By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Blacksburg Town Council has announced its intentions to appoint two new members to the council to fill the open seats left by the resignation of former Council Member Liam Watson and Mayor Michael Sutphin’s seat open due to his election as mayor.
In an announcement Jan. 9, the council announced it “intends to make interim appointments of Joel Goodhart and Andrew Kassoff to fill two vacant seats on the town council.” A public hearing on the appointments was conducted during the town council’s Jan. 13 meeting. The council plans to make the appointments at its Jan. 27, 2026 meeting.
In the November election, two incumbents won re-election and one newcomer joined the council.
Darryl Campbell is the newest face on the Blacksburg governmental body. Campbell is a Virginia Tech contract specialist, union activist and community organizer.
Susan Anderson was first elected to town council in 2006 and has served four terms as Vice Mayor, while Lauren Colliver first joined the council in 2018.
Anderson taught mathematics at Virginia Tech for 40 years, retiring in June of 2023. She is now a Senior Instructor Emerita of Mathematics.
Colliver is a small business owner and employer in Blacksburg. She and her husband, Dr. Ethan Colliver, own and operate Renew & Restore Wellness. They owned and operated Valley Sports & Spine Clinic from 2011 – 2023.
Campbell said voters felt they weren’t being heard and that their views weren’t represented or understood.
“From my colleagues I’ve worked with to my friends active in town events, I kept hearing that they wanted to see new leadership and ideas at the town council. Since I’ve spent much of my time on community-building efforts and events, and have found success and developed leadership skills, I felt it was time to put my hat in the ring and provide the leadership the community’s been hoping to see,” he said.
In his eyes, council’s biggest challenge will be finding ways to adjust and make pivots based on how federal challenges affect the citizens of our town.
“Many mention the number of bedrooms in the area, but we can’t plan for growth when decisions on the national level challenge the growth planned by institutions around us,” he said.
On that point, Campbell would like to increase the transparency of communication so the council is better able to keep citizens in-the-know of big town decisions and development.
He also hopes to help retail businesses find success in the town to attract new opportunities, and work toward ways of making homeownership an attainable opportunity for young professionals and early families working within the local economy.
Colliver said she ran for a third term to continue representing friends and neighbors, while standing up for small businesses in Blacksburg, and working on regional partnerships that enhance our quality of life here in the New River Valley.
She too believes affordable housing is the town’s biggest challenge, and addressing it requires better cooperation with Virginia Tech.
“We need housing for families, seniors, and young professionals while managing the growth pressure that comes with university expansion. My hope is that by working collaboratively with VT, they’ll build more on-campus housing, which would reduce the burden on the town and help us maintain balanced, sustainable growth for our community,” she said this past week.
As part of the bigger plan, Colliver would like to see Blacksburg build a network with elected officials from other Virginia college towns so they can learn from and lean on each other.
“The more we work together, the stronger our voices can be at the General Assembly when we need college town-specific solutions, whether that’s addressing student housing challenges, managing town-gown relations, or finding innovative approaches to issues unique to communities like ours,” she said.
Anderson ran for re-election on a platform of shared community values: diverse, affordable housing, a high quality of life for our residents, smart growth, abundant recreational opportunities, and openness in government with active citizen participation in civic affairs.
“As an engaged citizen, I have a deep understanding of our community’s values and concerns and a vital interest in our town’s future. I have broad experience as a leader, as a facilitator and consensus-builder, and as a grassroots activist in a wide range of civic and community organizations,” she said.
Housing it the biggest challenge, according to Anderson, facing Blacksburg today.
“We critically need more, more diverse, and more affordable housing stock. Blacksburg has accomplished much, but much remains to be done,” she said.
As a start, she points to $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds which created the Blacksburg Affordable Housing Fund, used for three projects now under construction.
“The town and Montgomery County have created a community land trust; the land is owned by a nonprofit, so it is not included in the home purchase price, protecting home affordability long-term. Blacksburg now allows both attached and detached units, such as garage apartments, increasing housing stock and aiding affordability. Our town created small lot zoning districts allowing more modest homes on smaller lots. And Blacksburg joined the New River Valley Housing Trust Fund to support affordable housing throughout the New River Valley. Again, these are all great accomplishments, but much, much more remains to be done,” she said.
If officially appointed, Goodhart and Kassoff will serve until November 2026, when an election will be held to fill the two seats for the remaining period of Sutphin and Watson’s council terms.