Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 18, 1993 TAG: 9304160085
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Daniel Howes
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BOWERS' ADOPTS MORE BUSINESSLIKE APPROACH FOR CITY
What's Mayor David Bowers up to?Long known as a city councilman belligerent to causes championed by business leaders, these days he sounds like a mayor obsessed with the economic future of what he calls "my city."
Roanoke's Bowers appears on the offensive, now that the 2-for-1 pension deal for city council members, the racially-tinged flap over Wells Avenue's path through historic Gainsboro and the fiscal shenanigans of former city finance chief Joel Schlanger are behind him.
A few weeks ago came his call to repeal the tax exemption on agricultural land within the city limits, prompting charges that the mayor's idea of economic development is more asphalt.
Then last week came his proposal to knit together a package that would tie a refurbished Hotel Roanoke with the City Market, the Henry Street Revival area and the Virginia Museum of Transportation. He suggested linking the sites with a park parallel to the Norfolk Southern Corp. tracks, or perhaps installing a streetcar system.
These don't sound like obstructionist moves by a politician devoted to preserving good ol' Roanoke, lest it become another Charlotte. Nor do they run counter to business interests; Bowers says repealing the agricultural tax exemption, for example, could free hundreds of acres for industrial and commercial development.
The next target? He won't say, falling back on: "I'm not an ideologue; I'm a realist and an activist. I've not yet begun to fight."
In case you missed it, there's an agenda being peddled here - and Bowers isn't shy about it.
He calls it his "progressive economic development agenda," fashioned from a realization that the city he inherited last summer cannot grow through annexation and has fewer and older residents than it did a decade ago.
The way Bowers sees it, he's got to try and make Roanoke thrive. And if his plans land on a few toes (read Roanoke County), offend other politicians or community leaders, that's too bad.
Consider:
Bowers seems never to miss an opportunity to tell anyone who'll listen that the Hotel Roanoke renovation is the city's "number one economic development project." Nor does he shrink from reminding folks that city taxpayers are shouldering much of the financial burden.
"There was not one penny received from [any] other jurisdiction," he says. "I think it's a shame."
Next comes his call for "reorganization" and the expressed conviction that partisan governments inhabiting the same valley have "hamstrung" attempts to move "ahead to the future."
"I never use the `C' word," he says, referring to failed attempts to consolidate city and county governments. Instead, he talks about "Bosnianized, Balkanized local governments. Bosnia can take a few steps on nationalism from the Roanoke Valley.
"At some time, this neighborhood needs to have a corporate identity," he says - that is, a consolidated government living by a single, comprehensive development plan tailored to the valley.
That's why Bowers appears ready to listen to a proposal germinating in the Roanoke Valley Business Council: Get the local politicians and civic groups to support formation of a regional economic development plan for the valley.
"The Business Council is right to do what they're doing," he says. "And they should. My point to the business community is, `You should be organized; labor should be organized; lawyers should be organized. There's strength in numbers.' "
He insists the mayor's office is open to the concerns and proposals issuing from the business community, which quietly harbored fears that a Mayor Bowers - apart from a Councilman Bowers - could undercut development efforts and public-private partnerships in the city.
But his language suggests otherwise.
"My point is, the people should be triumphant, not the business community or anybody else," he says, suggesting that his job is to make sure City Hall does not become prisoner to powerful business interests pursuing their own agendas.
Call these the mayor's double-edged swords:
Bowers pushes a progressive, development-oriented agenda that irritates land owners and some in the black community while staunchly insisting he's mayor to "the people."
And for all his talk about reorganization, City Hall insiders and key council members say Bowers maintains a visceral dislike for Roanoke County. Calls that the city help fund the Explore Park, a pet project for county officials, are sidestepped; instead comes the reminder that city taxpayers are paying for much of the Hotel Roanoke project.
Daniel Howes writes about business and political issues for the Roanoke Times & World-News.