City Council sees late contender for Ward II

Alicia Petska / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: March 4, 2008

A last-minute entry to the Lynchburg City Council election has left all four of the city's wards locked in contested races.

On Tuesday, just hours before the deadline elapsed, newcomer David Johnston filed his paperwork to get on the ballot in Ward II, which had no challenger up until then.

Johnston, 44, will run against incumbent Ceasor Johnson, a Baptist pastor finishing up his first term in office. Both candidates will run as independents.

Johnston, a Liberty University graduate with a degree in finance, currently works as a server/manager at Charley's Restaurant on Graves Mill Road. If elected to City Council, he said he'd seek to promote downtown development, renovate the city's aging infrastructure and support public safety and education. He also called for a more business-minded view of city management.

"I'd like to see the city approach issues overall with more fiscal responsibility; saving money as much as possible and, hopefully, lowering taxes," Johnston said. "I know there's a lot to spend money on, but you have to prioritize some things and put others on hold. You kind of have to run a city as a business, in my opinion."

Johnston was previously in the news during the holiday season of 2003, when the city condemned his Park Avenue home. He and two people he'd been renting rooms to began living in a tent on the front lawn.

Johnston was allowed to move back into the house by New Year's Eve, but was not allowed to continue taking renters, an agreement he said continues to this day. At the time, he was cited for violations that included having exposed wiring and no heating system. He says he's since made "considerable progress," but has still not fully satisfied city building inspectors.

Those run-ins did not play a part in his decision to run for City Council, he said.

"If, for no other reason, I'm running because I think the voters deserve a choice," he said, noting he's followed both local and national politics for years and made up his mind to run when it appeared no one would challenge Councilman Johnson. "I don't like it when people get into office unopposed."

Johnston said he did hear stories of similar troubles from other homeowners in Ward II while collecting signatures to get on the ballot. Still, he said revising building ordinances was not one of his goals in his pursuit for public office.

"It's not my agenda to seek revenge by getting on City Council," he said.

Ceasor Johnson, 42, said Tuesday he would continue to run the best campaign he could. He cited among his priorities a commitment to both schools - including strong teacher compensation and smaller class sizes - and public safety.

On the latter subject, he specifically referenced past efforts to improve the pay of Lynchburg's police officers and firefighters, noting the city will have to keep working to maintain competitive salaries for those two departments.

"I'd like to keep those issues at the forefront," Johnson said. "We can never pay them what they're worth, but we've got to keep things as competitive for them as we can."

Johnson said he tried to serve the people of Ward II over the last four years and to fight for their interests. Located on the east side of Lynchburg, Ward II encompasses downtown and the inner city.

All wards face contested races

• In Ward I, which includes the Rivermont and Boonsboro areas, incumbent Mike Gillette is being challenged by retired car dealership owner Jim Martin and environmental science professor Tom Shahady.
• Voters of Ward III, which includes Wards Road and Fort Avenue, will choose between incumbent Jeff Helgeson and challenger Nat Marshall, the human resources director for the Babcock & Wilcox Company. Helgeson runs as a Republican. All other candidates this year will run as independents.
• In Ward IV, which spans the Sandusky and Wyndhurst neighborhoods, two newcomers are vying for the City Council seat. Self-employed engineer Turner Perrow and retired educator Marie Waller have both filed for the race. Incumbent Joe Seiffert announced last month he plans to retire when his term expires at the end of June.
• All candidates had been certified by the city registrar's office by the time the deadline elapsed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. As a result, all will be on their respective ballots in the May 6 election.