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Housing Among Top Priorities For Friedman
Although he wasn’t born here and spent the first several years of adulthood elsewhere, it seems Mayor Frank Friedman was destined to come home and play a leadership role in the governmental affairs of Lexington.
At Lexington High School in the early 1980s, he excelled in sports and served as president of the student government association. A personable and perpetually upbeat person, Friedman has always been well-regarded, exhibiting a desire from a young age to succeed in whatever endeavors he involved himself.
In the 27 years since he returned to Lexington to live, work and raise a family, Friedman has served on the city’s School Board, City Council and as mayor for 23 of those years.
Unopposed in his bid for a third, four-year term as mayor, Friedman said it’s been “an honor and a privilege to serve our community and the city of Lexington.”
As for accomplishments the city has enjoyed during his tenure, he said, “I am excited to be a small part of the efforts to bring high speed fiber and the Rockbridge Area Network Authority, to bring new infrastructure of water and sewer, to bring support to the owners who have made the significant capital improvements to our downtown’s buildings, to bring a renewed commitment to education with the new Waddell and the improved Lylburn Downing schools, and to be a part of the professional, productive City Council and city staff.”
Looking ahead, he said, “Education is the cornerstone and foundation of our community, our city. Education and responsible financial operations are the focus of my efforts for a positive and successful Lexington. Also, to continue to work with our neighbors for our shared success. On the immediate horizon is to complete the Department of Social Services building with Buena Vista and Rockbridge County, and the renovation of Lexington City Hall.”
Two issues facing the city, he continued, “that I feel are significant are housing and institutional creep. It remains important to work towards developing more diverse housing by partnering with a developer to support our workforce needs. Also, it is critical to have open, thoughtful discussions with our local ‘factories’ – Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute – to ensure their future success while we maintain the integrity of Lexington.”
Friedman was born in Blacksburg, but moved to Lexington before entering the second grade in 1973. He graduated from LHS in 1984 and from Hampden-Sydney College, where he served as student government secretary- treasurer, in 1988. He is a graduate of the Darden Banking School at the University of Virginia and has been working in financial services for 36 years – five in Jacksonville, Fla., four in Richmond and 27 in Lexington. Since 2011, he has been a financial adviser with CornerStone Bank, working with individuals and small businesses.
He has served on the boards of Carilion Rockbridge Community Foundation, Kendal at Lexington, Virginia March of Dimes, Rockbridge United Way, Augusta Community Health Foundation, Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission and Blue Ridge Resource Authority.
He and his wife, Melissa Moran Friedman, have six children between them, ages 16 to 33.
FRIEDMAN
