Konick enters race for Supervisors seat
Former Planning Commission Chair David Konick announced over the weekend that he is planning to run for a seat on the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors this fall. The registrar’s o ce certi ed Konick’s
Declaration of Candidacy and requisite petition signed by 125 registered voters on Feb. 8.
Konick, a well-known local attorney, is running to represent the Stonewall-Hawthorne district a er Chris Parrish said earlier this month that he will not pursue reelection for a fourth term on the BOS.
No stranger to public o ce, Konick served as the county’s zoning administrator and as an appointed member of the Board of Zoning Appeals. “As a member of the Board, I will draw on more than thirty- ve years of
experience and a track record of providing leadership to Rappahannock County dating back to 1981 when I was appointed Zoning Administrator and Building Official,” Konick wrote in a statement to the News.
“More recently, I served as Chairman of the Planning Commission in 2020 and helped bring our new Comprehensive Plan and important Zoning Ordinance amendments to public hearing and approval.”
Konick emphasized four “primary issues” for the November election in the following order:
► 1. “Maintaining our fire and rescue system in a period of a declining number of volunteers and managing the transition to paid emergency services.
► 2. “Updating our zoning and subdivision ordinances and ensuring they are enforced fairly and uniformly in order to keep Rappahannock the attractive, rural community we all love and preventing it from falling prey to rampant development as we have seen in neighboring counties.
► 3. “Restoration of our historic Courthouse complex and consolidation of county administrative offices in a way that provides convenient and efficient service to citizens and a safe and healthy work environment for county employees.
► 4. “Management and oversight of the county budget in a fiscally conservative and responsible manner to avoid tax increases as the Board navigates the important challenges Rappahannock County is facing.”
This will be Konick’s second bid for the Stonewall-Hawthorne seat. In 2017, he challenged Parrish as a last-minute write-in candidate but lost to the incumbent by 130 votes. Though he isn’t seeking reelection this year, Parrish has endorsed Rappahannock businessman Van Carney to fill the seat as Stonewall-Hawthorne representative. Carney’s application for candidacy was certified by the registrar’s office on Feb. 23.
Asked what he would like to stay the same in the county, Konick said, “I hope Rappahannock will continue to be a place where taxes remain relatively low and affordable; a place where common sense prevails as well as respect for the county’s historic traditions and the people who helped make it what it is today. We need to be careful not to squander the inheritance that was passed down to us.”
As for what he wishes will change, he added, “Somehow, county government needs to assure people that their input counts. That starts with the Board making decisions in the open with robust public debate of the pros and cons of every important issue. That means listening to what the people who live here think and recognizing the Board of Supervisors works for them.”
This year the election falls on
Nov. 2.