Allen takes Ward B

By Jimmy LaRoue

Published: May 6, 2008

Bruce Allen savored an overwhelming victory in the Ward B race that turned the tide on the Waynesboro City Council.
“Evidently the citizens of Waynesboro have spoken, and they are ready for a change,” Allen said.
Allen picked up 2,030 votes,  or 62 percent of the total cast, compared with Graham’s 27 percent and Bruno’s 12 percent. Allen won majorities in all four city wards, including a whopping 78 percent majority in Ward A.
Combined with a similar win by at-large incumbent Frank Lucente, Allen’s win propelled council’s fiscally conservative bloc into control. Another member of that group, Ward A Councilman Tim Williams, ran unopposed.
Allen said the endorsement of Invista’s workers union – the United Workers Local 381 of the Brotherhood of DuPont Workers – was “a plus for us.”
Allen said his message of fiscal conservatism resonated. He said people understand that they, along with the city, have to live within their means.
“Everybody feels the crunch that we’re in with the gas prices, the food prices and the taxes,” Allen said.
Graham had campaigned on what he said would be his ability to move Waynesboro forward.
“I was completely and utterly shocked that it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would,” Graham said. 
Graham said he believes that the Wayne Theatre project is now “very much in question” but he wouldn’t do anything differently.
“I can’t say that I feel bad for anything because we did what we wanted to do,” Graham said. “It just didn’t turn out our way.”
Bruno, a former member of the Planning Commission, touted his independence throughout the campaign, and said he would be best suited to working with the factions that have divided the City Council.
“I’m OK with it,” Bruno said of his loss. “My initial reaction is that the situation with Invista had a lot to do with that.”
The Invista union backed Allen, Lucente and Williams because of their support of paying for the stormwater management program through the city’s general fund. Invista’s union and management have said that a fee-based utility would likely cause the company to cut jobs, if not force it to leave town.
Invista, a textiles maker with more than 1,000 workers, is the city’s largest employer.
Bruno said he still plans on being active in city issues and will continue attending City Council meetings.
Allen, exhausted with the campaign, said he would allow himself to sleep in a little before getting back to work.
He said the overriding message he received when talking with voters at the polls Tuesday was to keep his word.
“We want you to do what you said you intended to do, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Allen said.