Board Ballot Bios

DAN BATES

 has lived in Staunton since 2019. He founded Vistoso Creative, a web design and development studio, in 2021 and moved it downtown in 2024. His work centers on helping small businesses and organizations put technology to use.

Dan is President of the Friends of the Staunton Library, where he is leading the organization through a transformational period. He has overseen a modernization of its membership and records systems and has been part of the library's multi-year terrace construction project, a nearly $350,000 investment nearing completion. Dan has advised the project throughout and handled its publicity from start to finish, from newsletter and social media coverage to designing the banners that hang outside the construction zone. Before that, he served as lead designer and marketing manager for Staunton Jams from 2022 to 2024. Across both roles, he has spent years managing committees, protecting long-term interests, running meetings that get things done, and representing organizations in their work alongside City government.

Dan is running for the SDDA board because he already works on both sides of what the organization does. He is a downtown business owner and Staunton resident with experience as a nonprofit leader, and he knows how technology can help a small organization do more with less. He also believes big things start in small places, through teamwork, passion, and a little stubbornness. Staunton has a natural charm and a can-do spirit that punch well above the city's size, and Dan wants to build on what people already love about being here, from the food and the festivals to an afternoon spent among its historic buildings.

SANDI CARARO

has owned The Book Dragon Shop, a veteran- and woman-owned local bookstore in downtown Staunton, for 7 ½ years. She has been involved in downtown since she first opened, attending meetings, participating in local events, and eventually joining the Tourism Board and the SDDA. It has been her pleasure to serve on the SDDA Board and to help guide the organization back to earning its accreditation, while doing whatever she can to support local businesses both downtown and in the five corridors.

If re-elected, she is committed to continuing to serve all businesses and residents. She understands how important downtown is to everyone and believes it is important to continue to grow and become even more than what it is—to become even better. She hopes to continue to serve.

She has lived in Virginia for 20 years. Her oldest son lives here in Staunton with his wife, while her youngest son, his wife, and her grandson live in Charlottesville.

CHRISTIAN VAMES

a Staunton native, is a 2022 graduate of Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics and an emphasis in Business Management.

He is the owner of Frontline Model Kits, located at 18 W. Beverley Street in our historic downtown. He has been involved in downtown Staunton and the retail hobby industry since 2010, with roots that go back to the same business that gave him his first job. He worked there throughout high school and college, spending years between the same four walls that helped shape his professional career. Because of that history, Frontline Model Kits represents much more than a business to him—it is a place that played an important role in shaping who he is today.

Alongside his work as a small business owner, he is also beginning his journey in commercial real estate. His passion for property management and commercial real estate runs deep within his family. For two generations, his grandfather and father have been involved in property management through their family company, V-K Properties.

Being a small business owner in the town that shaped him, along with his experience in the retail hobby industry and his growing involvement in property management and commercial real estate, are qualities he hopes to bring to this board. He understands the importance of supporting local businesses, maintaining a vibrant downtown, and continuing to build upon the community that has given him so much.

He credits much of his success to the many people he has met, worked with, and learned from through his involvement with the Downtown Development Association. Their guidance, support, and investment in the community have helped shape his professional journey, and he would be honored to have the opportunity to give back and contribute to the continued success of downtown Staunton.