Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990 TAG: 9003280478
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There's no particular reason to doubt the accuracy of Hodge's figure. But there's reason to doubt his proposed timing.
That's because another ballot question already is scheduled for November: the small matter of a plan to consolidate the county and Roanoke City governments. The bond issue shouldn't get ensnared in the merger web.
Logically, Hodge says, merger and the bond issue are unrelated. The items on the capital-outlay list - a library here, a school addition there; drainage improvements here, asbestos removal there - will be needed regardless of the outcome of the consolidation vote.
But that's how county administrators think. Voters might not think the same way.
At the moment, county voters seem in a "no" mood toward consolidation. If so, and if the mood persists until November, they just might adopt a "no" mood toward the bond issue as well, without regard to its merits. The chronological tie could overcome any logical separation.
Deferring a bond-issue referendum for a few months would do no lasting harm, though it would mean one more time that voters would have to go to the polls. Perhaps, as Supervisor Harry Nickens suggested, voters in the county are getting tired of referendums. But if so, the voters might as well get used to 'em.
Actually, there is a relationship between consolidation and the frequency of referendums in the county. True, they're only distant cousins. But go back enough generations, and you'll find they share a common ancestor: urbanization.
Since 1985, county voters have approved a $15 million capital-improvements bond issue and, in another election, a $16 million bond issue for the proposed Spring Hollow Reservoir.
They have rejected, then three years later approved, creation of a police department with an appointed chief.
They have turned down a proposal to make selection of School Board members a duty of the Board of Supervisors. But don't be surprised if the issue returns during the '90s: Among populous localities in Virginia, Roanoke County remains peculiar in keeping School Board selections three steps removed (rather than one step) from direct election.
The voters are to tackle consolidation in November. If they defeat it, it presumably will be the death of the merger plan at hand. It probably won't be the death of merger plans.
And if the bond issue is on the November ballot, and if it is rejected, it probably will have to be resubmitted in the not-too-distant future. This is all part of living in a city, even if it's called a county.
by CNB