I had the chance to meet and get to know Elzena Anderson, a candidate for the Ward A seat on Waynesboro City Council, earlier this week, and came away impressed.
The assistant director at the Waynesboro Public Library, Anderson is a 20-year resident of Staunton and a graduate of the College of William and Mary.
She purchased a home on the East Side last year, a move that as it turns out led her to want to get involved in city politics.
Anderson told me that she chose to buy a home on the East Side because she loves the area, sees its potential and thinks it can grow if residents get more involved.
And I’m there with her on that. Ward A has been saddled with inadequate representation since … at least before my time.
God love Jack Higgs and Tim Williams, but neither have been more than a rubber stamp for the paleo-conservative electeds on the other side of the South River.
The way things have worked in Waynesboro for time immemorial, dating back to the Waynesboro-Basic City merger in the 1920s, the East Side has been the forgotten side of town.
The schools, the entrance corridors, the thrust of economic development, everything lags far behind the West Side.
Ward A needs somebody to stand up for … well, Ward A.
An issue is that Ward A doesn’t stand up for itself. Waynesboro elects its City Council in May, and every four years Ward A barely shows up at the polls.
The last two election cycles have seen 350 voters turn out in May, about a quarter of the turnout for November elections, which saw Democrat Barack Obama pull majorities in 2008 and 2012.
So Ward A doesn’t even vote its interests; it just doesn’t vote.
Anderson got into the 2016 race late, and we’re T-minus three weeks and counting to Election Day, but she’s committed to getting the vote out in A.
Her positions on the issues – supporting investments in education, job growth and infrastructure, particularly on the forgotten East Side – are energizing voters who have come to know her over the past few weeks.
Elzena Anderson has my full-throated endorsement in the May 3 elections.
Chris Graham is the editor of AugustaFreePress.com.
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