Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 14, 1993 TAG: 9310140321
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-36 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It's not a glamorous post: commissioner of revenue in Roanoke. The same person, Republican Jerome Howard, has held the job for 28 years, and he's rarely been in the news.
Some voters have a hard time distinguishing between the commissioner of revenue and city treasurer.
But this year the contest for commissioner is different - even if voter interest still remains lower than the candidates would like.
One candidate - Councilman Howard Musser, a Democrat running as an independent - has been unable to campaign because he's been recovering from a stroke he suffered in late August.
That has put Marsha Fielder, his Democratic opponent, in an awkward position in campaigning, not knowing whether Musser might withdraw. And she doesn't know whether he might get a large sympathy vote.
The campaign also is different this year because it's the only contested race among the city's constitutional officers and House of Delegates members. All Democratic incumbents in those other posts are running unopposed.
Because the commissioner's race is the only local contest, it has gotten more attention than usual.
The Republicans did not field a candidate for commissioner or any of the three other constitutional officers.
In fact, Howard, who has been commissioner since 1965, is backing Musser and contributed $200 to his campaign.
Despite Musser's illness, Fielder is taking nothing for granted. She said she is working just as hard as if her opponent were well and campaigning. She is doing a lot of door-to-door campaigning, using vacation time to get off work in the afternoons.
Musser, a retired finance supervisor at the General Electric plant in Salem, has been in the hospital since late August, but he expects to be discharged soon.
His doctors are confident that he will be able to handle the duties of the commissioner's post by Jan. 1 - when he would take office - if he wins next month, a spokesman said.
Musser plans to communicate soon with his constituents about the election, the spokesman said.
Musser decided to run as an independent because he believes there is a need for competition for the post. He waited until the last day for becoming a candidate because he wanted to see if others would oppose Fielder.
Musser, 63, said he has the background and experience for the post. He cites his 34 years in finance and management for GE.
Musser said he has long been interested in the commissioner's job, noting that he ran against Howard in 1969 and considered running if the GOP incumbent had retired four years ago.
"This is not something that I just got interested in lately," he said.
If Musser wins, he would have to resign his council seat by Jan. 1, when he would take over the commissioner's post.
With strong support by labor unions, Fielder won the Democratic nomination on a close vote, beating David Anderson, assistant city treasurer. At a mass meeting that attracted nearly 700 voters, Fielder defeated Anderson, 345-322.
Most party leaders supported Anderson for the nomination, but they are now backing Fielder. Dels. Victor Thomas and Chip Woodrum, both Democrats from Roanoke, have made financial contributions of $200 and $150 respectively to her campaign.
Bowers, who was neutral in Fielder's campaign to win the Democratic nomination, has contributed $250.
Fielder said she will bring new energy and ideas to the post. Despite being only 32, she has 14 years of experience in the Roanoke County commissioner of revenue office. Her father, Wayne Compton, is county commissioner, and she is his chief deputy.
She doesn't see any conflict of interest or other problems that might emerge because she and her father control the commissioner's offices in the two largest localities in the Roanoke Valley.
"There is nothing we could do that would be detrimental to the taxpayers," she said.
If elected, Fielder and her father would be the first father-daughter combination in Virginia to be commissioners in adjoining localities.
Fielder said she is familiar with all aspects of the city commissioner's office and could take over without the need for training.
The commissioner of revenue processes business and personal property taxes and applications for business, professional and occupational licenses. The commissioner also administers real-estate tax relief for the elderly.
Essentially, the commissioner levies taxes and mails the bills. The city treasurer collects the funds and puts them in the bank until they are needed.
If elected, Fielder said, she would help taxpayers fill out their state income taxes, enabling them to get their refunds within a few days. This is a service that would be provided free to taxpayers, she said.
State law permits local commissioners to provide the income tax services. The county commissioner's office processed 24,000 state income tax returns this year.
Fielder said she would expand services in the commissioner's office by cross-training employees instead of hiring more workers. If elected, she said, she would keep a close watch over out-of-town contractors who do business in the city without paying business license taxes.
Labor leaders said they are backing Fielder because they feel she would do a better job of making sure that all businesses and contractors have business licenses.
If he wins, Musser said, this would be a good time for him to leave council because he never intended to serve more than three terms. He was last elected in 1990 and is completing his third term.
Musser planned to be a teacher when he was growing up, and obtained an education degree from Emory & Henry College. But he went to work for General Electric because the pay was higher.
A veteran of the Korean War, Musser is active in veterans' groups and takes a special interest in issues affecting veterans. He helped plan the War Memorial in Lee Plaza.
Fielder, while working full-time in the county office, has earned an associate degree in business management at Virginia Western Community College.
Some people have asked her why she didn't wait until her father retired and then run for his job. But that would require her to move to the county, she said.
Early in the campaign, there was a controversy over whether Fielder has lived in the city for more than a decade, as she maintains. Some supporters of Anderson and Musser claimed she had moved into the city so she could run for commissioner.
Under questioning, she acknowledged that she lived in Roanoke County for approximately 18 months during the mid-1980s. Except for that period, Fielder said, she has lived in the city since 1981.
Although she works for the county, she can run for city office. The only requirement is that she be a registered voter and live in the city on the day she became a candidate.
Fielder said she had been thinking about running again since losing a fight for the Democratic nomination to Anderson in 1989.
She said she enjoys campaigning, but a candidate needs a thick skin because some voters are critical.
Fielder said current employees in the commissioner's office have no reason to fear for their jobs as long as they are performing satisfactorily.
"I will need them if I am elected," she said.
\ ROANOKE COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE\ \ Marsha Compton Fielder
Affiliation: Democrat
Occupation: deputy commissioner of revenue in Roanoke County.
Education: Virginia Western Community College, associate degree in business administration.
Hometown: Roanoke.
Age: 32.\ \ Howard E. Musser
Affiliation: Independent
Occupation: Retired finance supervisor at the General Electric plant in Salem.
Education: Emory & Henry College, bachelor's degree in education.
Hometown: Smyth County, but he has lived in Roanoke for 46 years.
Age: 63.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB