The dilemmas Christiansburg’s town council will spend the upcoming years trying to solve are similar to those faced by other elected bodies in the New River Valley.
Those seeking the three council seats and entered in the mayoral race present a variety of approaches to the questions, and what should be prioritized.
There will be at least two new members being seated, and there will be some new perspective among the group.
Six people are entered in the council race, a group that includes just one incumbent, Tanya Hockett. She is joined in the race by Joshua Bryan, Christine Waltz, Harry Collins Jr., Elizabeth Umberger and Matthew Hicks.
In the mayoral election, veteran town leader Michael Barber is seeking his fourth term. That follows three terms on the town council. The retired banker ran unopposed when he was first elected to his current seat in 2011, but was challenged the next two cycles, winning both of those races by sizable majorities both times.
“I’ve gotten to know the things and I feel like I have a good operational handle on the town, the budgets and everything else,” he said during a public forum held in September.
His opponent, Carl Pauli, is a self-proclaimed political novice but shares with Barber the quality of holding multiple decades of public service. Pauli retired from the Montgomery County Public Schools following the 2024-25 school year, where he spent the majority of his time there working as a school and district administrator.
“I’ve basically had a lifetime of service to this community and I feel like pursuing something in the area of politics,” Pauli said at the forum. “Town governance is the logical next step for me to take and continue in my service to the community. I feel like my experience in the school system has prepared me for leadership in the town.”
Pauli said when he decided to run during the summer, he began his campaign by going on a listening tour, which included holding public forums and meeting people at various events. From those interactions, he said he built his election platform.
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He acknowledged that the town does need to keep growing but said it needs to be done responsibly and in a manner that complements the current qualities of the area.
“I’m not a politician, but I do have a proven track record of good leadership,” he said. “I have a commitment to listen to people and make sure all voices are heard. …
“I have a common sense approach to budgeting — it’s needs-based, with needs placed above wants, which has worked well with our family and I believe would work well for the town.”
Barber said his priority as mayor has always been being available to the public and working for government transparency.
Pauli and Barber agreed on several issues, including that they believe the current tax burden on the town’s citizens is fair.
They did differ on the approach taken to maintain some of the town’s infrastructure — especially in the area of street repairs and stormwater management. Pauli said he believed there needed to be a more aggressive approach, while Barber supported the current methods used by town’s public works teams.
Barber also disputed comments brought up by Pauli and several council candidates about how capital expenditures were planned for. For instance, with the replacement of the HVAC system at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, which will cost a little over $10 million, he said the previous system was only expected to last seven years, but instead was in place for more than a decade. And during that time, money was set aside each year so when it was time to replace it, it would not cause a financial crisis.
“I still have a lot still to give to the town and citizens of Christiansburg,” Barber said. “… I’m not trying to paint a picture that I’m something that I’m not. We all have our faults, we all have our downturn. But what you see is what you get. I am a proven leader.”
The town council bid farewell to Casey Jenkins during the summer when he announced he was moving to the Richmond area for employment reasons — he was named executive director of the Virginia Association of Museums. The council voted to add Deanna Cox, a recently retired town employee to serve the remainder of Jenkins’ term, which ends at the beginning of 2026.
Vice Mayor Tim Wilson decided not to run for reelection after serving one term.
Hockett, who works as a public safety and emergency management agent, has a background in public administration. She believes this experience is beneficial to the town’s citizens. If elected to a second term, she said, she wants to revise the town’s strategic plan by prioritizing the needs into long-term and short-term objectives.
During a council candidates’ forum in September, she said some of those needs include an improved housing plan, infrastructure repairs, and attention paid to emergency services and economic involvement.
“I am very passionate about seeing our town grow and develop into a place that one day my kids will want to stay in,” she said. “I really love problem solving and being able to connect with our citizens.”
As for the others running for the three open spots:
Collins previously served on the council from 2016-2020, and touts the development of the AACE program, replacing old signage around the town, and initiating the Huckleberry Park project during his previous term. He also was an advocate for building civic pride within the town and adding patriotic and spiritual moments during town board and commission meetings. He is a recipient of a double-lung transplant and now serves as CEO of the Lung Transplant Foundation.
If he is elected this time around, Collins said, he will push for more affordable housing in future development, a more aggressive approach to infrastructure management and assuring that the town’s capital management budget remains healthy.
“This is a town I love very dearly,” he said. “When I make a decision, it will be for the town and citizens — not for Harry Collins. … I’m always looking for ways to help.”
Bryan, a former Marine who now manages the infrastructure of several facilities in the region, said he has lived in Christiansburg for about 18 years and decided to run for a council spot because he’s a “concerned citizen.”
He advocates for a cut in wasteful spending, wants lower taxes and believes the town needs to work toward more responsible planning that prioritizes maintaining the character of the communities’ various neighborhoods. He said he decided to run after he did not believe his concerns over an issue in his neighborhood were handled in a manner that satisfied him.
“I’d like to change that,” he said. “I’d like to be a voice for the citizens’ concerns and engage with them thoughtfully and respectfully — not just with short answers, missed phone calls and unresponded emails.”
Waltz is a Navy veteran who said that she has followed the town council, as well as its appointed commissions, for a number of years and believes she has a background now that would make her a quality town council member.
She believes the town should hold back on additional growth projects and focus on maintaining the current infrastructure. During the candidates’ forum, she warned of putting more costs on the town’s citizens right now because many are already financially stressed.
“I’m running because I feel the citizens of Christiansburg deserve someone who cares about them and wants to look out for their needs — not just the needs of the government,” she said. “Over the years when speaking to people, I hear repeatedly that they don’t feel like they’re being heard.”
Umberger has lived most of her life in Christiansburg, but has moved around at times for jobs related to the biology degree she earned at Virginia Tech. Much of her professional life has been spent working in biology-related fields and in social services, including spending time as a foster parent, child care and working with the school district in various capacities. She appreciates the services the town provides, but wants to work to reduce the costs.
She believes more affordable housing is needed, and would also advocate for the removal of some of the invasive plants that are found within the town limits and to re-introduce some of the area’s native greenery. Umberger also wants to see the work of improving the quality of water in Crab Creek to continue.
Because of her background in social and public service, she said she wants to see the community become more involved as a whole.
“I think it’s important that we as citizens don’t come to town council meetings just when we want to complain, but we come and contribute [in other ways],” she said. “We need to become part of the decision making, and that’s what I’m going to say to everyone in the Town of Christiansburg.”
Hicks’ background is in real estate management, investment and land development, and he believes that spending in the town is rising faster than the community can withstand. He would like to see efforts made to rein in the spending and town officials — both elected and appointed — to be more transparent with how business is being done in the community.
During the council forum, he was critical of the process taken for the aquatic center’s HVAC replacement project, which he said did not include a bidding process. He also believes that the town overpaid for the downtown property it purchased for the future public works facility.
“The biggest reason I’m running is simple: I’m running so you don’t have to worry about the local government doing the best job for their citizens,” Hicks said. “Citizens can go to sleep at night knowing their road is going to be fixed next year because it’s on the list. … If an emergency happens, we’re going to call the guys to show up and there will still be enough money left to do whatever else we want to do.”