Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 28, 1993 TAG: 9308020377
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Marcia Weis
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Pat would have smaller government entities, with more politicians, each one serving the needs of only his own little bailiwick--never mind the duplication, overlapping, and cost. I believe democracy is better served by having only a small number of politicians in charge, each one of them answerable to a much larger body of constituents. As for the comparison with the federal government, denigrating the latter, that argument is fallacious. The federal government is far from perfect, but would Pat honestly want to do away with the national highway system, Social Security, Food and Drug Administration, armed services, and all the other systems that benefit all of us and can only be handled by a single governing body?
Bigger governments, says Pat, pay less attention to the needs of the poor, for whom I know she, and I too, are much concerned. Surely she cannot be unaware that consolidation was defeated primarily by County citizens because of their fears that they would have to contribute more to the needs of the larger numbers of poor in the City. The attitude was,Why should we have to deal with their problems? The fact is, problems don't stay home, especially in such a small area as the Roanoke Valley. The scenario hasn't played itself out yet. Perhaps Bosnia wasn't a good comparison, but we may well have, in Pat's own words, a little Los Angeles if the City is forced to deal alone with all the costs of the inner city.
Roanoke is criticized for not doing more for the poor. The money to do this comes from taxes, but to collect taxes you have to have people and businesses who can pay them. New buildings going up in a town don't necessarily mean that only a few people are making big profits; they mean that construction workers are taking home paychecks, construction materials are being sold, and new opportunities may open up if new businesses move in. What other prospects has the City, with limited land for new industry, and how many new businesses are we going to attract, given all the problems of four competing governments, all four areas together making up a population of less than 200,000. It would be laughable if it weren't another tragic example of short-sightendness.
Finally, Pat says that growth is not the only solution. But we're not going to stop growth; we can only choose the kind. Do we want growth in the economy so that people can find jobs? If not, another kind of growth is inevitable--growth in the numbers of poor in the City, with all the attendant evils of poverty overflowing into the entire Valley. Make no mistake about it--we cannot indefinitely hide in our safe little nests in Salem, Roanoke County, and Vinton in order not to relinquish control of our valley and our lives. No man is an island is just as true today as when John Donne wrote it.
We need caring people and idealists like Pat, but if they are to achieve anything worthwhile for those they would help, they must be able to see the forest--not just the trees. I'm a County resident, and I really don't care if the City gives up its charter to the County or achieves the right to annex. I just think it's time we get our act, and our Valley, together.
\ AUTHOR Marci Weis is a retired professor who lives in Roanoke.
by CNB