GOODWIN VOWS TO GIVE CITIZEN PERSPECTIVE

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 19, 1992                   TAG: 9202190295
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
GOODWIN VOWS TO GIVE CITIZEN PERSPECTIVE
Saying he learned the true meaning of democracy as a teen-age soldier in Vietnam, Steve Goodwin said Tuesday he wants to bring a new perspective to Roanoke City Council and encourage more citizen participation in city government.
Goodwin said he is seeking the Democratic Party nomination for council as a concerned citizen - not as a politician.
"I believe that the citizens of this city need to feel that they are part of the governing process and not at the mercy of it," he said at a news conference .
Goodwin, 45, said his Vietnam experience taught him what life would be like without democracy. He said he also learned that "citizens, if not considered in the decision-making processes, can and eventually will change our course."
This is Goodwin's first try for elected office, but he has been involved in civic organizations and community affairs.
Goodwin, who lives on Christian Avenue in the Northeast area, said council needs representation from all quadrants.
A past president of the Roanoke Valley Veterans Council, Goodwin has also been involved in youth drug- and alcohol-awareness programs at the local and state level. He also serves on a task force studying the need for a ward or modified ward plan to replace the city's at-large system for choosing council members.
Goodwin is a supervisor for the Department of Motor Vehicles' Transportation Safety Division.
He wants the city to give more attention to combating crime and drugs. He cited a need for more police officers, but did not say how they would be financed.
"The Band-Aid approach to the [drug problem] is no longer acceptable," he said. City officials need a coordinated approach that includes treatment and rehabilitation as well as education and enforcement, he said.
Goodwin, flanked at his news conference by his wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Alisa, said the school system needs to put more emphasis on basic education. School officials need to spend more on attracting and retaining quality teachers than on attracting high-priced administrators, he said.
"The job of educating our young people is accomplished in the classroom, not in the boardroom," he said.
Goodwin said he supports a strong economic development program for the city that will create more jobs, but not at the expense of the environment.
"I believe in continued, progressive economic development, but not at the risk of digression in the area of community development or an increase in taxation or costs for services," he said.
Vice Mayor Howard Musser and Councilman James Harvey attended Goodwin's news conference. Goodwin said he supports Musser in his mayoral contest with Councilman David Bowers.
The Democrats will choose their candidates at a mass meeting Saturday. Goodwin is the party's fifth candidate for the three council seats up for election in May.
The Rev. J. Eugene Young, pastor of the Jerusalem Baptist Church, is expected to announce today that he will also be a candidate.
The other Democratic candidates are Renee Anderson, Councilman Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr., Ted Key and James Trout, a former councilman.
Keywords:
POLITICS

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB