Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 3, 1992 TAG: 9202030140
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEXT MAYOR FACES CHALLENGE OF FINDING THE TIME FOR DUTIES
Do not expect Roanoke's next mayor to spend more time on the job than Noel Taylor has.The post may be considered a part-time job, with a part-time salary of $15,000, but Taylor has practically elevated it to a full-time position. He has devoted nearly as much time to his mayoral duties as to his full-time responsibilities as pastor of High Street Baptist Church.
On some days he works 12 to 14 hours on city business, particularly on Mondays, when City Council holds its weekly meetings.
He spends one afternoon each week talking with citizens. And he has to review legal documents, attend City Council committee meetings and make speeches.
He also has made occasional trips to Richmond and Washington on state and federal issues affecting the city. And he has traveled to help recruit new businesses and industries.
Vice Mayor Howard Musser and Councilman David Bowers, the announced candidates to succeed Taylor, say they know the mayor's post requires a lot of time. But both say they can handle it.
Bowers, a lawyer, said he could balance mayoral duties with his law practice because the Municipal Building and City Courthouse are so close together.
Bowers said he already spends about 30 hours a week on his council responsibilities. "I've been juggling the two jobs for the past 7 1/2 years, so I know I could do it," he said.
Musser, a retired finance supervisor for General Electric, also is confident that he could balance mayoral duties with his work as a real-estate agent.
Musser said he could cut back on his real estate work if the mayor's post requires more time than he expects.
"If someone was working for a company, it might be difficult to get so much time off. But I don't have to worry about that because I could spend as much time [on mayoral work] as it requires," Musser said.
Some people have raised the possibility that the city might need to consider a full-time mayor at some point because of the growing complexity of city government. But others have questioned that, saying no other cities in Virginia have full-time mayors.
Roanoke has a council-manager government in which the city manager is the chief executive officer and the mayor handles other duties.
Roanoke's mayor is a member of City Council and presides at its meetings. The mayor has the same voting power as other council members, but is not involved in the daily administration of the city.
In a strong-mayor system, which some large cities outside Virginia have, the mayor is the top city official and oversees daily operations.
Taylor suggested an alternative several years ago: an administrative assistant to help the mayor. But he quietly dropped the proposal because some City Council members opposed it.
Whether the next mayor can operate without more help depends on what residents and council members want him to do, Taylor said.
"If the mayor is just going to preside at council meetings, you can get by without help," he said.
The issue of hiring an administrative assistant was raised again privately by some council members who thought it might help persuade Taylor to seek a new term. But Taylor decided to retire anyway.
Taylor has a secretary and also relies on the city clerk's office to help with his paperwork and scheduling.
Musser fills in for him at welcoming speeches to conventions or other events when Taylor has another engagement at the same time.
Musser agreed with Taylor that the mayor's post needs an administrative assistant. But he said the timing of such a request would be bad.
"Symbolically, it would not be a good thing to do during these economic conditions," Musser said.
Taylor talked about the demands of the mayor's post when he announced that he would not seek a new term.
Without the cooperation of family, Taylor said, he never could have served on council for 22 years, including 16 1/2 as mayor. Mayoral duties have caused him to be away from home many nights and some weekends, he said.
Taylor said the officers and members of High Street Baptist Church, where he has been pastor for 30 years, have cooperated with him fully while he has been mayor.
They have allowed him to be away from his ministerial duties if he needs to attend to his mayoral responsibilities.
Church members agreed that he could hold both positions because they view the mayor's post as an extension of his ministry, Taylor said. Councilman Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. cited time demands as one reason that he did not run for mayor this year. He had been urged to run for mayor by many friends and supporters.