Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1993 TAG: 9312010271
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Today is the deadline for political parties to notify the state Board of Elections if they plan to hold a primary to choose nominees.
As of Tuesday, Roanoke's Democratic Committee was the only one that had done so.
Democrats in most cities use mass meetings, conventions or caucuses.
Republicans in Roanoke will select their council candidates at a mass meeting, as they have done for more than two decades.
"No, we gave no consideration to a primary," said Chip Magee, city GOP chairman.
Alexandria had a Democratic primary election for council candidates until 1979, but Democrats in that Northern Virginia city now use a caucus.
City council elections in several of the state's largest cities are nonpartisan contests, so the method for choosing candidates is not an issue.
In Richmond, the city charter requires nonpartisan council elections, and all candidates run as independents. In Norfolk and Virginia Beach, city council elections also are nonpartisan.
For 25 years, Roanoke Democrats have used mass meetings to choose their candidates, but they have opted to hold a primary March 1.
The decision by the party's executive committee has come under attack from Sam Garrison, who has charged that it was made by a small group without consulting Councilman John Edwards and several other potential candidates.
Three incumbent Democrats who are facing re-election were consulted - James Harvey, Howard Musser and William White. They said a primary was acceptable to them.
Edwards has not taken a stand, because he said either method was satisfactory to him. Edwards has not decided whether to run next year.
Several likely Democratic candidates said they would have preferred a mass meeting.
"I would have been more comfortable with a mass meeting, because I am more familiar with it," said the Rev. Nelson Harris, pastor of Ridgewood Baptist Church.
Harris, a School Board member, said he expects to decide by Christmas whether he will run for council.
If he had been making the decision, Harris said, he would have been hesitant to discard the mass meeting which has been acceptable for a quarter-century.
Former Councilman James Trout said he, too, would have opted for a mass meeting.
"I would have preferred a smoothly operated mass meeting," Trout said. "This would have saved thousands of dollars for taxpayers."
Election officials have estimated that the primary, which will be conducted as a regular election, will cost $17,000 to $19,000.
Trout, a retired Norfolk Southern Corp. economic-development engineer who served on council for 16 years, ran in the city's last Democratic primary during his first campaign for council in 1968.
Trout said the added cost for a primary campaign might be an obstacle for some potential candidates.
Executive committee member Linda Wyatt, a teacher who may run for council, dissented on the vote for a primary.
Garrison, who is running for party chairman, said the executive committee should have discussed the issue with Harris, Trout, Wyatt and other potential candidates.
The Rev. Carl Tinsley, committee chairman, said the group consulted some party leaders and incumbent council members but was not obligated to consult all potential candidates.
by CNB