Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993 TAG: 9312170273
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Quiet and soft-spoken, Howard has tried to stay out of the public eye and avoid controversy as Roanoke's commissioner of revenue for 28 years.
He doesn't have the tough-man style. He has done his job quietly without seeking publicity.
He has compassion for taxpayers.
He said it almost breaks his heart to have to impose a penalty on elderly taxpayers who fail to pay their taxes on time because they have been in the hospital or have other reasons.
``People will pay their taxes, but they hate penalties,'' he said.
That has been the toughest part of his job, he said.
Howard has been a Sunday School teacher for more than 35 years and a singer in his church choir. He has been active in community service clubs.
Yet, as Howard leaves as commissioner of revenue, he said his background as a Marine has influenced his approach to his job.
``Some of that is still with me - the discipline, control and service,'' he said.
Howard is retiring Dec. 31 after seven terms, having never lost an election.
He has a strong sense of duty and obligation to serve taxpayers, to help them whenever he can within the confines of state and city laws.
``I have tried to treat taxpayers as though they were my boss,''Howard said.
Despite his quiet style, Howard has always been his own man - and not afraid to buck others when they have tried to tell him how to do his job.
When city officials tried to get him to use an assessment book with higher values for motor vehicles - and thereby generate more tax money for the city - he refused.
If the city wanted more revenue, Howard said, it should raise the personal property tax rate. ``You shouldn't play with the assessed values to get more revenue,'' he said.
Howard clashed with former Finance Director Joel Schlanger on the assessment of motor vehicles and other issues. ``Schlanger was my nemesis. We disagreed on some things,'' Howard said.
Finance Director James Grisso said Howard has been ``his own person who has done what he thought was best for the city and taxpayers.''
But Grisso said Howard's views did not always agree with what others felt was best for the city. Grisso said he has never doubted Howard's sincerity or his prerogative to decide on the assessed values for motor vehicles.
Under state law, the commissioner of revenue and the other four constitutional officers are answerable only to the voters and the courts.
``I think some people in the city administration have a hard time understanding that,'' Howard said.
In the late 1970s, city officials wanted to abolish the commissioner of revenue and treasurer's offices and put all financial operations under the finance director's supervision.
But voters rejected the proposal, and there has been no further discussion about it.
Howard is the first and only Republican who has been commissioner of revenue in a city which traditionally votes Democratic.
He attributes his success at the polls to his philosophy of putting the taxpayers first and providing courteous and quick service. ``Taxpayers don't need an appointment to see or talk with me,'' he said. ``Whenever a taxpayers wants to talk with me, I drop what I'm doing and give my attention to them.''
City Treasurer Gordon Peters, a Democrat who has known Howard for nearly 40 years, said he's had a smooth relationship with the outgoing commissioner of revenue.
Peters met Howard when he was a boy attending Sunday school. Howard was his teacher.
Grisso said Howard has run the commissioner of revenue's office frugally. When he became commissioner, the office had a staff of 18. Because of computerization and other changes, Howard has only 14 employees now.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles said Howard is very reserved and appears aloof at times. She believes that is part of his personality rather than an effort to be unfriendly or keep his distance from people.
``His door has always been open whenever [council] wanted information, but there has been no regular communication between him and council,'' Bowles said.
Howard said he never expected to serve 28 years. A Republican friend persuaded him to run for the post in 1965 when he was working as a cost accountant with American Bridge Co.
``I knew that politics was a risky business, but I took a chance,'' Howard said. He won by 51 votes.
Four years later, he won by 8,000 votes.
Ironically, that year he beat the man who tried unsuccessfully to succeed him earlier this month - Councilman Howard Musser.
Democrat Marsha Fielder, who will take office Jan.1, defeated Musser, a Democrat who ran as an independent.
Howard endorsed Musser and contributed $200 to his campaign. He believes Musser could have won if he had not had a stroke and been unable to campaign.
Musser received 43 percent of the vote without campaigning.
Still, Howard said he will work with Fielder to help ensure a smooth transition. He has already met with her and introduced her to his staff. More meetings are planned.
So what will he do after he leaves the post?
He's going into the flea-market business - to fulfill a long-held dream. He has rented a booth in a flea market in Salem.
For several years, he has been going to yard sales and flea markets, buying trinkets and other things that have caught his attention.
He might sell part of his collection when he opens his booth.
``It's something I have always wanted to do,'' he said. ``Now I will have the time for it.''
JEROME S. HOWARD
ALMOST 3 DECADES OF SERVICE TO ROANOKE
Position: Commissioner of Revenue, 28 years.
Age: 72.
Hometown: Hamilton, Ohio.
Education: Virginia Southern Business College with a degree in business.
Prior Employment: U.S. Marines, 4 1/2 years; cost accountant for American Bridge Co., 15 years.
Family: Married, with two daughters.
Community and Religious Work: Lions Club, Sunday school teacher, Scoutmaster and Roanoke Detachment of the Marine Corps League.
Hobbies: Collecting coins, stamps, toy guns, toy trains and other items.
Quote: "I have tried to remain independent. I owe nothing to City Council, the city manager, finance director or anyone else in the city administration. I have tried to represent and serve the taxpayers."
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB