Women top ballot in Manassas in what will be history-making election

It’s looking like Manassas City will have a female mayor for the first time in its 147-year history.

Mayor Hal Parrish II announced his retirement at a small gathering at Okras restaurant in Downtown Manassas in February. It came as a surprise to many, as he’s served as mayor since 2008, and has been on the city council since 1993.

As Parrish departs, he’s leaving the city in a similar economic climate that mirrors the financial crisis of 2008, when he won his mayoral job. After a banner economic year for the city, unemployment in the city has skyrocketed to 13% — levels seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s — following the pandemic.

Now, two businesswomen with ties to the community are facing off for the mayoral seat. Potomac Local News recently spoke to both candidates about their visions for Manassas.

Michelle Davis-Younger, a life-long Manassas resident, has been on Manassas City Council since November 2018. She’s the presumptive Democratic nominee.

“It’s been great,” Davis-Younger said.

Bringing in business and new development to the city are some of her goals, Davis-Younger said.

“We want to grow,” Davis-Younger reiterated.

Keeping taxes level and not raising them is also a priority for her.

“I’ve been touted as a bridge builder,” Davis- Younger said she’s known for bridging the political divide on the city council.

Davis-Younger owns a human resources consulting business. A lot of her work involves “talking it out, getting people to the table to talk through things,” she said. She adds those skills go hand in hand with working on the city council.

She also helps her clients with resume writing and job- interview preparation. Davis-Younger added that when people are working outside the current pandemic, “that, hopefully, more money is being spent in my city,” and “When mom and dad are working everyone’s eating and working, it makes for a better city.”

Davis-Younger, a single mother, took night classes at Strayer University while working full-time, eventually going on to get her MBA.

She started her human resources firm as a side business in 1996, but now it’s her full-time job. Her company, “The1ForHR,” is now located in Downtown Manassas.

Now married, Davis-Younger and her husband, James, and her 15-year=old daughter who attends Osbourn High School. All three Two of her children attended Manassas schools, she adds.

Theresa Coates Ellis, the presumptive Republican candidate for mayor, is also a local business owner with a strong desire to take charge.

“I am ready to lead,” Coates Ellis said.

Coates Ellis has forged multiple strategic partnerships in the city, which includes her Shadow for a Day” program that helps students and small and large businesses connect for mentorship.  These types of outreach programs are important aspects of being a mayor, she said.

Coates Ellis has also made it a point to bring together the city council and the leaders of homeowners associations to discuss community issues.

Coates Ellis is also the Patron of the Bee City USA – which is a way to get the city involved in sustainable living, native plants, and attracting pollinators. She and her husband Goerge spend hours working with bees.

“It’s a good way to brand our city,” Ellis said.

Ellis, who won her first seat on the city council in 2018, said that she had expected Mayor Hal Parrish II to run again, but had planned on running if he didn’t.

“I’ve been mentoring with him,” Ellis said.

Ellis, an entrepreneur, believes that her experience with her Manassas-based company Tackle Management and Marketing has prepared her for the mayoral role. The firm works with small and mid-sized businesses helping them with marketing and creative projects.

“I’m a big connector, I’m very interactive,” Ellis said.

Ellis has been a resident of the city for 30 years.

Ellis said that she is very focused on growing the city’s economic development and ways to move the city forward for the whole community. The city is coming off its largest economic boom in history,

In her experience with marketing, she has done work with many different industries, but mostly healthcare, Ellis said, so she understands citizen’s issues with high deductibles, Medicare, Medicaid, and mental health crisis.

Ellis is also concerned about the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the city. coronavirus outbreak, Unemployment has skyrocketed to 13% in the city since the start of the outbreak, and Ellis supports the city furnishing gift cards to area businesses that remain open during a statewide shutdown meant to curb the spread of the disease.

Since 1965, only Republicans have been elected mayor in Manassas. Prior to that, the city did not keep political party records.

Mayor Harry J. Parrish served in office from 1965 to 1982 and his son, Mayor Harry J. Parrish II, who is now retiring, has served on the city council starting in 1993, and as mayor from 2008 to 2020.

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, November 3.