Foster had said she was willing to step aside as mayor

Although her reappointment may have seemed like a foregone conclusion after her first-place finish in the spring elections, Mayor Joan Foster came close to giving up her gavel last week when it came time for City Council to choose its next leaders.

“I had already served two terms,” she explained in an interview shortly after being re-upped for a third term Friday. “So I thought, if someone else wanted the position, I would support them.”

Foster, who became Lynchburg’s first female mayor in 2006, specifically offered to step aside if Councilman Michael Gillette wanted to pursue the job. Gillette, who represents Ward I, has been on council for six years but never has held either of its leadership positions.

“Joan was perfectly comfortable letting me serve as mayor, which I think says a lot about her,” he said Friday. “So that was definitely under discussion. ... We sat down and had a very open conversation, without twisting each other’s arms, about what was best for the city and what mix of people made the most sense.”

Gillette said it was during that “heart-to-heart” that he decided he did not want to make a bid for either the mayor or vice mayor spot.

He went on to nominate Foster for another two-year term during council’s reorganization meeting Friday. In doing so, he said Foster had “excelled” as mayor and praised her commitment to making that office more accessible and available to the public.

“I think it becomes clear we should offer our support to Joan for another two years,” he said. “It makes sense.”

In a subsequent interview, Gillette said his decision was influenced by Foster’s track record as mayor and the difference in their respective “skill sets” and schedules. Gillette, an ethicist, consults for entities across the country and travels frequently on business.

Gillette also said there were other areas he was interested in focusing on, specifically mentioning the ever-present question of what to do about Heritage High School .

“That’s a major effort that’s going to affect the city for years to come,” he said, noting it could impact everything from taxes to land use to social issues. “I think it’s one of the most important things we could be talking about.” The current Heri-tage High School building is widely acknowledged to be inadequate, but officials remain undecided about how to handle that problem. Building a new school or heavily renovating the existing one will both cost a hefty sum, creating concern among the city’s budget handlers.

It’s been suggested by some that the city should simply close Heritage and create one large high school at E.C. Glass. That idea has not been studied yet, but Gillette said he feels the city has to keep all its options open at this point.

“It’s premature to think that any one answer is going to be the answer,” he said.

City officials plan to conduct some kind of community dialogue about Heritage’s future during the upcoming school year. There also has been talk of forming a joint council-school board task force.

Education appeared to be a reoccurring theme at the reorganization meeting, with several council members ranking school issues high on their list of priorities.

Councilman Turner Perrow, who was nominated for vice mayor but lost out to Ceasor Johnson, said he was disappointed he wasn’t going to be able to participate in the regular meetings held between city council and school board leadership. Only the mayor and vice mayor participate in those meetings.

He specifically referenced the ongoing city-school consolidation issue and the fate of Heritage High as two major issues he was concerned about.

“We need to bring city-school consolidation to a close one way or another,” he said. “It’s been hanging out there for a couple of years already. And Heritage High School has got to be done without adversely affecting the taxpayers. We need to be fiscally responsible. I don’t know that the team in place now has the will to do that.”

The consolidation of duplicate city-school functions as a cost-cutting measure became a council priority in the wake of the school division’s 2008 deficit. To date, only procurement duties have been consolidated, although administrators say they’re working on more sweeping changes. Council members have expressed differing levels of satisfaction with the pace of work they’ve seen.

In a separate interview, Vice Mayor Johnson cited education as one of the issues he planned to continue working on.

“We need to ensure our kids get the best education possible,” he said. “We can’t balance the budget on the backs of our children. I think the community as a whole would agree with that.”

Foster, who nominated Johnson for vice mayor citing in part his “ardent” support for education, said they were on the “same page” when it came to the importance they placed on that issue.

Perrow, who’s an engineer, also listed infrastructure needs as one of his priorities, noting he wants to see progress on the Fort Avenue bridge replacement and explore extending more utility lines into Tyreeanna to promote development in that area.

A few hours after the reorganization vote, Foster announced she had appointed Perrow to serve as chairman of council’s physical development committee, a body that focuses on infrastructure and construction issues. Councilman Jeff Helgeson, a financial consultant, will continue as chairman of the finance committee.

Foster said she felt these appointments made the best use of the individual talents of the council representatives. These are the only two standing committees maintained by council.

Each committee consists of three council members with the mayor serving in an ex-officio capacity.

The finance committee members for the next two years will be: Helgeson, Johnson and Councilman Randy Nelson. The physical development committee will be made up of: Perrow, Gillette and Councilman Hunsdon “H.” Cary.