The candidates for Rockbridge political offices shared their platforms and answered questions from the audience at the candidate forum on Tuesday, October 25 at the Hampton Inn.

The two candidates running for mayor, Chuck Smith and Frank Friedman, outlined their platforms on expanding the Lexington economy to make it more competitive in the Shenandoah Valley, while maximizing and diversifying the amount of job opportunities in the community.

“It’s a really tough question, because when you think about economic development and job opportunities within Lexington, we’re somewhat landlocked and we have a limited amount of opportunity for growth and expansion within the city,” Friedman said.

Friedman urged an expansion of the Rockbridge Area Network Authority—a broadband internet network whose radius only reaches Lexington city limits.

“It has been a huge regional success, in my mind, but it’s still grossly underutilized,” said Friedman. “Despite being regional in scope, RANA is currently only available in the city of Lexington, primarily due to cost of connection in the city. However, competition with other providers will bring more affordable services to all three municipalities over time. The internet speed provided by RANA allows for a variety of businesses to operate more efficiently in our area. This offering is unique. Places like Roanoke, Augusta County, and others are exploring the idea of implementing broadband—they don’t have it yet and we do.”

Smith, owner of the Washington Street Purveyors, praised the local community for its business, education, and opportunity.

“We have a fantastic downtown with the systems from our Main Street Lexington program, our chamber of commerce. Our local schools are fantastic. We have one of the best school districts in the state, and that in itself is a draw for families and employers and the homebuyers that come with it,” Smith said. “Three things I have been trying to focus on through this process are economic development, education, and our environment. Downtown is booming, but we have plenty of opportunity for the next step. We have plenty of second floor vacancies that can be utilized through our broadband network. Our entrance quarters, through minimal investment, can be dressed up to be more welcoming to our visitors.”

Both candidates stated they want to take advantage of tourism and the area’s safety to fuel economic growth.

“This area has one of the best quality of life levels in the state. Tourism, the safety of our city, these are all great attributes we can use to promote and encourage employment and produce job growth,” said Smith.

Friedman agreed, emphasizing Lexington as a historical and cultural resource for economic growth.

“One of the things that’s neat about Lexington is that it has a rich history and culture. It’s important to me that Lexington remains authentic,” said Friedman.

Many Wildcats attended the candidate forum in hopes of learning about the state of local politics. Senior Kirk Arnold claimed that both candidates’ platforms are similar.

“Both performed well. Chuck was a tad redundant. Neither did a lot to distinguish themselves,” said Arnold. “Frank brought up our broadband internet infrastructure, which I liked.”

Friedman’s point on RANA and the expansion of broadband internet for the county resonated with multiple Wildcats in the audience.

“Attempting to make internet more available in rural areas of the community without disrupting the city’s beauty sounded liked something many would appreciate,” said senior Adam Bates.

“Personally, I believe Frank ‘the Tank’ did better. He was a lot more articulate and well-spoken along with giving strong answers,” said Bates. “A good amount of the platforms were similar, but Frank came out looking and sounding more mayoral.”