Shakeva Frazier, Shelby Irving and Danny Marshall were chosen as finalists from a pool of 11 applicants to fill the seat vacated by now-Del. Madison Whittle.
The search for a new city council member in Danville has been narrowed to three finalists and one alternate. The council will interview the candidates during a public meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the city council chambers.
Del. Madison Whittle, R-Danville, resigned from his role on the city council in January to become a member of the General Assembly, leaving an open seat.
The eight remaining members of the council will appoint a candidate to fill Whittle’s seat until November, when a special election will be held. The candidate elected in November will finish the remaining two years of Whittle’s term.
The finalists are Shakeva Frazier, the runner-up in the most recent city council election; Shelby Irving, Danville’s first female firefighter and longtime fire department member; and Danny Marshall, a former state delegate and former Danville council member.
The finalists and the alternate, Gwyndolyn Stone, were announced by Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones at a council meeting last week. They were chosen from a pool of 11 applicants.
“Conducting the interviews in a public meeting is an important part of a transparent process, and we appreciate the community’s continued engagement,” Jones said in a Feb. 3 release from the city.
The council must fill the vacancy within 45 days of Whittle’s departure, giving them until Feb. 27 to decide among the finalists. The council will make a final decision by majority vote, also in a public meeting.
If the council cannot agree on a candidate to fill the vacancy, a judge will step in to make a decision.
Frazier, Irving and Marshall each have a long history of public service in Danville, as well as aspirations for their potential time on the city council.
Shakeva Frazier ran for the city council in 2024 and was about 870 votes shy of being elected. She was the first runner-up of nine candidates after all five incumbents were reelected. That automatically made her a finalist in the process to fill Whittle’s seat.
She was not available for an interview in time for publication, but she spoke with Cardinal News during her campaign for the city council in 2024.
At that time, Frazier said that “connection and relatability” were the strongest skills she would bring to the council, adding that she has been involved in nonprofits and grassroots organizations in Danville for over 15 years.
Frazier is the executive director of Third Chance Housing, which focuses on homelessness prevention and housing affordability, and serves on the West Piedmont Better Housing Coalition.
She previously worked with the Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. This work has made her intimately aware of the city’s ongoing housing shortage, and she’s been working to create more transitional housing in Danville.
In addition to housing efforts, Frazier said she believes that continued workforce development programming is valuable for the region.
Frazier has also worked with youth in the city, including with Project Imagine, a program that is targeted toward at-risk and gang-affiliated youth, and is president of Danville Riverview Rotary Club.
Shelby Irving’s love for public service motivated her to apply for the open seat on the city council. Alongside her career at the city’s fire department, Irving is also a board member for seven local organizations, and she volunteers her time through community groups, food and clothing drives and teaching.
If either Frazier or Irving is appointed, the city council will have a female member for the first time since 2010. The last woman on Danville’s council was Ruby Archie, who served from 1994 until her death in 2010.
But Irving is no stranger to male-dominated spaces.
She joined the fire department in 1987, at a time when there were no other female firefighters there. That career choice began with a dare from her friend.
“I had a friend who challenged me to try the fire department,” Irving said. “I’m still right here, 39 years later.”
Of the 30 firefighters who were hired in Irving’s cohort, only three of them are still working at the Danville Fire Department, she said.
“I joke that everybody counted me out at first, and now I’m going to be the last one here,” Irving said. “Once I got the job, people said, ‘I’ll give her a month.'”
Irving fell in love with firefighting and public safety work, she said, and decided to make a career out of it.
She was promoted several times in the fire marshal’s office, making her the first Black chief officer at the department. After serving as fire marshal from 2022 to 2023, Irving now works as the director of community risk reduction with the fire department.
She is still the highest-ranking Black officer in the department.
“I love this city, and I love working in this city, especially here at the fire department,” she said. “It gives me an opportunity to have a close relationship with the citizens of Danville.”
Irving has strengthened these relationships through community service. She’s involved with God’s Storehouse, a food bank in Danville; the House of Hope homeless shelter; Boys & Girls Club; the YMCA; and several other organizations.
She also teaches fire safety at schools, church groups, community groups and other organizations.
“Through teaching, I’ve been able to touch on things that may not relate to fire, but I love branching out, helping with the homeless shelter, with senior citizens, everyone,” Irving said. “People will call me with just about anything.”
Irving said she’s witnessed Danville’s growth over the years and wants to help keep it going.
One thing she’s heard a lot about from residents is utility prices. She said that although Danville’s rates are still lower than many localities in the region, she’d like to work with city staff and the council on efforts and programs — both existing and new — to make utilities more affordable for residents.
Danville is the only municipality in Virginia that operates all four essential utility services: water, wastewater, electricity and natural gas.
Danville has been in the utility business since 1876 and serves Danville, most Pittsylvania County households and also portions of Henry and Halifax counties.
Because of her career, Irving said public safety efforts are “my baby,” but she’s also invested in increasing the city’s housing stock and continuing the recent strides in education and economic development.
“We’ve got to keep getting industries and businesses in here, getting people to come, and giving them a reason to stay,” she said. “Nothing irritates me more than to hear someone say, ‘I wouldn’t move to Danville, there’s nothing to do.’ Well, what are you doing? What have you done to help fix that?”
Irving said that if she is appointed to the city council, she will continue her strong rapport with the community.
“I’m an open door person, and I will talk to you,” Irving said. “I’d be one of nine, so I can’t make every promise, but you will be heard.”
Danny Marshall announced in February 2025 that he wouldn’t seek reelection for his seat in the General Assembly, which he had held for nearly 25 years, citing health issues.
Whittle was elected to replace Marshall, representing the 49th House District in November, defeating fellow Danville council member Gary Miller.
Prior to his time in the General Assembly, Marshall served on Danville’s city council from 2000 to 2001.
“This time last year I was living in Durham,” Marshall said. “My wife and I moved down there in December 2024. At that time, I had to be close to the hospital.”
He was waiting for a lung transplant, which he received in March 2025. By then, he had already decided that it “wouldn’t be fair” for him to seek reelection to the General Assembly.
“You don’t know when you’re going to get the lung,” Marshall said. “I met one person who got a lung within a week, and I met another one who waited a year. By the time I got the lung in March, I had already announced that I wasn’t going to run, and I didn’t want to double back on that.”
But when Whittle’s seat opened up on the city council, Marshall’s love of public service in the region made him want to apply.
“I still have some things to do,” he said.
Marshall has had a hand in some of Southside’s biggest economic development and revitalization efforts.
He represented Danville on the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, which invests in economic development projects across Southwest and Southside Virginia.
The commission’s investment in industrial parks in this region spurred the development of the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, which landed the largest economic development project in Southside’s history.
Microporous, a lithium battery ion separator manufacturer, announced its decision to locate at Berry Hill in November 2024, representing a $1.3 billion investment and promising to create over 2,000 jobs.
In 2002, Marshall introduced his first bill in the state legislature, establishing Danville’s Institute of Advanced Learning and Research, which serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation. The following year, he pushed to get IALR funding added into the state budget.
He also sponsored a budget amendment for last year’s state budget to allocate $3 million toward a whitewater channel project in Danville, which is working to bolster its recreational attractions.
If appointed to the city council, Marshall said his focus would remain on jobs.
“We have a great city council, and a spectacular city manager and staff. … They’ve worked so hard, and we’ve got to keep that going,” he said. “To me, it’s all about jobs and getting good paying jobs so that citizens can have a good quality of life.”
Part of that effort is a continued focus on education, Marshall said. Danville has made public education a priority in recent years, and residents approved a referendum in 2021 that raised the sales tax by 1% to provide a revenue stream for capital improvement projects at schools.
Marshall praised this decision and the resulting school renovations and new school buildings.
“When we have quality education, the workforce that graduates is going to have a lot more skills for the jobs that are coming,” he said.
After representing a larger region in Southside for so long, he said it would be second nature for him to continue the collaborations that Danville has with Pittsylvania County and other localities and organizations.
