Waynesboro has a reputation of being a sort of oddball among Virginia independent cities, in that it leans Republican.
And then: 2,743 city residents showed up to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primary.
Which is more – significantly more! – than the number of people, total, voting in any of the last three City Council elections.
The 2018 elections, for two seats on City Council, in Ward C and Ward D, drew 2,000 voters.
The 2016 voting for seats Wards A and B and the At-Large seat drew 2,300.
The last time there was a City Council election that drew a higher turnout than this week’s Democratic primary was way back in 2012, and that one got only barely more – 2,822 voters total.
Again, let me emphasize, total.
This city has been run by a do-nothing cabal that espouses conservatism but otherwise acts like the bumbling syndicate outfit running 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
On the one hand, we lay off teachers; on the other hand, the City Council has no problem finding millions to buy a parcel of scrub brush from a political donor who couldn’t find any other suckers to bail him out.
The political winds are changing, kinda, sorta.
The 2016 and 2018 elections ushered in a tenuous majority that has been able to take baby steps in the right direction in terms of policy.
Even that limited breath of fresh air that we’ve been able to create for ourselves is at stake in the May city elections.
As you’d expect, from the concept that absolute power corrupts absolutely, the do-nothings are running another slate of mush brains for the Ward A, Ward B and At-Large seats, and if they take two of the three, guess what?
More teachers laid off, more of the decade-long trend of public-safety employees leaving because of low pay, because the do-nothings are too cheap to pay them what they’re worth.
And you can bet that if one from their group needs to dip into the city coffers to unload some property, that will be no problem.
It doesn’t have to be.
There are more of you than there are of them.
A lot more.
All you need to do is vote on May 5.
If you do, we can swear in a City Council that can be bolder in taking steps to get us where we need to be as a city.
If you don’t, and the election is a big step back, you have no one to blame but your damn fool selves.
Story by Chris Graham
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