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FARMVILLE – The most important thing that Brian Vincent wanted to do was hear from Farmville residents. And so, after declaring his candidacy earlier this year for the town’s mayoral seat, Vincent went to work. The current Ward B representative on the Farmville Town Council went door to door throughout town, asking people what they wanted from local officials. 

“The goal was to knock on every door in town,” Vincent said. “I walked miles across this town on foot. Regardless of anything, that gives you a real sense of the community.” 

That community spoke clearly on Tuesday night, electing him to be Farmville’s next mayor with 55% of the vote. Challenger Carl Eggleston finished with 44.38% and five votes were cast for a write-in.  

Vincent, a High Street resident who lives with his wife Harriet and two young daughters, also thanked the Prince Edward Registrar’s Office and all of the poll workers who took part in this year’s election. 

“They are the heroes of this great democracy experiment,” Vincent said, adding their work is greatly appreciated. 

He also appreciated the experience of those door-to-door visits, Vincent said, as he got a chance to hear firsthand what’s important to Farmville residents. He added that it was great to see we’re all not so different.

“What I took away was that across demographics, across income, across every line you could think of, there are some core things, core principles that we all care about,” Vincent said. “Being able to hear that from folks and understand what people care about, those are the things that I focus on. I had front porch conversation with so many people about the town’s future. You understand what people’s concerns are and try to come up with ways to address them.”  

Brian Vincent looks at what’s next 

Addressing challenges and concerns is nothing new for Vincent, who’s served on the Farmville Town Council since 2018. In addition, he runs Appomattox River Company on Farmville’s Main Street with his father-in-law and has served as a Region 2 board member for the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources since 2017. 

When asked about his focus after taking office this coming January, Brian Vincent pointed out that first he still has two months left to serve as a council member. Once that term is up, and he turns over the Ward B seat to newly elected council member Adam Yoelin, Vincent said he’d like to take time to build a collective vision for the town’s future. 

“I’d like to have a retreat where we can maybe bring in a mediator and maybe take a look at Farmville’s future,” Vincent said. “We can start to shape a collective vision for where we all want to go. I’m under no illusion that I get to come in and say this is where I want to go. That’s not my style. I believe that none of us are as smart as all of us together.” 

Vincent said he wants council members to have time where they can all better understand each other’s objectives and figure out how to make them work. 

“I don’t want to come out first and say this is what I want to do, because you don’t get anything done that way,” Vincent said. “Too much of national and state politics involves people saying ‘I want to do this’ or ‘I want to do that’, saying whatever they can to make headlines. To move forward, we need to all work together.”

 

To read more of the new mayor’s platform, you can click here to see The Herald’s campaign Q & A.