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Come May 4, the residents of Newport News will elect a new mayor. Joe Frank, who was the city’s first elected mayor in 1996, has decided to step down. Some say the reason is that Frank could no longer count to four: the seven member council has a relatively new coalition of four and Frank is not one of them. Emerging from that coalition is one of the two candidates for mayor. The other is McKinley Price. I had a chance to chat with him last Sunday.

McKinley L. Price is a native of the city he seeks to serve, having graduated from Huntington High School. He did his undergraduate work at nearby Hampton Institute, now Hampton University. After a stint in the military, he earned his DDS from Howard University and shortly thereafter, returned home to practice.

Although he is a first-time candidate for office, Dr. Price is no stranger to public service. He served eight years on the appointed school board, two of those years as chairman. He also served on city council, having been appointed to fulfill the unexpired term of now Delegate Mamye BaCote. He was named Citizen of the Year in 2005 by the Daily Press, a recognition that garnered him this commending joint resolution in 2006.

Newport News has a ward system, in which the city is broken down into three areas: North, Central and South. Each of the wards has different issues. Price spoke candidly about the challenges of making Newport News “what it can be.”

“We have 24 elementary schools and only four gyms,” Price told me. He would like to see more gyms, that could be used by the schools during the day and by the communities after school. He said that the city has built large recreational centers, but some of the people who would like to use them often cannot: they lack transportation to the centers and the resources to pay to use them. Looking at Richmond, Price would like to see Newport News have smaller, community-based rec centers.

“The gang problem,” Price said, “is not a police problem; it’s a community problem.” Having rec centers in the community is only a part of what Price sees as addressing the issue of gangs in Newport News. He said there are some 64 gangs in the city, with about 2,000 documented members. It was quite clear to me that helping to solve the gang problem is a passion of Price’s. He spoke at length about who the gang members are: not at all who you might expect. Price said that some of the gang members are students with 3.0 averages, who join the gangs for survival. And he made the point that the gang problem is everyone’s problem, as the gang activity is not confined to one area of the city.

And that led us to a discussion about jobs, something at the forefront of nearly everyone’s minds these days. Price spoke of the need for job creation within the city. He talked about the workforce development partnership that exists between Thomas Nelson Community College and Canon. Price serves on the board at TNCC and previously served on the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, a position to which he was appointed by then-Governor Mark Warner. Newport News has an unemployment rate of 7.7% (December 2009), which, while lower than the national rate, exceeds that of the statewide rate. If elected, Price plans to pursue other such arrangements for Newport News.

Overall, my impression of Price is that he has the background to serve the diverse interests of the city well. His quick wit, combined with a good grasp of the issues and a commitment to listening to – and acting upon – citizen input make him a solid choice for mayor.

Dr. Price will be having a campaign kickoff this coming Saturday, March 13, at 1pm at the American Legion Post 368. The event is free and open to the public. More details can be found on this flier.