Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 2, 1993 TAG: 9301020020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
FITZPATRICK AND BOWERS BUILD PEACE
They are viewed as political rivals. But you would never suspect it, at least not in recent months.Roanoke Mayor David Bowers and Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. have worked together so closely recently that it appears they are political allies.
When Fitzpatrick learned that he will lose his job as vice president for economic development and legislative affairs for Dominion Bankshares, Bowers came quickly to his defense.
Bowers said he did not like the way that Fitzpatrick has been treated by First Union Corp., the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank in the process of taking over Dominion.
First Union plans to eliminate Fitzpatrick's job and Dominion's economic development department on June 30.
Bowers has sent a letter to First Union asking it to keep Dominion's economic development staff. The mayor is still awaiting a response.
Fitzpatrick said he felt complimented that Bowers feels that strongly about the issue and wants to save his job.
But the two Democrats haven't always been that close.
For four years, they eyed each other cautiously on City Council.
Bowers was wary of Fitzpatrick, partly because of his pro-business attitude and his ties to the business community.
Before becoming mayor, Bowers clashed with business leaders on such issues as closing the Jefferson Street leg of the Hunter Viaduct to provide a site for the Dominion Tower.
He got into a highly publicized fight with Dominion Bankshares Chairman Warner Dalhouse over the viaduct issue.
As a city councilman, Bowers used biting rhetoric sometimes when he talked about business leaders and his concern for the working class.
Business leaders noticed, and many of them supported Councilman Howard Musser for the Democratic nomination for mayor. When Bowers beat Musser, they supported Republican Willis "Wick" Anderson in the May election.
During the mayoral campaign, Anderson accused Bowers of flip-flopping on the viaduct and several other economic issues.
Fitzpatrick had been leery of Bowers, too.
He did not agree with Bowers' populist attitudes on some issues. He questioned whether Bowers was committed to economic development. Fitzpatrick also supported Musser for the Democratic nomination for mayor.
When Bowers won the nomination, Fitzpatrick ran on the Democratic ticket with Bowers. But each ran his own campaign.
Fitzpatrick was urged by some supporters to run for mayor himself last spring, but he said that family and job obligations prevented him from seeking the post.
There are similarities between the city's two highest elected officials.
Both are Democrats, and both are politically ambitious. Bowers is 40, and Fitzpatrick is 45.
But their differences account for some of the tension between them in the past.
Fitzpatrick comes from a well-known Roanoke family. His father was a judge and his uncle was a state senator. He has received more than $30,000 in campaign contributions, mainly from business people, each time he has run for council.
Fitzpatrick had not been active in the Democratic Party before he won the party's nomination to run for council four years ago.
Bowers, who moved to Roanoke when he was a boy, had a middle-class upbringing. His father drove a bread-delivery truck for a bakery.
Bowers has labored in the Democratic Party since he was a teen-ager and served as city chairman before he ran for council. He has worked in dozens of campaigns.
But it is the poor economy, not politics, that has had the most impact on Bowers' relationship with Fitzpatrick. The city's economic problems and the loss of 1,500 jobs in the past year have brought the two closer together.
"Bev has helped me a lot on economic development issues. He's the top of the line in his job as an economic developer," Bowers said.
Bowers and Fitzpatrick have cooperated behind the scenes in trying to recruit industrial prospects. "We have also worked together on the Gardner-Denver Mining and Construction Division plant, trying to get them to stay in Roanoke," Bowers said.
Reedrill, a Texas company, has bought Gardner-Denver, which employs 400 workers, and plans to move its production to Texas. City officials have met with Reedrill executives to try to persuade them to keep the plant in Roanoke.
Fitzpatrick, chairman of the city's Economic Development Commission, and business leaders are pleased that Bowers has made economic development his top priority as mayor.
Bowers has held five economic summits that attracted more than 100 business, civic and neighborhood leaders. The summits have helped counter the notion that he is an anti-business populist. They have helped ease the anxiety among some business leaders, who say that attitudes about Bowers are beginning to change.
Bowers has promised to make the Hotel Roanoke project and tourism his top priorities as mayor.
Bowers said there has been political competition between Fitzpatrick and himself in the past four years, but they now have a good working relationship.
Fitzpatrick said he didn't have anything to do with Bowers' letter urging First Union to keep Dominion's economic development department.
"He asked me if I would object to him sending the letter, and I said I wouldn't," Fitzpatrick said. "I didn't think it was appropriate for me to get involved in it."
If First Union doesn't keep Fitzpatrick, Bowers said, another bank, utility company or business should hire him.
"In Richmond and other places, Bev is well known and people speak well of him," Bowers said. "If someone is smart, they'll snatch him up."
Strong praise for a rival. But it flows both ways. Fitzpatrick has praise for Bowers, too.
"David has been very fair to me. We don't agree on everything, but that has not hurt our relationship," Fitzpatrick said.
Although he has not been offered another job, Fitzpatrick said he wants to remain in Roanoke and stay on council. "I prefer to stay in Roanoke and to try to sell the city," he said.
In addition to being mentioned as a candidate for mayor, Fitzpatrick is also considered as a potential candidate for state Sen. Brandon Bell's seat.
Bell, a Roanoke County Republican who upset Democrat Granger Macfarlane in 1991, will be up for re-election in 1995.
Bowers said he could see himself endorsing Fitzpatrick for the state Senate or possibly mayor, depending on the circumstances at the time.
"I think we have come to understand each other better," Bowers said.