Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 15, 1993 TAG: 9302150043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
DIVISIONS MULTIPLY ROANOKE MAYOR'S TROUBLES
HARD FEELINGS FROM last year's battle for the Democratic nomination for mayor may have kept David Bowers from making the most of his party's majority on Roanoke City Council.The Democrats have split. And that's been bad news for Roanoke Mayor David Bowers, a Democrat who thrives on partisan politics.
Even though Democrats occupy five of the seven seats on City Council, Bowers has learned that he can't always depend on them to support him.
Indeed, he's lost several political fights during his first seven months as mayor because three Democrats - Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr., James Harvey and Howard Musser - have broken with him.
Bowers' most recent setback came when those three Democrats joined with the two Republicans on council - Elizabeth Bowles and Delvis "Mac" McCadden - to deny him a seat on the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Commission.
He had the backing only of Councilman William White, a Democrat who has become Bowers' closest political ally. Ironically, White used to be aligned with Harvey and Musser. But he bucked many Democratic officeholders last year and supported Bowers over Musser in the battle for the party's mayoral nomination.
A similar split among the Democrats on council occurred last year when council rejected a proposal for a modified-ward system for choosing council members. Bowers and White favored a change, but the other council members decided to keep the at-large system.
Bowers and White also teamed up to push for the hiring of more local contractors and workers on city building projects. The Democrats have split on some issues during council's closed meetings in recent months, but they then decided on a united stand when the public vote was taken, said one council member who did not want to be identified.
Bowers worked to gain a Democratic majority on council for more than a decade - first as chairman of the city Democratic Committee and then as a council member. He worked in the campaigns of Harvey and Musser when they were first elected in the early 1980s, as well as in their re-election campaigns.
Bowers was sharply disappointed by council's refusal to appoint him to the hotel commission. In an interview immediately after the vote, he suggested that it was a political pay-back for his victory over Musser in the nomination battle last year.
But he now refuses to criticize other council members. "I don't want to say anything negative about them. Politics is hard enough without that," Bowers said.
"I don't always get my way. I have to understand that there is give and take. . . . I hope the 1992 campaign for mayor is over."
As mayor, he said, his job is to bring people together and seek harmony, not attack other council members. "I'm trying to do it like [former Mayor] Noel Taylor," he said.
Other council members have denied any political motives in appointing acting Finance Director James Grisso to fill the vacancy on the hotel commission created by the resignation of former Finance Director Joel Schlanger.
They said the city needed someone on the panel with a financial background and expertise. However, Musser said he doubts Musser that Bowers and his supporters believe that.
"I am in a no-win situation," said Musser - who, along with Harvey, refused to endorse Bowers for mayor. "Whatever I say, some people are going to say that I am a poor loser, a spoilsport who can't accept a defeat."
The six-member commission is made up of three people from Virginia Tech and three from the city - Grisso, Harvey and City Manager Bob Herbert.
White's break with his 1990 running mates, Harvey and Musser, White has added to the division and tension that was caused by the mayoral fight.
White, Harvey and Musser ran as a "team for the people." Harvey and Musser were council veterans, but it was White's first try for elected office. Before being elected, he was a School Board member.
Musser said he has been disappointed by White's decision to align himself with Bowers. "He is entitled to do what he wants. He didn't have to go with us, but it still disappoints me."
White said he decided to back Bowers for mayor because he "seized the moment" and announced he was going to run before Taylor, a Republican, dropped out of the race for health reasons.
"If Mr. Musser had seized the moment and said he was running, I could have probably supported him," White said. "And I think David would have backed him, too."
White, who faces re-election next year, indicates he will be more independent in the next 12 months.
He said he has compromised on some issues during the past three years to help achieve unity on council, but he's going to stop doing that. "I have compromised my position on some issues to help others, but I haven't received any reciprocal help," he said.
White said he will seek a second term next year and run as a Democrat, not as an independent, regardless of whether Harvey and Musser seek re-election. It is doubtful that the three Democrats will run as a team as they did in 1990.
After losing the mayoral fight, Musser said he would not seek re-election in 1994. But now, he said, "I might consider it."
There has been speculation that Harvey won't seek a new term, Harvey either, but he has said that it's too early to say what he will do.
Fitzpatrick, who won a new term last year, won't face re-election until 1996. Bowers said he has established a good working relationship with Fitzpatrick, but they don't always agree on issues.
The Rev. Carl Tinsley, chairman of the city Democratic Committee, said Democrats have been pleased with Bowers' performance. "Most of the people that I have talked to think he's showing leadership."
But Tinsley said he has been disappointed that Harvey and Musser have refused to support Bowers on some issues. "They are trying to get back at David. That shows immaturity," Tinsley said.
Because of their refusal to support Bowers in the mayoral race and on some issues since the election, Tinsley said, the two council members might find it difficult to win the Democratic Party nomination for re-election.
"I think they would have an uphill battle," Tinsley said. "It could be tough for them."
The Rev. Charles Green, president of the Roanoke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the vote on a modified-ward system for choosing council members could come back to haunt Harvey and Musser if they seek re-election next year.
"We most definitely will make it an issue," Green said.
The NAACP is pleased that Bowers supported the proposal for a modified-ward system. He said Bowers "seems to be doing the best he can under the circumstances." But he said the NAACP doesn't like council's decisions on the 2-for-1 pension plan or the Wells Avenue realignment.