BUSINESSMAN KEY ENTERS COUNCIL RACE

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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 7, 1992                   TAG: 9202070331
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
BUSINESSMAN KEY ENTERS COUNCIL RACE
Ted Key says he wants to put his business background to work on Roanoke City Council.
Key announced Thursday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for one of three council seats in the May 5 election, saying his experience in business recruitment and marketing could help the city attract new industries to help create more jobs.
The addition of Key, the executive director of the Williamson Road Area Business Association, gives the party four candidates seeking nomination. Officials say more people may file for the party's endorsement by the Feb. 15 deadline.
Councilman Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr., former Councilman James Trout and Renee Anderson, a former executive secretary in the city clerk's office, also are seeking the Democratic nomination.
Key, 60, focused on his business experience at a news conference at which he announced his intention to seek public office for the first time.
Key's call for more jobs and economic growth has been a familiar theme in the council campaign. Fitzpatrick and Trout have made it a high priority in their campaigns.
Key is a former owner of a real estate firm, manager of a building and supply store and marketing manager for a retirement community.
He said he has no major complaints about council's performance in recent years but thinks he could provide a business perspective that would be helpful.
Key was in the news this past summer when he led a move to persuade the city's Board of Zoning Appeals to reverse one of its decisions. He was serving as executive director of the Northwest Revitalization Corp. then, in addition to the Williamson Road group.
After the board agreed to allow a Melrose Avenue motel to be used as a halfway house for parolees, the neighborhood organization filed a lawsuit in Roanoke Circuit Court asking a judge to overturn the decision. Subsequently, the board agreed to rehear the request and denied it.
Key said he thinks the law needs to be changed so residents can appeal to City Council if they disagree with the board's actions, instead of having to go to court.
"It's expensive and time-consuming to have to appeal to the courts," he said.
Key said his experience with the Williamson Road and Northwest business organizations have "put me in touch with businessmen and the people and help me better understand their concerns."
Key thinks city officials should do a better job of curbing the proliferation of boarded-up, vacant houses in many neighborhoods.
"I'm tired of seeing boarded-up houses. They should either be torn down or rehabilitated. We're an All-America city and we don't need this," he said.
Key supports the Peters Creek Road extension project because he thinks it would help revitalize the Northwest Roanoke area around The Plaza of Roanoke-Salem.
George McMillan, acting chairman of the city Democratic Committee, and several other Democratic officeholders attended the news conference. McMillan filled in for the Rev. Carl Tinsley, the party chairman, who was ill.
The council seats to be filled in May are held by David Bowers, Elizabeth Bowles and Fitzpatrick.
Keywords:
POLITICS

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB