Report by Chris Graham
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What Waynesboro needs to do: “We need to find innovative ways to get good-paying jobs to our city.” The economy is the focus for Ward C City Council candidate Robert Johnson Jr.
“Since 1996, the CIty of Waynesboro has shed 2,400 factory jobs through layoffs, plant idlings and company closings. We have tremendous potential here in Waynesboro, but only with assertive leadership and unwavering presence,” said Johnson, an engineering tech at the Staunton District office of the Virginia Department of Transportation, the chairman of the Waynesboro Transportation Safety Commission and a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Oak Grove Baptist Church.
Johnson, who was joined at the press conference by his wife, Bertina, committed himself to “making the economic development of Waynesboro my top priority if allowed to serve on Council,” he told reporters in a press conference on Thursday at the Charles T. Yancey Municipal Building.
The Stuarts Draft High School graduate also talked up education as a priority. “Making responsible investments in our local school system will pay tremendous dividends,” Johnson said. “It is critical that we adequately fund our school system with the resources necessary to give our children a high-quality education.”
Johnson also pledged to spend city tax dollars responsibly. “In these tight economic times, we need to be even more focused on how we spend tax dollars,” he said.
Johnson entered the race on Tuesday, just beating the ballot-access deadline of 7 p.m. Tuesday after beginning his drive for the 125 signatures of registered voters needed to gain ballot access the preceding Friday.
He will square off with Jeff Freeman for the Ward C seat in the May 4 city election. Two-term incumbent City Councilwoman Nancy Dowdy is not seeking re-election in Ward C.
Video: Robert Johnson formally enters Ward C race
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