Waynesboro Council candidates meet the public at forum

By Jimmy LaRoue

Published: April 17, 2008

Candidates for seats on the Waynesboro City Council got their first opportunity to hash out issues during a forum Thursday at the Waynesboro Senior Center.
All seven council candidates attended, including Ward A Councilman Tim Williams, who is running uncontested.
The candidates discussed fiscal, transportation and infrastructure issues, as well as the current friction among City Council members. They also addressed the audience directly on seniors’ issues. 
At-large candidate Jeremy Taylor sought to draw distinctions between himself and Frank Lucente, who was appointed to the at-large seat over three years ago.
Taylor said he would support investments in public transportation, citing a recent survey that he says shows “wide community support.”
While Taylor calls the plan affordable, Lucente disagrees, and believes there are enough transportation options in place now.
“I don’t know how we could fund a transportation in our city,” Lucente said.
The two also differed on revitalizing downtown. Lucente said the city is suffering with the loss of manufacturing jobs, but said the way to help downtown was to make the city friendly, and to try to attract entrepreneurs there.
Taylor, though, said the government should be involved in creating public-private partnerships.
“I’m going to respectfully draw a distinction between my position and Mr. Lucente’s on downtown revitalization,” Taylor said. “I believe that public-private partnerships, in certain cases, when we evaluate all the data, and determine that a particular project on that data is going to benefit taxpayers, we should enter into these partnerships.”
Stay tuned to The News Virginian for a complete wrap of the forum.