Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of profile articles on each of the four candidates running for three seats on the city council in the Nov. 5 election. The profiles of Nasser Alsaadun and of Javier Calleja ran earlier this month.
By Bridget Manley, publisher
In 2020, community activist Laura Dent decided to run for city council after years of campaigning for other Democrats in Harrisonburg. Much of her platform was focused on climate initiatives and affordable housing, and she’s focused a lot of her energy on those issues during the last four years as she served on the council.
Following the 2020 election, for instance, Dent convinced council members to update their 2039 council visionto include a new section titled “Community Resiliency and the Natural Environment,” which called for steps to reduce emissions and adopt climate strategies to curb climate change.
Dent said one of her proudest accomplishments in the last four years was the approval to install a 50-kilowatt solar system on the roof of Turner Pavilion in downtown Harrisonburg.
The council approved the use of $117,000 from an Energy Efficiency Block Grant for the project. The solar panels will offset the pavilion’s energy usage and provide additional power to the grid. City staff are still working on that project before going out to bid, according to city spokesman Michael Parks.
“I’m proud of bringing the discussion of the climate crisis front and center and launching projects to reduce our carbon footprint, such as approving solar panels on the Turner Pavilion,” Dent said.
Dent said if re-elected, she will continue focusing on climate action initiatives, implementing more solar panels, and participating in community activities to meet the city’s carbon reduction goals.
In 2024, Dent became vice chair of the National League of Cities Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee, which develops policies promoting climate change mitigation through water infrastructure, waste management, and other municipal services.
Now serving as vice mayor, Dent is one of four candidates running for three city council seats in this November’s election.
Dent was born in Florida, raised in Alabama, and graduated from Harvard University. She moved to Harrisonburg in 2006 and worked as a technical writer for Rosetta Stone. When the company laid off workers, Dent eventually found herself teaching as an adjunct professor at JMU while advocating for local issues.
Dent also spearheaded a formal resolution calling on the federal government to order a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, which the city council adopted in February. Harrisonburg became the first city in Virginia to pass such a resolution after several council meetings where Harrisonburg residents requested it.
Wrestling with Harrisonburg’s housing crunch
While affordable housing has been a top priority for Dent during her first term, Harrisonburg still faces an affordable housing crisis. Although the council has approved the construction of more than 2,800 new units, as of September, only 25 have been completed, and 55 are under construction.
Dent has voted in favor of multiple new housing complexes, including the controversial Bluestone Town Center, a mixed-use development off Erikson Avenue expected to add 900 units.
Many residents opposed the complex, raising concerns about its impact on school capacity and stormwater runoff. Others supported it, citing the need for more affordable housing and the environmental benefits of denser communities with walkable routes to shopping and other amenities.
Parks, the city’s spokesman, said the development is still on track and is undergoing a comprehensive site plan review.
Richard Baugh, who served on the city council from 2009 to 2020, worked with Dent for six months, filling a seat opened by the sudden departure of councilman George Hirschmann.
During that time, the two worked together on issues related to the Environmental Performance Standards Advisory Committee (EPSAC). Baugh said he found Dent willing to do independent research on topics of concern to her at a level he found “commendable.”
“In general, I was impressed with Laura’s effort to arrive at her own conclusions as to why she did or did not support a particular issue,” Baugh said. “As a Council member, there is often no shortage of constituents who not only want you to do something, which is, of course, their right, but they want you to accept their thinking and analysis uncritically.”
He said the city council should look at all the available evidence.
“Council members being willing to take a hard look at things, especially ones that arise on a sudden wave of apparent popularity, is a valuable part of serving the community,” Baugh said. “ I personally believe it is one that is also often underappreciated.”
Representation among representatives
With three open seats on the council and four candidates, Harrisonburg will elect either its first refugee or second immigrant — or both — to the council.
If elected, Democrat Nasser Alsaadun, who won the third Democratic nomination in June, would be the first refugee to serve. Independent Javier Calleja, who is also running for a seat, would be the second immigrant to serve, following Sal Romero, who served from 2018 to 2022. Deanna Reed, who has served as the mayor since 2017, is also seeking re-election to the council.
Dent said she is proud of Harrisonburg’s diversity and that representation from all the city’s communities is essential.
“Our council has united around supporting our historically disadvantaged communities and our immigrant and refugee residents,” Dent said. “One example is former Vice Mayor Sal Romero and his outreach to the Spanish-speaking community during the pandemic. Our current council is the first-ever majority-women and majority-Black council, with the first-ever woman mayor and vice mayor.”
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