
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 26, 1990                   TAG: 9005260212
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE SHENANDOAH BUREAU
DATELINE: CLIFTON FORGE                                LENGTH: Medium

ALLEGHANY MERGER EYED AGAIN

The May 1 City Council election of three people whose campaign platform included more cooperation with the county has led to renewed talk of a merged city-county government.

Johnny Wright and Joe Anderson were elected by wide margins over incumbent Mayor Nancy Slusser and longtime Councilman Russell Smith.

Smith, who was on the council 16 years, is solidly anti-consolidation, and his ouster removes one obstacle to a possible merged government.

Slusser has said consolidation would benefit the county more than Clifton Forge. But she also has noted in campaign statements that the two governments already cooperate in several areas - schools, litter control, economic development, animal control and recreation among them.

In addition to the new council members, Robert Drewry - who was on a 1988 study committee that recommended Clifton Forge and Alleghany County merge into a single large city - was re-elected May 1 by a wide margin. Drewry said this week that there's a good possibility the unified-city proposal will be brought up again when the new council takes over in July.

Wright, a retired Virginia Power official and the election's biggest vote-getter, said this week that the city had "wasted two years" by simply tabling the study committee's proposal. Wright also was on the committee.

In the recent election, Wright added, "I feel very strongly the citizens have told us they feel the same way. . . . I think it tells us what folks want us to do."

Wright and Drewry stopped short of saying they will work toward a merged city-county government, but both said it should be considered.

Anderson did not return several phone calls.

Supporters say a consolidated government could cut costs to taxpayers by ending duplication of courts, police departments and other services.

They also say a unified voice would, among other things, help the Alleghany Highlands attract industry and increase its chances for being heard in Richmond.

A referendum on combining Clifton Forge, Covington and Alleghany County into a single city - the City of Alleghany Highlands - was defeated in May 1987. Clifton Forge residents voted for the unified city 3-1, and county voters passed it as well, but Covington voters rejected it. The referendum required the approval of all three localities.

"I don't think [Covington voters are] interested right now. And they may never be interested," said Don Lacy, a community resource development specialist at Virginia Tech.

Lacy, who has worked closely with the county and the two cities on the consolidation issue in the past, said pride over the success of Covington's high school football team the previous fall might have been a stumbling block to consolidation efforts in 1987.

"You just don't consolidate when you've got a state championship football team," he said.

After the referendum was defeated, the Clifton Forge City Council moved to establish its own study committee to look for solutions to its financial problems, including reverting to town status. The city of 5,000 people, which has an aging population and shrinking tax base, needs school improvements and expensive repairs to its sewage system, among other things, Wright said.

But Drewry said that by the time the study group made its recommendation that Clifton Forge and Alleghany County combine to make a unified city on their own, a new council had been elected.

Drewry, who moved for the committee's recommendation to be adopted, said his motion died in the new council for lack of a second.

Clarence Farmer, chairman of the county's Board of Supervisors, said this week that consolidation is the county's "No. 1 goal."

Of the new Clifton Forge council, Farmer said, "They haven't taken office yet. I don't really know how they feel. It seems like a good opportunity to sit down and talk about it."

Wright and Drewry said this week that merging into a unified city is only one consolidation option.

Clifton Forge also could change from an independent city into a town, which would ease some of the city's burden for providing services but allow it to retain some taxing authority, Drewry said.

Or, Clifton Forge could simply dissolve itself, Drewry said. "It really would depend on what people want."

by CNB