Students show candor, interest in local politics

For Lynchburg’s high school seniors, government these days doesn’t mean presidential politics or the machinations of Congress.

Instead, the city’s 17- and 18-year-olds, whose ranks include many newly minted voters, find themselves thinking about the City Council race or the school board budget crisis.

“Usually, everyone spends so much time talking about national elections, but not local elections,” reflected Donnie Volk, 17, of Heritage High School. “But, really, local government is more important and has more of an impact on us.”

At both Heritage and E.C. Glass high schools, teachers are putting a new focus on local government, using the council elections and school funding crunch to help illustrate the principles spouted by textbooks and, hopefully, cultivate a sense of civic-mindedness among their soon-to-be graduates.

E.C. Glass teacher Jessica Bibb says she allots time during each of her government classes to let students talk about local events.

“I want them to be able to make a personal connection with what they’re reading about,” Bibb explained. “Anything to get beyond the textbook and make government more alive and relevant to them.”

Recently, she added, students have most often wanted to discuss the elections and budget deliberations. “Those are definitely at the top of the everyone’s list right now.”

The intensity of some students’ interest in local politics was demonstrated this month when both public high schools invited all the City Council candidates to come speak with their senior students.

J.P. Vaughan, a realtor making his first bid for office, was the first to accept the invitations. He visited both schools over the last week-and-a-half and ended up fielding questions at each for about an hour.

The kids didn’t pull any punches. Questions asked included:

• Wasn’t the Fifth Street roundabout a waste of money?

• Nobody goes downtown anymore. What’s the point in spending money to refurbish it?

• You say you’re an independent, but nobody has no political feelings. Are you more right or more left?

• How do you feel about Liberty basically taking over our city when most of their students are not from our city?

“I thought maybe they’d throw me some underhand, softball pitches, but they were hard, fast balls,” Vaughan joked later.

“I thought they were extremely well-informed and asked some really great questions, some tough questions,” he said in a separate interview. “I was impressed. If I impressed them one-tenth as much as they did me, I’ll be OK.”

In his responses to the students, Vaughan noted that he’s been accused of being a Democrat and a moderate Republican since entering the race, but maintained that he was an independent who voted for the person and not the party.

He pointed out that he publicly supported Bob McDonnell (R), Bill Bolling (R), Steve Shannon (D), and Shannon Valentine (D), during the state elections in November.

Vaughan also defended the city’s investments in downtown and Fifth Street, noting in part that downtown has been attracting new interest from the private sector and seen its property values increase by more than $60 million over the last five years, a turnaround the city hopes to replicate on Fifth Street.

Asked if he would consider raising taxes to prop up the schools budget, he said he didn’t feel it would be necessary this year given the stronger-than-expected budget proposal recently put out by the city manager.

He added though he felt “a time comes in every community or government’s life” where a tax increase may become necessary.

“You need certain things. You need excellent schools,” he said. “…Weak schools make for a weak economy and a dying community.”

On the subject of Liberty University, Vaughan said the animosity some harbor against the school was “all nonsense” and the community had to find a way to put that behind it.

“In a lot of ways, Liberty has been good for Lynchburg and, in all fairness, I think Lynchburg has been good for Liberty too,” he said. “But what everyone has to realize is Liberty isn’t going anywhere. It’s here for good, and it’s going to keep growing.”

Vaughan, who has a strong background in sports as both a player and coach, stressed the need for more teamwork in government and said if elected one of his biggest goals would be eliminating partisanship.

“City Council is only seven people,” he said. “I’m not saying I can make a change alone, but God knows I will try to get everyone to say that we’re going to work together and do what’s best for the most people in Lynchburg with no hidden agenda or one group telling us what to do.”

When the bell rang at Heritage High, which had scheduled Vaughan’s visit during its enrichment period, the kids groaned and asked if they couldn’t stay a little longer.

Government teacher Kim Gafford noted the students had been a tough and at times blunt audience.

“They don’t always have the filter a lot of adults might have,” she said. “They want straight talk.”

She added she hoped the lively exchange with the candidate helped the kids realize they did have a part to play in this process.

“I hope they get that they have a voice,” she said. “And they need to use that voice and get out and vote.”