Page back on city council
Jack Page’s absence from Lexington City Council lasted for only one meeting.
Page was appointed to the council Jan. 15 to fill the seat left vacant by Mimi Elrod’s election in November as mayor.
The five other members of the Council voted 4-1 to allow Page to finish out the two years that remain on Elrod’s seat.
On the same day – Nov. 4 – that Elrod was elected mayor, Page and fellow incumbent Ron Smith were unseated by newcomers Bob Lera, David Cox, and Marylin Alexander. A third incumbent chose not to run for re-election.
On Jan. 15, the three new council members voted along with Frank Friedman and Jim Gianniny to give Elrod’s empty council seat to Page.
“I would hope that there was some desire for continuity,” Page said of his appointment.
Page did not campaign for the empty council seat, but promised he would serve if he were elected. Smith and Mary Harvey, who lost to Elrod in the mayoral election, were also considered top contenders for the position.
In November, Page finished fourth of the five candidates running for City Council, with 14 percent of the vote.
Lera provided the lone objection to Page’s selection at the Jan. 15 council meeting, passionately endorsing Mary Harvey for the empty seat. Harvey is a member of the City Planning Commission.
First-term Council Member David Cox thought Page’s experience would provide a welcome addition to a council with three new members and a new mayor.
Page has been a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Military Institute for 29 years. He was first elected to City Council in 2004.
“I’m excited that he’s willing to subject himself to the toil that is City Council,” Friedman said. He sees Page’s skills with construction and engineering as a valuable addition to the six-member council.
“As an engineer, he doesn’t take things personally,” Friedman said.
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