Photo by Matt de Simone
By Matt de Simone
The Town of Buchanan residents made history during the November 5 elections making their choice for Sue Way as the town’s next mayor. The former educator received 62% of the vote with Marine veteran and former Town Council member Chris Witt receiving 36%. Way will become the first-ever female mayor of Buchanan.
That isn’t all in terms of Buchanan’s historic Election Day. Edith “Sissy” Austin (27%) and James Manspile (27%) were voted onto Town Council after receiving half the votes over candidates Brenda Noszek (19%), Daniel Bratcher (18%), and Brent Witt (7%). This is a re-election for Manspile, while Austin will serve on council for the first time.
Why is this historic? Now, the town has a female majority of leadership with Way and Austin joining current council member Rose Jeter and Buchanan Town Manager Angela Lawrence, along with returning councilmen Marty Rickman and Manspile. Way’s and Austin’s professional experience and familiarity with Buchanan, along with Jeter and Lawrence’s collective leadership experience, have the town’s future looking bright.
Jeter joined Buchanan Town Council in 2023. Lawrence has been town manager for a couple of months and is already doing well for the town. Over the last year, Jeter had worked with the previous town manager on the town’s Recreation Economy for Rural Communities (RERC) action plan, which she shared was one of the main reasons she ran for council.
Way, Austin, and Jeter all recently sat down to discuss this historic Election Day, what it means for them, and for the future of Buchanan. They shared their excitement about the historic result of the town elections and what it means to a part of that history.
“I’m still in shock,” Way said. “My great-grandmother was a very strong-willed, independent woman. She always believed that women should be able to do what they want to do and live the life. She would be so proud of me… I’m excited about it… It’s a huge responsibility but I’m okay with that.
“One thing I would like to see is a unified community and a unified leadership,” Way said. “That doesn’t mean that everybody agrees on everything. My grandfather used to say all the time, ‘If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.’ We need different voices to speak up but, when it all comes down to it, we need to all come to an agreement and we need to work together… People in town are very loving and caring people. We (as leaders) need to ensure that we communicate what is going on. Being a former teacher, I like going out and talking to people and meeting people. I’m looking forward to letting everybody feel like they have a voice.”
Austin, like Way, understands that town leadership doesn’t always agree with everything, but is hopeful and confident in the town’s future.
“At the end of the day, I think we’ll (work well on council),” Austin added. “You got to listen to your people out there. Listen, and if you don’t know (about an issue), talk about it with council and the town manager, and then go back out there and give them the answer. You need to listen to your people.”
Austin’s lived in Buchanan for over 60 years. The main thing she wants to see for Buchanan is the return of business-types that once called the town home.
“I want to see a pharmacy, or a laundry mat, or a grocery store (return to town),” Austin explained as she spoke of the former businesses, small and large, that used to call Buchanan home.
Jeter understands that keeping small businesses afloat in small towns is difficult, but not impossible to maintain. She mentioned of some of Buchanan’s local mobile services that help the community in similar ways to the businesses not currently housed in town like the LEAP Mobile Marketplace and the Country Crate that offers residents fresh fruits and vegetables.
“It’s hard for small businesses to compete with (a larger company’s) buying power,” Jeter added. “It comes down to economics. Are our residents going to want to pay more at a small grocery store than they would if they just drove a few more miles (outside of town)?
“Buchanan Elementary is one of two elementary schools in the county that offer free lunch and breakfast. I think when we talk about businesses that residents can support as a majority, that becomes challenging.”
Jeter referred to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) which is a program offering non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. According to the USDA, CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs.
The ladies also understand, as the town works to bring in new businesses, there needs to be somewhere for people to live while they work in town. All are hopeful that, while they move forward to better improve the town, those improvements will attract new business to Buchanan. One example is the Factory Flats apartment complex which opened this year and was filled with residents immediately.
Being a part of a town’s leadership is no easy task. Buchanan’s newly elected mayor and Town Council member join Jeter, an Agriculture Technology instructor for Virginia Tech teaching communication and leadership skills, with a unified understanding of their jobs as a council members and appreciate the residents who support council.
“It’s challenging at times to serve in government,” Jeter said. “I think that it’s hard for me, as a working mom, to give up time for my kids. I appreciate the residents who recognize that it is a sacrifice and that we’re just trying to serve to better our community. The residents that say ‘thank you’ and engage in thoughtful and productive conversations, I am so thankful for. I appreciate that the most.”
Jeter shared her excitement about the addition of female leadership in the election of Way and Austin with a quote from former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “We need to move beyond the idea that girls can be leaders and create the expectation that they should be leaders,” she read, adding that “I wasn’t surprised when I read the election results (for Buchanan). Leadership studies from MIT and Harvard will show that successful teams in business—that I’m going to assume apply to local government—when they are more diverse, and that includes gender-diversity…makes (business/government) more successful. It is exciting for the town that there’s more diversity to make sure that everybody’s represented.”
