LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR) – Lynchburg city council is set after the seven members met Friday morning and elected their new mayor and vice mayor in Republicans Larry Taylor and Curt Diemer.
Unity is the prevailing message moving forward from both Taylor and Diemer after the pair each secured narrow 4-3 victories.
Taylor prevailed after being nominated alongside the incumbent Stephanie Reed, who had served in the role for the last two years.
“I just thank the Lord for this opportunity to serve Lynchburg and pray to God that I’ll be able to do it well,” said Taylor.
“I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank the citizens of Lynchburg for the last two years,” said Reed. “It’s been my honor to be the mayor.”
Diemer defeated incumbent vice mayor Chris Faraldi.
Reed and Faraldi will each retain their seats on the council.
The voting pattern held for both races with Taylor, Diemer, Marty Misjuns, and Jacqueline Timmer voting for Taylor and Diemer, while Reed, Faraldi and Sterling Wilder voted for Reed and Faraldi.
During the discussion period ahead of the vice mayor election, Faraldi noticed the trend.
“Mark my words,” he said. “This is a council of four, not seven.”
Diemer does not see it the same way.
“Clearly this is a council of seven,” he said when asked about Faraldi’s comments. “It has been for hundreds of years and will remain so.”
Faraldi was not the only one to voice some displeasure with the election during the discussion period.
“I know Mr. Deimer a little bit,” said Wilder, the lone Democrat on council. “He’s attacked me on Facebook several times so that’s the only way I know him is from all the attacks I’ve received.”
Despite the pushback, Deimer and Taylor have both marked unity as priority number one entering the new year and their new roles.
“I would love to see our council unified as seven,” said Deimer. “I’d love to work with Sterling. I hope we have robust debate and I hope he doesn’t expect me to stop that.”
“I want my first meeting to be one of agreement,” said Taylor. “If we can sit down and agree to stuff without any argument.”
Beyond that, the pair emphasized policy stances on lowering taxes and crime rates in the city.
The first meeting of 2025 will take place on Tuesday, January 14.