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

DATE: MONDAY, June 18, 1990                   TAG: 9006190374
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

20 YEARS AFTER FAILED MERGER, NO DISASTER

FINALLY the city group has gotten its act together. CARE (regardless of what is said) is a tool of the Roanoke Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce and directly cloned from the Roanoke City Jaycees.

Statements by this group and its financing will undoubtedly come from higher up (the city's war chest). We can look for a continuation of the standard propaganda used since 1969 in support of consolidation.

They warned us 20 years ago that we'd have a disaster if we didn't consolidate. Well, 20 years have gone by. Where's the disaster?

Lynda Wessel's information (article May 24) regarding consolidation in other communities should be further researched. She will find that her facts are less than complete. Actually, they are opposed to the situation in Lexington, Ky., where taxes went up 300 percent in the 16 years since consolidation.

Atlanta, Nashville and Lexington are all currently in a building recession, primarily attributed to consolidation. In addition, the general economic conditions in these three cities leave a lot to be desired.

\ ROGER WALKER\ ROANOKE

by CNB