Lynchburg woman to make ninth run for council seat

Thurber

By: Alicia Petska | The News & Advance
Published: February 02, 2012

Jane Thurber — once a familiar name on Lynchburg ballots — is climbing back into the political ring to make a bid for City Council’s Ward III seat.

“I run in order to make a statement about my beliefs and principles,” said Thurber, 81, adding she’s concerned about inner city blight, wasteful government spending and cutbacks to the city’s bus service.

Thurber, a Massachusetts native, is a writer who was first introduced to the area in 1978 when she stayed at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Between 1984 and 2000, she made eight unsuccessful runs for council. She also made failed bids for the Virginia Senate and U.S. Congress.

This week, Thurber filed to run as an independent for City Council’s Ward III seat, currently held by two-term incumbent Jeff Helgeson. She said she’s in the process of collecting the petition signatures required to cement her spot on the ballot.

Thurber and Helgeson live near each other and attend the same church. Thurber said she thought he was a “fine person.”

“He stands up for the conservative position,” she said. “But I really feel like he is not concerned with the poor and less fortunate in Ward III.”

Reached Thursday, Helgeson said he did not know Thurber was running. He declined to comment and said he would be announcing his plans soon.

When asked why she was returning to politics after so many years, Thurber said she started thinking about it over the holidays after becoming concerned about the many cutbacks to the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company’s bus service.

Thurber, a bus rider, said she was worried about how the lost service would impact inner city residents.

“I had a lot of time to pray and a lot of time to think,” she said of her decision to run. “I began to put my feet into the water, just testing the water a little, and things unfolded very nicely.”

When asked what she thought her chances would be on Election Day, Thurber said she was running to bring attention to the issues that are important to her.

“I don’t run necessarily in order to win the election,” she said.