Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 29, 1990 TAG: 9004290038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Both were re-elected to fourth terms, but voter turnout was among the lowest in the city's history. And about a half-dozen write-in candidates walked away with 27 votes, the largest number of write-ins in any Salem council election.
Four years later, running again as unopposed incumbents, those worries have waned a bit.
"I wouldn't want to brag that no one is running against me but I think it says that people are pretty satisfied with council's action as a whole," Tarpley said.
Green, 64, agrees. "Sonny and I are unopposed and that is the usual turn of events. I'm not saying people aren't supporting us that much; it's the other way around," he said. "People aren't that concerned negatively with City Council's actions."
Both men - running as independents - will seek their fifth terms on council in the May 1 election. Both were elected to council in 1974, an outcome that some saw as a rejection of the Republican partisan politics in Salem.
Both are businessmen. Tarpley, 48, is vice president of Salem Bank & Trust and Green is secretary/treasurer of a downtown Salem mattress business. Both are lifelong Salem residents.
Their views are similar, reflecting what has been touted as council's balanced, amiable relationship.
Example: Both candidates believe Salem and other Roanoke Valley governments must address what Green refers to as the "three W's" - waste, waste water and water.
Example: Both candidates say Salem is still open to negotiations with the Roanoke and Roanoke County consolidation team on the price tag attached to public facilities in the western Roanoke County territory that would be allowed to vote to join Salem.
"But keep in mind that those citizens in that area have already paid through their taxes a certain portion of the value of the capital improvements that the county has there," Tarpley said.
Example: Both candidates support the proposed $2.3 million municipal indoor swimming pool and agree that there should be a voter referendum on the project.
Example: Both candidates say they are running for re-election out of a desire to return to the Salem community what it has given them.
"Salem has been good to me," Tarpley said. "Serving on City Council gives little bit back to what this community has meant to me and my family."
Says Green, "I've lived in Salem for a long time and I've always felt I owed something to the city."
"You can't be part of a club without being an active member. Being on City Council is a way of being on the executive committee of the club.
"I'm glad I can contribute something, I hope, to the future of this city. I know it sounds corny but that's exactly the way I feel."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB