Council candidates disputing positions

Two of the three at-large candidates for the Waynesboro City Council are engaged in election-eve letter-writing campaigns disputing each other’s positions on the capital improvement plan.
With city elections looming May 6, at-large councilman Frank Lucente on Wednesday accused candidate Jeremy Taylor of distorting his record with regard to the CIP.
In a recent letter to the editor published in The News Virginian, Taylor responded to what he said were accusations from Alex Stevens – Lucente’s son-in-law – of lying about Lucente’s stance on the CIP.
Taylor sent a letter to voters April 16, writing that Lucente has opposed the $10 million worth of projects approved by voters during the November 2007 referendum – the west-end fire station, a library expansion and funding for eight stormwater projects – and “is not committed to their completion,” according to the letter.
Taylor has also done a postcard mailing, “generically” about stormwater, and followed that up with a second letter about the fire station, calling into question Lucente’s commitment to the project.
Lucente, along with the rest of the current City Council, agreed that it should validate the referendum, though he and councilman Tim Williams – running unopposed in Ward A – initially hedged on it following issues with an unpublished legal notice about the referendum.
Lucente, in his own letter that he said will be sent to 3,000 voters by Friday, explains his votes on the CIP, saying he supported some of the projects – including stormwater and water and sewer upgrades, but did not support other projects.
“The challenge I faced was that the CIP was voted on as a whole, not as individual projects,” Lucente writes in his letter. “I could not support the plan, even though it had good projects, because it included other projects that represented millions of dollars in bad borrowing.”
Lucente writes that “the city has made a commitment to the three projects that passed the referendum, and I am committed to them.”
“It’s not good enough that I voted for it,” Lucente said. “I have to like it. Voting for it is the ultimate endorsement.”
Taylor, in response to Lucente’s letter, said “this is the first time that Mr. Lucente has said that he is committed to these projects and that he’s going to see them through.”
“I think it’s great that Mr. Lucente has come over to my position on these items,” Taylor said.
Lucente said he is committed to supporting the will of the people, and the three projects they voted for, but decried Taylor for statements that he says “misrepresent” him.
“I don’t have any problem with debating or talking about issues, but what bothers me are the last-minute tactics that he is using and distorting my record,” Lucente said.
Taylor, meanwhile, said voters should be wary of the “11th hour change to Mr. Lucente’s position.”