In recent weeks, Jon Gerlach said he’s been approached by people asking how they can help with his re-election campaign to Fredericksburg’s City Council.
Short answer: they can’t.
Gerlach, who represents Ward 2, announced in a video posted to YouTube Sunday evening that he won’t pursue re-election next November.
Gerlach, who was elected to city council in 2021 after serving for five years on the city’s architectural review board, cited his age (he’ll be 72 in four years) as well as his desire to spend more time with his eight grandchildren as factors in his decision.
“They’re getting older, and I’m getting older,” he said. “I’m missing out on seeing my grandkids growing up, and that’s a very important reason.”
Gerlach said he also plans to devote more bandwidth to his hobbies, including kayaking and outdoor photography.
“I want to do more historical research and promote the assets of the city,” he said. “I want to continue to do that in a different capacity than city council.”
During his time on city council, Gerlach was instrumental in bringing speed cameras to school zones outside Hugh Mercer Elementary School and James Monroe High School. He said he drew inspiration for the cameras, which go live this month, from a conversation with a constituent whose daughter had a close call with a speeding vehicle while biking to school.
He also helped pass a regulation allowing the city to enforce violations on illegally modified mufflers or exhaust systems and helped establish in the city’s budget a revenue stabilization fund that can be used to supplement state school funding.
“Meeting with you with coffee, hearing your issues, working through solutions. That’s the stuff that makes this job absolutely phenomenal,” he said.
Gerlach said he plans to spend the next year preparing the “next generation of leaders to take their seats on city council.” All four ward seats are up for election next November.
“It’s going to take good ideas, fresh ideas, young blood to move us forward into the future,” he said.
