Dr. David Brown has been practicing chiropractic in Charlottesville, Va., since 1982, but politically speaking, it took him less than one day to get the proverbial keys to the "best city to live in."* On July 1, 2004, during his first day of service on the Charlottesville city council, Dr. Brown's peers voted 4-0 (with one abstention) to make him mayor of the picturesque community nestled at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Dr. Brown is a former president of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards and a former member of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. He also served for eight years as the chiropractic member of the Virginia Board of Medicine, and has been involved with various other medical and civic organizations.
According to Dr. Brown, "A major reason I was elected Mayor was the experience I had gained with the FCLB and NBCE in consensus-building. ... It was great to have my fellow councilors publicly citing my experiences with the FCLB and the National Board as reasons I should be the next Mayor."
Dr. Brown emphasized that setting a more businesslike and respectful tone is an initial goal of his tenure. In particular, he hopes to change the often "confrontational and rancorous" nature of previous council meetings. He added, "Like other cities, Charlottesville has some difficult problems ahead, such as federal and state unfunded mandates, rising property assessments, affordable housing, the achievement gap in our schools, and growth issues - which require that our council come together as a team and function efficiently and effectively."
A 1981 graduate of Western States Chiropractic College, following undergraduate work at the University of Virginia (B.S. in History), Dr. Brown resides in Charlottesville with his wife of 24 years, Jean, and two sons, Greg and Evans. He continues to practice chiropractic 30-plus hours per week, along with tending to his new duties as mayor and council member.
"I've always wondered why more chiropractors don't view politics as a way to get involved in their community," he observed. "Not only is it a great way to give back to the community, and to meet a wide range of people, but it [also] provides the grass-roots connections that our profession must have to thrive."
Dr. Brown campaigned for the city council on a platform that emphasizes the importance of the environment and providing affordable housing. Having spent more than two decades living and working in Charlottesville, he hopes that, upon the completion of his term, he will have achieved those goals, and life will be a little easier for Charlottesville's residents than when he entered office.
"I'd like to be able to look back and say that Charlottesville became more affordable," he said. "That Charlottesville became easier to get around in because transportation improved. I'd like to ... say I was a part of making that happen."
Dr. Brown will serve a two-year term as Charlottesville mayor and a four-year term with the city council. For more information or to contact Mayor Brown, visit www.charlottesville.org.
*Cities Ranked & Rated: More Than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada, 1st Edition. Frommer's (a division of Wiley Publishing, Inc.) 2004.
