Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993 TAG: 9301090126
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DON'T EVEN THINK IT, MR. MAYOR
If Roanoke Mayor David Bowers believes the recent gloomy economic news in the Roanoke Valley has softened Roanoke County's opposition to consolidation, he is wrong.So say three county supervisors and two leading merger opponents who think it would be a waste of time to try to revive the merger issue.
They charged Friday that Bowers is trying to blame the county for economic problems in the valley that have nothing to do with the local government framework.
"Your aim is obviously to scare people into dredging up the consolidation issue once more," Supervisor Ed Kohinke said in a letter to Bowers.
"I knew it was just a matter of time before somebody blamed all of our recent economic woes on the failed consolidation referendum. And, I somehow knew that that someone would be you," Kohinke said.
"County voters have said `no' to merger twice, and I don't think there has been any change in their position," Supervisor Harry Nickens said.
"I suspect the same issues that defeated it before would defeat it again," said Supervisor Bob Johnson.
Johnson said county voters might be even more reluctant to approve merger now because of the recent controversy over the city's two-for-one pension plan, the resignation of Finance Director Joel Schlanger and other issues.
County voters handily rejected merger in 1969 and 1990, while city voters approved it overwhelmingly.
Bowers, long a consolidation advocate, revived the issue Thursday night in reacting to a speech by Norfolk Southern Corp. Chairman David Goode, who urged valley leaders to look beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains for a broader view on economic development.
To compete effectively in the global economy, Bowers said, the valley must overhaul its fragmented local governmental structure. County residents must decide whether they want to keep an outdated framework that hampers economic development, Bowers said.
Don Terp, a leader in the anti-merger movement in the county in 1990 referendum, said he hasn't seen any change in county residents' sentiments on merger.
"If anything, [the opposition] might be a little stronger now because of the controversy over several things in the city," Terp said.
Charles Landis, a leading consolidation opponent, said Friday that Bowers' effort to sell merger could be counterproductive.
Bowers is "wasting his time and energy by continuing to try to sell consolidation" to county voters, Landis said.
Landis said Bowers will further antagonize county residents who want controlled and orderly economic growth.
Landis said county taxpayers favor governmental cooperation that will benefit the county as well as the city.
Johnson and Nickens say Bowers has missed the point on economic development. Growth is not necessarily linked to the local governmental framework, they said.
"I can't imagine that consolidation had anything to do with First Union Corp.'s acquisition of Dominion Bankshares," Johnson said.
Johnson said the valley's governmental framework is not the source of economic problems that have caused woes throughout the country.
"We can do the business of the valley with four governments. I have never seen [consolidation] as a panacea," he said.
The valley governments are cooperating on many issues, such as the airport, landfill and sewage treatment, and the county is willing to cooperate on others, Johnson said.
If the city had participated in the Spring Hollow Reservoir, he said, there would have been lower water-connection fees that would have encouraged economic growth.
Bowers said there is little cooperation on some issues, such as the Hotel Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Johnson said the hotel project will mainly benefit the city.
Like Johnson, Nickens said he sees no cause-and-effect relationship between economic growth and the governmental framework.
If Bowers is sincere about economic development, the valley localities can develop a regional plan to stimulate growth without merging, Nickens said.
Kohinke accused Bowers of trying to make the county a scapegoat for problems that resulted from decisions in the private sector.
If Bowers has evidence that there is a link between the bad economic news and the governmental system, Kohinke said, he should share it with others.
Bowers said the valley lacks the "tools and means" to compete globally with its current governmental framework.
"Our local governments are not adequate to meet the demands of the 1990s," Bowers said. "You've got to have something else if you want to grow and expand."