Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 25, 1992 TAG: 9203250336
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Willis "Wick" Anderson and Councilman David Bowers took their campaigns to Mayor Noel Taylor's High Street Baptist Church, but the voters did almost as much talking as the candidates.
Several voters appealed to the candidates for mayor and three City Council seats to help curb crime that makes them feel unsafe in their homes.
The forum by the Peoples Voters League, a black voters' group, attracted nearly 100 people, many of whom said they shared concerns about public safety and drug trafficking.
Democrat Bowers blamed the drug problem partly on the Republicans, saying it has gotten worse under the past two Republican presidents. City police are trying to grapple with a problem that is part of a national issue, he said.
Bowers cited the city's creation of a COPE - Community-Oriented Policing Effort - unit to help reduce crime in some neighborhoods and address residents' concerns about safety. He also pointed to the hiring of more black officers to help ease racial tensions between police and black residents.
Republican Anderson agreed that the COPE unit has been effective and needs to be expanded. Anderson said he also supports more officers for anti-drug programs in schools.
Both mayoral candidates consider the black vote to be a key to victory in the May 5 election. Black voters comprise nearly a quarter of the city's 39,000 registered voters. They often hold the balance of power in close elections.
Anderson has the endorsement of Taylor. Taylor has said Anderson, who was mayor 30 years ago and served in the House of Delegates, has the experience that is needed in the mayor's post.
Anderson said the Republican ticket for council - Delvis "Mac" McCadden, Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles and Beverly Lambert - can relate to black voters.
Bowers has the backing of the Rev. Carl Tinsley, chairman of the city Democratic Committee and the first black to head one of the major political parties in Roanoke.
Bowers said the Democrats also have a ticket - Renee Anderson, Councilman Beverly Fitzpatrick and former Councilman James Trout - that can address black voters' concerns.
Despite Taylor's endorsement of Anderson, Tinsley predicts Bowers will get 80 percent of the black vote. Democratic candidates traditionally get 80 percent to 90 percent of the black vote in the city.
The Republican mayoral candidate said he is committed to the city's affirmative action plan to get more blacks and women into middle- and upper-management jobs.
Bowers said his record demonstrates his concern for black voters.
He cited his support for the Gainsboro neighborhood revitalization project, a modified ward system and a ban on racial discrimination in private clubs.
Both the mayoral and council candidates expressed reservations about elected school boards, saying they fear changing from appointed boards would interject politics into educational and school issues. A new state law allows localities to switch to elected school boards if the change is approved by voters in a referendum.
McCadden said the city needs to try to stop the migration of young black people from the city and persuade them to stay in the Roanoke Valley.
Lambert promised to seek out black businesses to help provide goods and services for the city as part of minority-owned business program.
Fitzpatrick reminded the voters that he proposed the establishment of a police precinct in the high-crime area in Northwest Roanoke more than a year ago.
Renee Anderson said she favors expansion of the COPE police unit to other high-crime areas. "I will support anything, including a police precinct if it will help," she said. Trout said the pending reduction in the military will make it easier for the city to recruit black applicants.
Bowles said she supports a strong affirmative-action plan, noting that council recently appointed a black director of real estate valuation, Will Claytor.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB