Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 1, 1993 TAG: 9307010131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fielder, who is seeking to become Roanoke's next commissioner of revenue, said she has lived in the city "on and off" since 1981 and has been registered to vote in the city most of that time.
When asked whether she had misrepresented her voter-registration history, she replied, "absolutely not."
But Fielder acknowledged that her campaign manager, Tim Shock, was incorrect when he said she has been a registered voter in the city and cast ballots in every election since 1981.
And she said for the first time that she lived in Roanoke County for approximately 18 months during the mid-1980s.
Her residency became an issue in the campaign for the Democratic nomination for commissioner of revenue. The backers of David Anderson portrayed Fielder as an outsider who moved to the city to run for one of its top jobs.
Fielder denied the accusation then, saying she had lived in the city since 1981.
But on Wednesday, she acknowledged she had lived in the county for about 18 months, and changed her registration to the county during that period.
Fielder, 32, first registered in the county when she was a student at Northside High School and lived with her family. Her father is Wayne Compton, commissioner of revenue in the county. She has worked for him for 13 years.
Fielder said that when she moved from the county into an apartment in the city in 1981, she transferred her voter registration to the city. She voted in the city until 1986, when she moved into an apartment in the county.
Two years later, she moved back into the city and transferred her registration again. Records in the city registrar's office show this occurred on June 23, 1988.
But there are no records to document her registration transfers prior to 1988 because state law requires registrars to keep records for only five years.
Neither the city nor the county registrars have records for the period between 1981 and 1988 when Fielder made the changes.
Fielder said she accepts "full responsibility" for her campaign manager's remarks, but she denied there was any attempt to conceal her voting background. She said she never lived in one locality and voted in another at the same time.
The only legal requirements that Fielder has to meet are that that she be a registered voter and live in the city on the day she became a candidate.
The Rev. Carl Tinsley, chairman of the city Democratic Committee, said Wednesday he has received calls from a few party members who felt that a Channel 10 television news report on the issue Tuesday was a "witch hunt."
Tinsley said he is checking with other party leaders to see if they think the committee should reconsider its support for Fielder or have a meeting to discuss the issue.
"I'm playing it by ear. As far as I know now, she is our nominee and will continue to be our nominee," Tinsley said.
Vern Danielsen, vice chairman of the Democratic Committee, said he sees no reason for the party to withdraw its support for Fielder.
"I don't consider this to be a problem. As long as people meet the residency requirements and are registered voters, I don't see any problem," he said.
Danielsen said he doesn't think Fielder misled party officials.
City Councilman Howard Musser, Fielder's opponent in the November election, said he won't make an issue of where she has lived and voted. But he said it does raise questions about her supporters who claim she has lived in the city since 1981.
Musser, who is running as an independent, said he didn't raise the residency issue and didn't know about it until he was contacted by the TV station.
Musser said he hopes the campaign will focus on which candidate is best-qualified for the post.
Fielder blamed Musser for the TV news report. "I hope this is not an indication of the kind of campaign it will be," she said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB