Moments after being chosen as the new mayor of Lynchburg, Larry Taylor said he had nothing but love for the rest of his fellow council members, but those feelings may not be reciprocated — even in his own party.
Taylor, an at-large member of the Lynchburg City Council currently midway through his four-year term, was seated Friday as the city’s mayor after winning a 4-3 vote over his predecessor and fellow Republican Stephanie Reed.
Taylor, who voted for himself, was also supported by new Ward 1 representative Jacqueline Timmer and Ward 3’s newly elected member, Curt Diemer. At-large member Marty Misjuns also voted for Taylor.
Reed also voted for herself and was supported by Democrat Sterling Wilder and her vice mayor, Chris Faraldi.
Following that vote, Diemer was elected as vice mayor over Faraldi, with the support of the same members who voted for Taylor.
The change in council leadership was the latest instance of division on the council.
Over the past two years, the council has been embroiled in well-publicized battles between two Republican factions that led to Misjuns being censured twice and now-former council member Jeff Helgeson being censured once.
After being recognized as mayor, Taylor turned to Reed, who was sitting next to him, and said he still wanted to work with her despite deciding to challenge her incumbency.
“I believe it will be good,” Taylor said after adjourning the meeting. “As I said, I love Stephanie, she’s my sister and change is good sometimes.”
Taylor appeared to be the frontrunner when a document surfaced that Timmer, Misjuns and Diemer all signed in early December pledging they would only support a mayoral candidate who could garner a majority of Republican votes. Reed and Faraldi were elected to their leadership positions in 2023 with the support of Wilder and independent at-large member MaryJane Dolan, who chose not to run for reelection in 2024.
Neither Reed’s nor Faraldi’s signatures were on the document.
Wilder spoke first after the mayoral nominations were closed. He said he respected Taylor’s contributions to the council but would support Reed in the vote. He called her a voice for the entire community who knew when it was time to put politics aside and do what was best for the community.
Faraldi added that “no mayor has been as active as her,” and he listed what he thought were the most significant accomplishments the council had made in the past two years under her leadership, including lowering taxes, filling the many vacancies in the city’s agencies, preventing the closing of two elementary schools and making efforts to lower the city’s crime rate.
“Stephanie has my support as long as she wants it,” he said.
Reed, who appeared resigned to the results of the upcoming vote, offered a sort of farewell address during the pre-vote comments.
“I just want to thank the citizens of Lynchburg for the last two years,” she said. “It’s been my honor to be your mayor. It’s been a hard journey, but I put my heart and soul into this job, and I loved serving all the families and children.
“It really has been a pleasure, no matter what happens over the next few minutes.”
Taylor did not speak prior to the vote but said after adjournment that he had been considering running for council leadership as early as last summer.
“The seed was planted then,” he said. “[People started telling me] ‘Larry, you’re going to be mayor.’ I had a lot of time to think about it and pray about it.”
He said it turned out to be a good thing that the subject was brought up so early.
“When I was first elected to the council, I realized I was going into the lion’s den. So I had to get used to the lion’s den. I found that the lions won’t eat you up as long as you stay faithful. So my job is to stay faithful and lead the citizens of Lynchburg to a good place. I want to put a stop to all the divisions, make sure our public safety and all is in place and that we take care of our citizens.”
When it was time to pick a vice mayor, Reed put Faraldi’s name up, saying he is an expert in how a council should operate, and the fact that he had earned reelection proved he has the support of the community.
Timmer nominated Diemer, saying he is a great listener, is dedicated to the betterment of the city and that he is his own man and would do what he believes would be best for the city’s constituents.
“I really believe in his ability to weigh the various options, deliberate those and to own his own decisions,” she said.
Diemer’s nomination was supported by Taylor and Misjuns, who both called Diemer thoughtful, conservative and a man of faith.
Faraldi was brief and less gracious about the situation.
“Mark my words: This is a council of four, not seven.”
Faraldi later expanded on his comments, saying that he first discovered that Taylor was going to be nominated for mayor when the pledge was reported on in the media.
He said the last conversation he had with Taylor was several days after the election, when Faraldi offered to step aside as vice mayor and support Taylor for that position in exchange for Taylor supporting Reed’s reelection.
“He indicated he was favorable to that and that he would do it,” Faraldi said. “I had never heard from him since.
“Considering the stories that were circulated about this pledge that was nefariously circulated ahead of time, this was baked and cooked well in advance with four members of council who are in my own party and intentionally did not solicit my vote. To me, that’s a terrible start.”
Neither Timmer nor Reed stayed around to speak to the media, but Misjuns offered some thoughts about the council’s next two years.
He said he will encourage the council to avoid raising taxes and have a frank discussion about finding a solution to what he believes is a rising crime rate in the community. He also believes the biggest hurdle to clear will be addressing the many issues facing Lynchburg City Schools.
“We’ve got some challenges we need to tackle with our school system, and I think we need to have an honest conversation with our school board about the way we’re going to move [forward] and accomplish some things instead of just delaying and deferring,” he said.
Diemer said both before and after the election, he had been approached by a number of people about running for either mayor or vice mayor if he was elected, but he chose to remain neutral about that until the actual council vote drew nearer.
“My position was that I was not going to seek any of the positions, but I would be available if my colleagues called on me to serve,” he said. “I said that all the way until yesterday, I guess, and then I got that call yesterday.”
Diemer said he had signed the pledge to encourage unity among the Republican members of the council, which he believed would best benefit the city.
“I observed what everybody did with the last couple of years, and my heart was truly to see unity — not just within our party, but with the entire council,” Diemer said. “I think that’s the responsibility of leadership.”
He added that while there may still be some division on the council, he is confident that a council with a dominant Republican majority will be able to govern in that manner.
“There is a good, strong chance that we will have a ruling conservative majority for the first time in Lynchburg history,” he said. “I think that’s incredibly important for doing good things for the city. Those are the types of policies that let people keep more of their paycheck and that make sure our city is safe and our streets are crime-free. Good policy is what I’m about, and I look forward to working with every single colleague to carry this out.”
Taylor, who owns a construction company, believes that while there are many challenges facing Lynchburg, it will take the efforts of all of the residents to achieve prosperity.
“We want to focus on the citizens of Lynchburg and take care of them,” Taylor said. “And I remember back when I was a little boy, John F. Kennedy made a speech: ‘Ask not what America can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’
“And I’m asking the citizens of Lynchburg: Ask not what Lynchburg can do for you, but what you can do for Lynchburg. That makes it a better place.”