bring in new outside businesses. I asked B-J if being a renter would affect his votes on real estate taxes. This is when he said something that really surprised me. In addition to being someone who is weighing options for purchase vs. rent here in the city, he has had a family member close family friend that was forced to sell a home due to continuously increasing property taxes.

On the Huff for City Council flyer, the top issue addressed is building a 21st century education system. B-J has a parent and a sister that are both teachers. A little digging on his expectations revealed a well thought out position - that the city not only needs to make entry level positions competitive with surrounding markets, but to also ensure that we can retain higher-step top quality experienced teachers.


According to Emily Battle at the FLS, he has campaigned for Wittman, Howell and Stuart. Several of these politicians are now backing B-J and are even helping with his campaign. This gives a considerable amount of credibility to a candidate that does not yet have a voting record.


When talking with B-J, you get a sense of the energy and enthusiasm that this candidate has for the position. Looking back at what he has done in the past, I don't think the time commitment will be an issue at all. He closely represents a portion of the voters that routinely commute to NoVA. B-J made a point that in his work environment he would rather try not to divide people, and instead give ideas. I have often made a point to city council that data driven decisions is the only way to do business, and I can see a lot of that in B-J.


I will admit that I have a little more background and research to do on the other candidates before making my decision on the election, but it was refreshing to see someone bring this kind of energy to a discussion. B-J would definitely bring some diversity to City Council.