Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 1991 TAG: 9102060477
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Don Terp, coordinator of the now-defunct group, gave checks for $148.80 to each of the fire departments and rescue squads on Tuesday.
Jim Hopkins, liaison for two pro-consolidation groups in Roanoke and Roanoke County, said those groups probably will have about $5,000 left over after paying bills for attorneys and accountants. They probably will give the money to the Regional Partnership of Roanoke Valley, which promotes regional economic development. Economic development was a key theme of consolidation supporters.
Terp said Citizens Against Merger has notified the state Board of Elections that it has disbanded. He said that, contrary to earlier plans, the group would not be the sparkplug for a county alliance of civic leagues.
"We don't have an issue at the moment" to bring all the county's civic leagues together, he said. "We'll put it together if there's a need."
Terp, who lives in The Orchards subdivision off U.S. 460 East, said he intends to stay active in civic affairs. Even though he said he isn't a "political animal," he wouldn't rule out the possibility of running for local office someday.
Terp said he was aware that there has been "lots of concern in some parts of the community" about the role that racial prejudice might have played in county voters' rejection of consolidation.
"Race was not an issue," he said. County residents were worried that neighborhood schools would be closed for economic reasons if the consolidation referendum passed, he said.
"Cooperation, not consolidation" was a motto of Citizens Against Merger, and Terp called on local elected officials to start working together. Cooperation "is just plain practical," he said. "These people have to learn to get along with each other."
If local elected officials won't cooperate, "let's elect some who will," he said.
by CNB