Nelson Supervisors select Reed for chair, Ligon as vice chair

At the beginning of their first meeting of 2025, the Nelson County Board of Supervisors chose new leadership to preside over the next 12 months.

Central District Supervisor Ernie Reed was elected as the chair and South District Supervisor Jessica Ligon was voted in as vice chair. Reed was first elected in 2017 in a contested race and then again in 2021 when he won with 51 percent of the vote. He served as vice chair in 2020 and chair in 2021.

Ligon was elected in 2021 with 62.9 percent of the vote and has so far not been part of the leadership. She will serve as the Board’s representative to the Planning Commission.

Reed thanked J. David Parr for serving as chair for the previous year and then addressed the fact that North District Supervisor Tommy Harvey is frequently absent from meetings.

“The absence of Mr. Harvey is something that we all take very seriously and very sympathetically as well,” Reed said. “We know how much he would love to be able to be more active in what’s going on and we also know what he’s dealing with in trying to keep himself above water much less be able to actively serve out his term.”

Harvey has been a member of the Board of Supervisors since at least 2001 according to available records from the Virginia Department of Elections. He ran unopposed that year and again in 2005, 2009 and 2013 but faced opposition in 2017 and 2021.

While Reed did not give further details, Harvey missed a lot of meetings in 2024.

“I think I’ve kind of found that in his absence it’s really necessitated that we work a little bit more as a team being more tighter as a board then we would otherwise,” Reed added.

The North District seat is up for election this year as are the seats held by Reed and Parr.

Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the January 16, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first.