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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 30, 1991                   TAG: 9104010175
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ANNE W. FOSTER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WARD SYSTEM WOULD BETTER SERVE ROANOKE'S FORGOTTEN PEOPLE

As a senior citizen who lives alone, I was taken advantage of by a local heating and air-conditioning contractor who greatly damaged my home by using untrained and inexperienced workers, and inferior and obsolete materials throughout.

This work was never corrected and the contractor never returned or had the work inspected. He did not get a mechanical permit until I requested it, long after he had left the job.

I contacted the building commissioner, the city manager and all of council, who did nothing. Since this destruction by the contractor, my home has continually been reappraised at a higher amount.

I was told by a member of City Council that I would be helped if I worked to get the three Democrats elected for a majority on council and write a letter to the editor on their behalf.

This did not happen. The laws of the city are not being enforced. This was brought out in past zoning and other major problems in the building-commissioner's office, resulting in a great loss of revenue for the city.

We in the Northwest section of Roanoke have had no representation for years. We are the forgotten people. Another contractor told me he did not work in our section.

Officials rule each section of the city instead of Roanoke as a whole, which is dearly paid for by all of the citizens. The valley is spoken of as four different governing bodies. The city itself is represented as four different groups of people, governed by the special interests and money values of each. This should not be.

Years ago, highly paid consultants advised these people to locate the airport outside the city where other areas would have access to it. At that time, one consultant said we would have nothing until we worked together for a ward system here. Out of tax-money greed, the new airport was kept in the city to serve special interests.

Consolidation failed because a great number of people in the county had left the city because of bad government, taxes and bad treatment. City Council's bitter resentment at the county's opposition to being taken over proved a lot to these people about our council.

We are now being told that we cannot vote on how our money is being spent. All of our rights are being taken from us under the present governing body.

This city needs restructuring and reorganization, just like any other business, with the right people in the right places - not just job titles for performance. Unless there is a change, the city will continue to decay and be destroyed by taxes and greed of a few irresponsible leaders.

We do not need a limited ward system that ensures these leaders' continued control. We need a ward system that benefits all of the people in the city, a system that controls the length of time these people can serve - so that politics and money cannot keep other people from getting involved in the government - and we need to remove unqualified people from positions that affect all of our lives. A number of us have spoken with council about the problems in this city and about a ward system. We are told that they can do nothing.

We know better!

On the March 5 Commentary Page, concerned Republicans recommended small wards with representation for all of the people.

We also believe there is a great deal of conflict of interest. People who hold high positions and receive high wages within the city should not be allowed to be connected and working with other business concerns.

We need ordinances to protect the average people - and enforcement of the laws.

We continue to pay high utility taxes for flood control and need an ordinance to protect the homeowner's property from being destroyed by illegal piping of water downhill from other homes. Officials close their eyes to this serious problem unless their own property is affected.

We know that we are not getting proper and equal property assessments. When I called the assessor about the serious damage to my house by the contractor who did not get permits until after the damage was done, and did not complete the job or have the work inspected, I was told: "If you do not like the city, you should leave it."

I was also told that if I needed the equalization form, I should go to the library on Williamson Road and get it. The usual procedure for this is by mail, and the paper carried a notice of this shortly after the assessor's rude and uncalled-for remarks to me.

Now is the time to make changes to preserve what is left of the city and try to regain some of our rights we once had with local leaders who did not need highly paid outside consultants to tell them what we should do.

Many newcomers quickly see and write about the disadvantages of living here under these conditions. "For sale" signs up and down streets in Northwest should tell these leaders something.

Keywords:
POLITICS