Waynesboro voters on Tuesday
chose to stay the course, by re-electing all incumbents on city council.
Tim Williams earned a
third term to the Ward A council seat in the narrowest contest of the night, defeating
Jim Serba by just 23 votes.
Bruce Allen had an easier
time of it in Ward B. He defeated
challenger Robert Donaldson by roughly 400 votes.
Mayor Frank Lucente held
on to his at-large seat, defeating former councilwoman Lorie Smith by a margin
of about 140 votes.
The winners admit they
were surprised by the results.
Williams said, "This was
not a race about the issues, it was a race about popularity. It's difficult for the incumbents to win with
all the difficult decisions we've had to make over the last three or four years."
"We did have a lot of
obstacles to overcome, with some special interest groups that made a push. I am humbled by the win because of the
adversity," said Lucente.
Public school funding was
a major issue in the days leading up to the election. Lucente says Waynesboro council is eager to
resolve that issue in a "fair and equitable" way.
Lucente also said Tuesday
night that he's ready to "pass the torch" on the title of mayor, which
he calls a largely ceremonial position.
He declined to say who he thinks should take the job.
The Waynesboro council
winners say they plan to "stay the course" by keeping taxes and
spending as low as possible. Their new
terms begin July 1.
Also in the Staunton City School Board race, the winners of all three open seats were newcomers. William Lobb led the voting with 1,216,
followed by Joel Grogan with 1,040, and Robert Boyle with 887.
Incumbents George Ballew and Sarah Crenshaw
failed to earn re-election.
