Former School Administrator Tom Webb is back on the Lynchburg City School Board

After a year of rest away from the Lynchburg City School Board, former Vice Chairman and long time Campbell County Schools Administrator Tom Webb was reappointed to the Board with a 6-1 vote from the Lynchburg City Council. Councilman Jeff Helgeson was the only one to vote no on his appointment. Many Lynchburg residents remember when Tom Webb the sitting Vice Chairman was bypassed for reappointment in favor of Liberty University Professor Darren Gerdes a year ago. This vote was contreversial because Councilman Mike Gillete and Ceasar Johnson were absent for personal reason's and the fearsome threesome of Dr. Garrett, Jeff Helgeson, and former Councilman Joe Seiffert proceeded with the vote. Some considered this politically motivated because the threesome knew that without Gillette and Johnson there guy Gerdes stood more of a chance. Usually there is a 4-3 divide on City Council and Gillete and Johnson tend to vote with the majority.



The public out cry over Gerdes appointment over Webb sparked the City Council to reconsider how they approach the School Board appointment process. Now City Council makes the School Board interviews available to the public by airing them over the City's public access network and selling the DVD's for a small fee. A majority of Council feels that now the public can see why they make the appointments that they do.



But now Webb finds himself back on the School Board where he belongs and the citizens of Lynchburg may rest easy because the School system has gotten one of its biggest advocates and supporters back on board. Also the School Board voted to reappoint Webb as Vice Chairman and Julie Doyle as Chairman. To me this vote shows that many of Webbs collegues on the School Board feel that he should have never lost his position in the first place. I'm sure Jeff Helgeson is not happy about this appointment because in 1yr Chairman Julie Doyle's term will expire and she will not be eligable for reappointment and Tom Webb will be one of the top candidates to replace her as Chairman of the School Board. In the end I do feel that this is a complete win win for the citizens of Lynchburg. Because on one hand you now have the fiscally responsible and business savy Darren Gerdes on the Board and the experienced former Administrator Tom Webb on the Board as well and the school system will definatley benifit from that.