First woman mayor, longest serving councilmember finish terms in Waynesboro

WAYNESBORO – It was the final meeting for two members of Waynesboro City Council Monday night.

Several new councilmembers were elected last November. Mayor Lana Williams and Councilmember Bruce Allen were not among them, both deciding it was time for them to retire from the board.

Monday evening, the council honored them with resolutions celebrating their work and the legacy of their term in office.

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Bruce Allen named long serving councilmember in Waynesboro

First, Williams celebrated Allen’s departure from the board.

“Four and a half years ago I had a visit from Mr. Allen, and he wanted to encourage me to run for the Ward A seat for Waynesboro City Council,” said Williams. “I had to do some soul searching and a whole lot of praying because I already knew what I had in store for me with my husband’s having just served 12 years before that. With encouragement from my family, I decided to run but I had one condition, and that was that Mr. Allen who had not planned on seeking re-election that year would run one more time. So here we are. Tonight, it is my great privilege to recognize Mr. Bruce Allen for his service to Waynesboro.”

As she began to read the proclamation, she choked up for a moment.

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“I was hoping to do this at the end of the meeting because I knew this would happen,” Williams said.

The proclamation highlights Allen’s 16-year council career, including time as vice mayor and mayor, and his 27-year law enforcement career. It celebrates his voting for an equalized tax rate, business development, greenway development, and the Virginia Museum of Natural History.

Allen himself thanked the city’s staff and departments for helping him learn how much he didn’t know when he came on the board 16 years ago. He leaves, he said, knowing the city is in good hands.

“I know I’m known as the longest winded speaker of city council, but for the first couple years I had the nickname rabbit because I just kind of sat here and didn’t say anything,” said Allen. “Today I figured up I’ve served with 15 or 16 different council people over my time on City Council. One of the things I’m most proud of, a lot of times you watch the news in other jurisdictions. It seems like they have a lot of turmoil between the Board of Supervisors or the city council members or the staff and everything like that. My time here, working with everybody that’s been on council, we’ve managed to not have that problem. We’ve worked well together. We’ve tried to keep it very professional. We haven’t always agreed on all the matters but when we came in here, we united and we did what we thought was best for the city. That’s been a true blessing.”

Vice Mayor Jim Wood thanked Allen for always answering his messages and said that he would continue to reach out to Allen to draw on his expertise. Councilmember Kenny Lee said he would miss working with him and appreciated “everything you did for me as the new guy on the council.”

“This is your last meeting,” said Lee. “I want to say thank you to you as well, for your support, for your confidence in me from day one. I’ll never forget that.”

Recently re-elected Councilmember Terry Short said he was “grateful to call him a friend” and thanked him for his work.

Williams said Allen was retiring as the longest serving councilmember in Waynesboro’s history by about six months. Allen said he suspected former councilmember Jack Higgs might have him beat, but Williams replied Allen served for about six months longer than Higgs.

Lana Williams, Waynesboro’s first female mayor, says goodbye

Allen is not the only departing member of council. Williams announced she would not run for re-election earlier this year.

“It’s a historic tenure that has been served by our first lady mayor and first lady vice mayor,” said Woods right before introducing a resolution honoring Williams. “We definitely wanted to make sure we recognized her as well.”

The resolution celebrated her work educating school students on the workings of local government, with the RISE program, and on the city’s partnerships with the Waynesboro School Board and Waynesboro Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

“I would be remiss too if I didn’t just add a few words for our service together and how grateful I am to have really gotten to know you,” Short said. “I call you friend, a sourdough bread baker, a peach tree lover and, we forgot to add on there, gingerbread house maker over at the preschool. We did that last year too. Thank you for everything that you’ve done and for your service to the community.”

Williams took office as retired councilmember, and her husband, Tim Williams departed in 2020. She first served as vice mayor, then became the first woman mayor of Waynesboro in 2023.

“I’d like to thank my fellow colleagues for their unwavering support during my tenure,” said Williams. “Not just this council but the previous council as well. I’d also like to express my gratitude to our staff members and our city manager, Mike Hamp. You’ve been an invaluable source of information for me. Also, I could not have done anything without the assistance of Ms. [Julia] Bortle, she’s been wonderful, and Waynesboro is lucky to have such a wonderful team.”

Referring to both Williams and Allen, Lee said “I’ve got both of you on speed dial.”

Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to [email protected]. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: First woman mayor, longest serving councilmember end terms Waynesboro