Clarifying statements

Jeremy Y. Taylor
Published: April 25, 2008

I am writing in response to the April 22 letter of Alex Stevens, Councilman Frank Lucente’s son-in-law, accusing me of lying about Lucente’s positions on the projects approved by our voters in the November 2007 referendum, on city-employee compensation and on school funding.
Regarding the projects approved through the referendum, Lucente has a very unfavorable record to contend with. There was a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which included these projects, on the table when Lucente was appointed to the council in 2005. Lucente voted against the CIP and the projects were sidetracked. During the year preceding the vote on the referendum, Lucente again blocked approval of these projects.
After the west-end fire station, the stormwater program and the library expansion — three of the five projects put to a vote — were approved in November 2007, Lucente stated, as a matter of record, that he might back out on his pledge to support the voters’ choices. He later reiterated that stance, saying that he planned to stick to his position to oppose the voters’ wishes. He then stated that he considered the referendum “nonbinding.”
Finally, with the prospect of the upcoming council election on the horizon, he joined the other members of the council in validating the election. He explained, however, that he was doing so only to avoid the costs that would have been incurred by having the circuit court validate the election, or holding another referendum.
His vote was only on the legal technicality of the voting process. It was not an endorsement of the projects.
The other two points of my letter were not criticisms of Lucente, but a statement of my support for those issues. I stand firmly by my letter as being accurate regarding my and Lucente’s positions.
Jeremy Y. Taylor
Waynesboro
Editor’s Note: Taylor is a candidate for the at-large council seat held by Lucente.