Marshall makes it official with Ward III council bid

Alicia Petska / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 21, 2008

Education, workforce investment and smart growth will be the priorities of Ward III City Council candidate Nat Marshall, he announced Thursday.

Marshall, a human resources director for the Babcock & Wilcox Company, formally announced his run for office from the campus of Central Virginia Community College. He previously served on the CVCC board and is now a member of the State Board of Community Colleges. He also serves on the regional Workforce Investment Board, which runs the Lynchburg career center and leads mentorship programs for students.

Marshall, 46, previously made an unsuccessful bid for City Council in the at-large

elections of 2006. This year, he's challenging one-term Ward III incumbent Jeff Helgeson, a

fiscal conservative who's prided himself on his advocacy for homeowners when it comes to development issues.

"This is an exciting time to be in Lynchburg as we witness the awakening of a brand new day," Marshall said Thursday. "Instead of the fear of change that has gripped us for so many years, we now appear ready to embrace the wonderful new opportunities that change can bring - nationally, regionally and right here in Lynchburg."

Change, he added, requires that the city be "proactive and not reactive" in meeting its challenges. He specifically called for a strong commitment to city schools, more community partnerships aimed at expanding the work force and improving job opportunities, and careful consideration of development issues.

Ward III includes the development-heavy Wards Road area and the large-scale Cornerstone project.

Earlier this month, Helgeson, 42, led an argument on City Council against allowing Cornerstone to add more single-family homes to its layout. Developers originally sought permission to add up to 50 more homes. Council, acting on Helgeson's proposal, approved two.

Helgeson, a self-employed financial planner, has listed his platform issues as keeping taxes in check, fighting against new development that would detract from existing neighborhoods, and promoting public safety and schools.

He secured the Republican Party nomination for office earlier this month. Marshall is running as an independent.

Marshall, who agreed with the Cornerstone decision, said a long-term vision should be applied to all development decisions to avoid issues like those facing Wards Road, which he called "ugly" and congested.

"We've got to be smart as we build," he said. "We've got to understand what the ramifications of saying yes are before we say yes. … It goes to just doing the right thing."

Ward III is one of two contested City Council races so far this year. In Ward IV, engineer Turner Perrow and retired teacher Marie Waller are both making bids for office. The incumbent in that district, Joe Seiffert, is

retiring.

In Wards I and II, only the incumbents have confirmed their intentions to run.