Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 14, 1992 TAG: 9201140304
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Joel Turner
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
POLITICS PULL DENTIST FOR 25 YEARS
They just won't let Wendell Butler rest.When Roanoke City Council members need someone for a difficult and politically sensitive job, they often turn to Butler, a quiet, soft-spoken dentist who finds it hard to say no.
Even Gov. Douglas Wilder has called on him.
Butler's latest public post: chairman of a 14-member task force that is considering alternative election systems for Roanoke. But he is also a member of the Virginia Water Control Board, appointed by Wilder earlier this year.
It is nothing new for Butler, a former vice mayor and councilman who has held a broad range of public posts in the past 25 years. He has served almost continuously on the boards for city and state agencies since the late 1960s.
Councilman James Harvey asked Butler to serve on the election system task force, and Mayor Noel Taylor asked him to be chairman after talking with council members. Each council member named two people to the panel.
"I didn't volunteer for it, but it's hard to say no, especially when the mayor asks," said Butler, a close friend of Taylor's. "I try to help when I can."
Taylor said he thought Butler would make a good chairman for the panel because he knows how the city and council work from the inside.
"He's also the kind of person who will listen to everyone and make sure their views are heard," Taylor said. "He'll try to get some consensus among the group."
Butler's "quiet demeanor and his manner of trying to work with everyone" will serve him well in the post, Harvey said.
There is strong sentiment on both sides of the election-system issue. Several groups have urged council to discard the at-large system and switch to a ward or modified-ward plan. But some council members are not convinced that a change is needed.
Butler has a "good heart, conducts himself like a gentleman and gets the job done," said Councilman David Bowers. "He is typical of many Roanokers who continue to give and give to the city, often without a lot of recognition."
A Texas native who came to Roanoke in 1953, Butler first entered public service in 1968 when council asked him to serve on the the city Redevelopment and Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners.
Two years later, council appointed him to the city School Board, where he served for 10 years. He was the first black elected chairman of the board in 1976.
At the urging of Democratic party leaders, Butler ran for council in 1980 and won a four-year term, becoming the second black to win a council seat. He resigned from the School Board after he was elected to council, and he served two years as vice mayor.
Butler, 67, also was appointed by Gov. Charles Robb to serve on the Southern Regional Education Board in the early 1980s while he was on council.
When his council term ended in June 1984, Butler didn't seek re-election because he said he wanted to spend more time with his family and dental practice. When he left council, it was the first time in 16 years that he had not held a public post.
His withdrawal from public life lasted three months.
In September 1984, council persuaded him to accept an appointment to the Redevelopment and Housing Authority's board. In 1985, Butler was elected chairman of the authority's board, a post in which he served until last February. He resigned only to accept an appointment to the Water Control Board.
Late last year there was yet another call from council - this time asking him to serve as a member and chairman of the task force studying whether the city should scrap its at-large election system.
Butler said council members told him that the job would last only about six months, and that helped lure a "yes" from him.
"I explained to them that I might have to be away some time because of my responsibilities on the Water Control Board, but they said that would be OK."
As a water board member, Butler travels extensively to attend public hearings and special meetings because he is mainly responsible for a 14-county region in Western Virginia.
Butler said he can handle the duties of both the state and city posts because he has recently reduced his dental practice to three days a week.
In the past, Butler has favored the idea of a modified-ward system for the city, but he said he is trying to remain neutral until the task force decides on a recommendation.
The Roanoke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Peoples Voter League and city Republican Committee have urged council to adopt a modified-ward system, with some members elected by wards and the rest chosen at-large.
The task force is in the early phase of gathering information, but council members have asked for an interim report next month and a final report by June. Council may submit the issue to city voters in a referendum this fall.