Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 10, 1991 TAG: 9104100410
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GARY M. BOWMAN, C. JAMES WILLIAMS III and WILLIAM H. FRALIN JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The criticisms do not appreciate the new perspective we are trying to bring to politics in our city. Our endorsement of a modified ward system embraces a premise this newspaper consistently rejects: Decentralized government best guarantees that representatives will be accountable and responsive to citizens. The days of paternalistic government by a few are numbered, and Republicans seek to usher in a new era of government of the people, by the people and for the people.
All citizens of Roanoke are not adequately represented on City Council. The dissatisfaction of voters in the Northwest part of the city, which has long been expressed, has recently been amplified by the current problems in Lincoln Terrace. It has been echoed by voters of the Deyerle Road area, who believe their trust was breached by a City Council that was not sensitive to their need for neighborhood survival. Republicans are not so insensitive to the disenfranchisement of Roanoke's citizens, and ward representation would make at least one councilman accountable to the citizens of Lincoln Terrace, as well as Deyerle Road.
Further, modified ward systems do not produce machine politics or bad government. Empirical data reveal that modified ward systems in cities like Roanoke that do not have deep, longstanding ethnic cleavages do not result in machine politics or unrestrained logrolling.
On the contrary, modified ward systems result in higher citizen satisfaction than at-large election systems. Additionally, the Republican proposal, which arises from the contemporary movement of municipal reform based on public choice, calls for a ward system that would have both at-large seats and term limits to protect against the problem of machine politics, safeguards that Roanoke's previous ward system did not include.
This newspaper lauded the recent meeting of Republicans who seek to revive both the Republican Party and two-party political competition in Virginia. The Republican ward system endorsement is part of the movement to revitalize Republicanism in this part of the state.
We believe that if city election districts were smaller, enthusiastic and qualified Republicans would be able to afford to run for City Council from their own neighborhoods. And they would be elected by their neighbors, because the Republican message of decentralization and individual freedom is what citizens want to hear from their leaders.
Gary M. Bowman, C. James Williams III and William H. Fralin Jr. comprise the Roanoke Republican City Committee's study group on the ward concept.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB