LaNita Herlem, 56, is taking her first foray into politics after years of volunteer work with military widows. She is interested in more community policing, revitalizing uptown, and has a keen interest in utilities.
Herlem’s life was heavily altered by the death of her husband. She was a veteran for around two years before getting discharged due to an injury. Afterward, she traveled with her husband, who was also in the armed forces. The pair moved from place to place until tragic news came in 2006 that her husband was killed while on patrol.
“It was such a huge part of my life,” she said. This tragedy pushed Herlem to work to help other military widows through the American Widow Project. “I even started a Facebook page where other Gold Star widows helped each other.”
She also used the GI Bill to go to school to pursue a master’s degree in history, living in Charlotte, N.C., with her nieces before moving back to Martinsville. “I couldn’t justify the cost of staying down there, so I came back here. When I moved back, I decided I wanted to get involved.”
She got involved with both the American Legion and Amvets when she returned before being approached by council member Tammy Pearson to run for council.
“Basically, my platform consists of appropriations, communications, and relations,” Herlem said. She believes that money from the budget should go towards the “health and safety of the people in the area,” and that the city “should have a better line of communication with city residents about” the services offered, and she also wants to see more police interactions with the public to increase morale and understanding.
“I’ve also been looking into the electric grid, and we have some transformers that are 50 years or older, and they are reaching the time where they need to be changed out,” Herlem said, and she also has an interest in trying to help with the housing crisis.
“There is 20 percent of Martinsville’s population that are on the edge,” she said, and Herlem wants to look into “how to help them.”
She wants to see the city government “be open on all levels” when communicating, and feels like she learns about city events and awards after the fact. She also wants to look into better ways to “communicate with citizens about utility services and upcoming events.”
She does not support reversion. “They spent a lot of money trying to take the voice away from the community, from what I have read about the reversion, I am not for it.” She said it was like “giving up” and she thinks that Martinsville is growing.
She wants to see Uptown Martinsville grow and has high hopes that new businesses will come to the area.
“I grew up here in the 90s, so I remember Globman’s,” she said, noting that she also remembers the economic crash.
Since the area survived, thrived and now seems to have turned a corner, “I love how it’s going. I want to see something similar to Globman’s” to locate Uptown, she said.
“My mom and dad worked in a factory, so going to Globman’s was a special thing,” she said, adding that she loves that Fayette St. is having new life breathed into it, and really wants to see the Patrick Henry Mall area of the city revitalized.
“I feel like that part of the city has been left out,” Herlem said.
Overall, “I felt since I started this that I’ve felt better about myself in a long time, I think I’ve found a niche that I’m comfortable with,” she said.
