WAYNESBORO, Va. (WHSV) – On Thursday, Waynesboro’s Mayor Bobby Henderson announced he will be running for re-election. Currently, he represents Ward C on Waynesboro City Council.
According to the city’s website, council members elect the mayor and vice mayor for terms of two years.
Mayor Henderson provided the following statement via email when asked what the people of Ward C and the city of Waynesboro can expect if he is re-elected:
“I have served on Waynesboro City council for four years, during this four-year period we have had challenging times. It should be noted that while times were challenging, my fellow council members were not. I am proud of each member of our council, because while we do not always agree on matters, we never disrespect one another. We simply agree to disagree, present our case, and respect each other’s decisions.
The first two years were uneventful, during which time we were seeing growth, businesses were doing well. Our industrial and manufacturing facilities were expanding, our workforces were growing but were hampered by the lack of skilled labor force. Collaborating with our industrial partners and school system apprenticeships programs were being developed. Meaning our industrial partners wanted a part in training the next generation of workforce starting with our local high schools in the SAW’s region. We had momentum on our side, then COVID stuck its ugly head up and shut everything down.
As we worked through COVID we planned the worst and prayed for the best. Prayers worked; things could have been much worse, but they were not. Our community came out of COVID, our economy sprung back, and we have tremendous growth happening in Waynesboro. This can all be contributed to our great community, our city staff for taking the lead and doing what needed to be done to keep the city moving and moving forward.
If re-elected, I would like to continue what has been started during the last four years. One of our more important tasks is to create a budget to pay our employees properly. Fill empty slots on our police, fire, and public works departments. Make sure our streets are safe, make sure our citizens are properly protected. Make sure our homeowners know we can have a quick response from our fire department by building station #2.
Continue to help build a resilient workforce, work on industrial and manufacturing partnerships and our school systems. Work with our developers to build affordable housing options for our workforce.
Work on stimulating growth on our east side of the city. Work with staff to move our industrial park forward.
Over the next four years we will see a transformation of our city. Main Street will enjoy a facelift with the removal of the old Leggett’s building and the construction of its replacement building. The Virginia Museum of Natural History being built along our south river, revitalization of constitution park and wetlands. Our future is bright, I look forward to the work ahead.”
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved.
