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A six-year veteran of City Council and former vice mayor, Tyson Cooper is unopposed in his bid to be Buena Vista’s next mayor. Cooper says he wants to be a unifying force for city government.
A priority of his, he said, “will be increasing unity – on City Council, between the city and the schools, and as a community. Unity will help us move forward with creating a strategic plan, updating the wastewater treatment plant, paving roads and investing in education. Unity is how we’ll take our amazing community to the next level and make sure it is a fantastic place for generations to come.”
He said his service on City Council to date has “been so educational for me, and I’ve learned so much about how our city operates. I’ve met hundreds of wonderful people who live here, and I love that they have trusted me to serve them on Council. All the momentum is in our city’s favor right now and I want to help keep that momentum going; I believe we’re on the cusp of a major economic resurgence.”
Tyson views the city schools as “a main source of pride in our community, and something that I believe we all care deeply about. We have fantastic teachers and administrators who love and care about the children and the community. They work hard to make sure that the children are provided the best learning environment possible, and I am profoundly grateful for each and every person who works in our schools.” He’s committed to “doing what I can to support the school system. City Council and the School Board are going to have to come together and work, shoulder-to-shoulder, to address the capital improvements needed in our schools. We’ll need to be clever and resourceful to successfully overcome the challenge before us.”
He believes the city can and must hold the line on taxes. In fact, he’d like to lower the tax rate by increasing the tax base. “In Buena Vista, that means constructing more buildings, improving existing properties and expanding commercial and industrial enterprises. We’ll need to be increasingly friendly to and supportive of businesses – new and existing. We need to work with citizens and businesses to help connect them with the resources that are out there to fund growth and improvement.”
An issue that Cooper would like to address – one that he thinks would enhance transparency in city government – is to live stream City Council meetings. “I think it is important to make our discussions as accessible as possible to the community. Many people can’t attend our meetings in person, and this would create additional transparency which is critical to a well-functioning government and community.”
He and his wife Cami came to Buena Vista 20 years ago to attend Southern Virginia University and chose to remain here after graduation, to live in the community and raise a family. They are the parents of six children who all attend the city schools. He is the chief financial officer at SVU. Cami Cooper volunteers with Main Street Buena Vista. The couple has invested in a downtown property that formerly housed Value Mart and is now where The BeeVe is located. Tyson Cooper served previously on the city’s Planning Commission, the Economic Development Authority and the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce.
