Hello all,

As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, 2023 will be a busy election for every voter in York County. There are almost 20 positions that will be voted on, both at the local level as well as state offices. Roughly half of those positions are contested races. To recap, we'll see races in the county for:

• Three Virginia General Assembly offices:
• State Senate district 24
• House of Delegate district 69
• House of Delegate district 86
• All five of the Board of Supervisors seats
• All five School Board seats
• Constitutional/county-wide offices:
• York-Poquoson Sheriff
• Commonwealth's Attorney
• Clerk of Court
• Commissioner of Revenue
• County Treasurer
• Soil & Water Board Directors

With so many candidates and races, it can be a challenge for us as voters to research the various positions and platforms to make an informed choice at the polls. Reviewing the candidates' webpages and social media can be helpful but nothing surpasses hearing from the candidates directly. Fortunately, I can share some information about two upcoming events where we will have the opportunity to do just that.

The first is the York County Chamber of Commerce's 7th Annual Candidate Forum. All the candidates in contested races have been invited to attend and discuss questions presented by the Chamber. This year's event is scheduled for September 7th at 6:00 PM in the Grafton High School Auditorium. I hope you will be able to join me there.

The second opportunity is a campaign reception I'm hosting. At this event you'll find me along with other local and state candidates. There you will have the chance to connect with each of us one-on-one in a relaxed and casual setting. I've attended similar events and they have provided a great opportunity for me to have meaningful conversations with our elected leaders.

My reception will occur on August 22nd at 6:00 PM at Riverwalk Restaurant in Historic Yorktown. If you're interested in attending, you can find RSVP details at my Events webpage or my Facebook page. You can also RSVP directly here.

In other news, I'm happy to announce a new recreational activity the county is offering that will be interesting to about 9 million of our neighbors, both near and far. Tomorrow morning at Back Creek Park, I will be participating in the grand opening and ribbon cutting for the county's first dedicated Pickleball courts.

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, having added an additional 4.8 million participants just over the last year. Locally, we have hundreds of residents enjoying the sport with one local group, the BC Dinkers Pickleball Club with 300 members just in their ranks.

So, I'm very glad that we've been able to use our existing court infrastructure at Back Creek Park to provide a place for all our Pickleball enthusiasts to enjoy. If you would like to attend the grand opening, we'll be getting started at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning at the park's new courts.

If you would like to learn more about Pickleball, please head over to the USA Pickleball website. More information about the county's Pickleball courts can be found here.

I know there are many people eager to hear information and details about Princess Cruise Lines' plans for visiting York County starting next year. They intend to formally release those plans late Monday afternoon. Afterwards I will summarize their plans to share with everyone in a newsletter later next week. So, stay tuned for more information.

Best regards,

Stephen

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