Harrison Cluff elected mayor of Orange
Multiple nominations reveal tensions on town council
The new mayor of the Town of Orange is Harrison Cluff, elected Tuesday night (January 21) during Orange Town Council’s first meeting of the year. An Orange County native, Cluff is serving his first term on council.
Council’s selection of Cluff is something of a surprise and came after two failed motions. In the first, new council member Delmer Seal nominated Donna Waugh-Robinson for mayor. Waugh-Robinson has been on council for six and a half years and is currently the longest-serving member. Since no one else would second Seal’s motion, Waugh-Robinson did so herself. Jason Cashell and Jeremiah Pent voted against her. Cluff initially abstained. After Town Manager Greg Woods told him he had to vote, council turned to Town Attorney Catherine Lea for her opinion. She advised Cluff that if he abstained he could not participate in the choice of mayor. He then voted against Waugh-Robinson, so the motion failed.
Next, Waugh-Robinson nominated Seal for mayor, and Seal seconded. Cashell and Pent voted against him. Cluff again tried to abstain, but Woods told him to vote. With Cluff voting against Seal, that motion also failed.
Seeing the potential for a long night, Woods admonished council members for their inability to come together and reminded them that they had to choose a mayor.
Then, Cashell nominated Cluff and Pent seconded. Waugh-Robinson and Seal voted against him, but with Cluff voting for himself, the motion passed and he was elected, 3-2. Seal won the office of vice mayor with a unanimous vote, after Pent’s nomination and Waugh-Robinson’s second.
Cluff, 59, graduated from Orange County High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from James Madison University. He worked for many years in broadcast journalism, including stints as a news photographer in Charlottesville and Richmond. For 16 years, he was a videographer/producer for the University of Virginia’s athletics department. President and co-owner of C&G Car Wash in Orange, he is a longtime member of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department. He and his wife, Mayira, have three children.
For Cluff’s Q&A with Byrd Street before the November election, click here.
Public comment focuses on Cashell and Pent
In the weeks leading up to council’s selection, there was concern among some in the community that either Cashell or Pent might be chosen as mayor. Though mostly an honorary position, the title of mayor carries prestige and extra name recognition, and the council member elected to it has some leeway in shaping the role. Because Cashell and Pent, who ran for office as a politically conservative team, have family businesses at estates outside the town limits, there has been reason to wonder whether they meet the Virginia Code’s residency requirement for elected town officials. Skeptics have questioned their residency status ever since they launched their campaigns in 2022. Both say they live on Main Street in Orange.
Council members seemed to anticipate that some local citizens would want to air their views before the election of mayor. When the meeting began, Waugh-Robinson moved that public comment take place before the election, which was the first item on the agenda. The motion passed, although Pent abstained and Cashell voted against it.
Orange resident Sara Shotwell Jaeger, a frequent speaker at local government meetings, blasted Pent and Cashell, whom she charged with not being town residents. She also criticized Cluff, whose campaign financing she questioned. (Cluff later told Byrd Street that he financed his town council campaign completely on his own and offered to share his campaign financing records.)
Jaeger said, “I strongly urge this board to create a town ordinance requiring [local campaign finance reporting] in the name of transparency and honesty to your constituents.”
Next up, Marsha Jacobs of Orange also spoke out against Pent and Cashell: “I’d like to address the 2025 progress report that’s been published by council members Pent and Cashell. It makes reference to projects and issues that the entire town council, town manager and staff have worked on for more years than these two council members have served. Council members Pent and Cashell have taken credit and stated that these are accomplishments towards their campaign promises.”
Jacobs recommended that council collaborate with the town manager on a report to be shared with the whole community. “I encourage you to work as a team and allow the town manager to be the one to provide such information and make it accurate and complete,” she said.
John Murray offered an alternative view. He began his comment by saying that he and his wife, Lena, have lived in Orange for four years. Expressing his support for Pent and Cashell, he told council and the audience, “We just think they’re wonderful people, and we don’t have a complaint. They’re people of high integrity.”
Grayson Butterfield: “There’s contention on the town council”
Immediately after the meeting, I asked several people in the audience how they felt about the way council had handled the election process and the choice of Cluff for mayor. Orange resident Grayson Butterfield told me, “It seems like there’s contention on the town council, which I hope that they can work out.”
She added, “I feel that it’s sad that one of our most experienced and longterm people that’s served the Town of Orange was not recognized for her ability to lead. [Waugh-Robinson] seemed like the natural next step as a mayor because she understands what the past issues are and what the current issues are. I’m curious why the men on the board [excluding Seal] did not seem to think that a woman was able to lead them.”
Orange resident Ellen Sawaya said, “I’m more interested in the way the election for vice mayor turned out because people voted ‘no’ for Delmer Seal as mayor, but he was fine as vice mayor. Isn’t that interesting? What was the difference?”
Sierra Jones: “Very, very happy” that Cluff is mayor
I also chatted with Sierra Jones, a member of the Walker family in Orange and a friend of Cluff’s who helped him during his campaign. “I’m very, very happy that he’s able to become mayor,” she said with a smile, as her sister, NiCole, and her mother, Lucy, nodded their agreement.
And now, a few words from Jeremiah Pent
My brief conversation with Pent did not go well.
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