By Sydney Devory
Challenger Jesse Lineberry ousted the incumbent Tuesday to become the next mayor of Buena Vista.
The Virginia Department of Elections website showed that Lineberry received 1,101 votes and Cooper received 916. Just under half of registered voters in BV cast ballots in the election.
Stephanie Noel-Branch, Danny Staton and Amy S. Gilliam will serve on the Buena Vista City Council alongside Lineberry, starting Jan. 1.
Both mayoral candidates showed up outside the polls throughout the day. Lineberry was talking to voters and hugging them.
Incumbent Tyson Cooper ran unopposed in the last election in 2023. Lineberry’s term will last for two years.
Lineberry said his first action will be undoing the cigarette tax. He said it impacts low-income communities, and citizens should not be negatively impacted by poor budgeting.
He also said he wants transparency in city council meetings. He plans to livestream the sessions to allow citizens to watch from home and let people to talk for as long as they want in meetings.
He said he is going to develop a plan to prioritize the city’s schools, roads and wastewater treatment plants.
Lineberry works for Modine North American Heating and lives in Buena Vista with his wife and two daughters.
In the city council race, Stephanie Noel-Branch, Danny Staton and Amy S. Gilliam have been elected to fill three out of the seven seats.
The vote tally showed that Noel-Branch received 920 votes, Staton received 821, and Gilliam received 776.
The cutoff for the third seat came down to a difference of 35 votes.
Staton will serve his third term on council. He has also served as vice mayor when the mayor was not able to be at the meetings.
“I think Tyson Cooper has done a good job, but Lineberry has good ideas too,” he said.
Staton said his top two priorities are budgeting for the wastewater treatment plant and schools.
“We have to start preparing our upcoming budget for those two things and try to acquire available grant money,” he said. “I am thankful the citizens have voted me in for a third term and I will do them right.”
He also said he will continue to prioritize the revitalization of downtown in his next term.
Noel-Branch says fiscal transparency and education are her priorities stepping into council. She said one of the first things she will do is look into the budget to get clarification on where the city is spending money.
“I am relieved, I am tired, but I am excited. I can’t wait to get started working on things for my community,” Noel-Branch said.
She says she is excited to get to know the other members of the council, learn how things operate, and get down to work.
Gilliam also said the first thing she is going to try to get a feel for where the city’s money is going. She said she will fight for more transparency within the government.
“I am eager to start working for the citizens,” she said. “It is a bit overwhelming for me, just because my dad was so involved in the city council meetings, and he is now gone. I am just so emotional thinking about him being proud of me.”
Gilliam, Noel-Branch, and Lineberry have supported each other’s campaigns.
“I am so excited, and I am looking forward to see him [Lineberry] fulfill the vision he has for our city,” said Gilliam.
The newly elected members join Steve Webb, Michelle Poluikis and Ronald Cash on council.
Noel-Branch said she’s excited to work with the new mayor and council.
“I think as we all work together, everybody is going to see improvements and some much-needed changes in our city,” she said.