Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 24, 1990 TAG: 9005240497
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
So far, more than 60 people have signed on as supporters of CARE, the County Alliance for Regional Excellence.
The list includes insurance executive Harold Hoback, who was co-chairman of the Citizens Committee for Valley Consolidation in 1969, and lawyer Rodney Fitzpatrick, who also was a vocal supporter of consolidation in the 1960s.
Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. President Joe Stephenson, Martin Research Inc. President Frank Martin Jr., Blue Ridge Beverage President Regine Archer and outgoing Hollins College President Paula Brownlee are on the list. So are two former county supervisors - Alan Brittle and Lee Garrett.
Brittle's support for consolidation sparked a controversy on the Board of Supervisors in 1985.
Garrett was one of the county's consolidation negotiators last year. He announced his support for consolidation after he lost his bid for re-election.
Young professionals such as Leisure Publishing publisher Richard Wells, builder Steve Strauss, Appalachian Power Co. administrative assistant Mark Lawrence and county Republican Party Chairman Brandon Bell also have signed on.
Bell was one of the leaders of the petition drive that forced Roanoke and Roanoke County to come up with a consolidation plan.
At a news conference Wednesday, one of the group's co-chairmen, Lynda Wessel, said the consolidation plan is "quite favorable towards the county" and is "the best means of ensuring a brighter future for us and our children."
Residents of the city and the county "work together. We shop in the same stores. We worship in the same churches. . . . We're a single community and could be better served by a single government," Wessel said.
She ticked off a list of reasons why the group supports consolidation: It will lead to better schools, new jobs, improved public safety, elimination of duplication, better planning and improved services. And if Roanoke and Roanoke County consolidate, they will have a stronger voice in Richmond and Washington, she said.
The group's first handout - which invites comparisons to the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and the push for "a united Germany" with its repeated references to "a united Roanoke" - says, "County taxes and fees have been going up, and unless we unify we'll soon be paying lots more." It points out that homeowners, rather than businesses, carry most of the tax burden in the county. That's not so in the city.
In other cities and counties such as Lexington, Ky., Indianapolis and Nashville, consolidation "has eliminated waste, provided better services and kept taxes low," it says.
Wessel, who is a free-lance business consultant for magazines, said the group will raise money, do studies and provide experts in economics and education to discuss the benefits of consolidation. Plans for a pro-consolidation advertising campaign haven't been completed, she said. "We don't know what the [group's] budget is going to be yet."
Beverly Lambert, wife of Roanoke advertising and public relations executive John Lambert, invited reporters to the news conference and distributed information about the group.
But she said she was doing that solely because she supports consolidation. John Lambert Associates is not involved with the group, she said.
So far, opponents have dominated the debate in the county over consolidation. But Hugh Key, a businessman who is active in Citizens Against Merger, said formation of the pro-consolidation group will increase public awareness and "give us targets to shoot at."
Key pointed to the involvement of Brittle and Garrett in the pro-consolidation group. "They greatly misread the mood of the public the last time they ran for office," he said. "Maybe they don't have their fingers on the pulse of the public this time, either."
by CNB