Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994 TAG: 9405030163
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Today in Southwest Virginia, thousands of city and town dwellers will take part in helping shape their communities' futures by voting in municipal elections.
Here's the no-risk wager: Thousands more will pass up the opportunity, many because they've never even registered to vote.
As a rule, no more than 25 percent of age-eligible adults take part in local elections in Virginia. This year, the signs of somnolence are thunderous in their silence: public forums where candidates outnumber the audience, a minuscule voter turnout for the preliminary Democratic primary in Roanoke.
Is it because issues in local elections tend to be practical rather than ideological? In many cities and towns, for example, candidates don't even bother with party labels.
But when ideological overtones do arise, it seems not to matter. Besides, they don't often fit the issues very well, and can make a local contest seem discordantly out of tune. That's our impression of the race for the remaining two years of an unexpired Roanoke City Council term, where we made no editorial recommendation between Democrat Linda Wyatt and Republican John Voit.
Is it because local-election voters lack choices?
Not this year. Wyatt and Voit are only two of seven candidates on Roanoke City Council ballots. In the town of Pulaski, nine candidates are vying for four seats. In Vinton, five are running for two Town Council seats.
Because there's no new blood?
Again, not this year. Only two of the Pulaski nine are incumbents. In Roanoke, William White is the only genuine incumbent in the race, though John Edwards was appointed to council a few months ago to fill the seat made vacant by the resignation of former Vice Mayor Bev Fitzpatrick. For the three four-year terms in Roanoke, we recommended the elections of Democrats White and Edwards, and Republican John "Jack" Parrott - but also found Democrat Nelson Harris and Republican Barbara Duerk to be strong candidates.
In Salem, too, there's competition. Twenty-year incumbents Sonny Tarpley and Mac Green are running for re-election. They're being challenged by Republican Gary Lautenschlager, whose election we have recommended.
But not everything is new. In Radford, for instance, it's rerun time. Councilman David Worrell, who failed to unseat Mayor Tom Starnes in 1990, is trying again. In the race for two Radford City Council seats - not including Worrell's, since he's in the middle of his term and will stay on council even if he loses the mayor's race - at least one newcomer is guaranteed to win. Polly Corn is the only incumbent; the other candidates are Todd Retliff and Bill Yerrick.
It's rerun time in Vinton, too. Bobby Altice is attempting to regain a seat he lost in 1992 after 16 years as a councilman. Incumbents Roy McCarty and Don Davis are running; so are Billy Obenchain and Betty Sink.
In Blacksburg, Town Council incumbents Al Leighton, Joyce Lewis and Lewis Barnett are being challenged by developer Ray Chisholm, who wants one of their three seats.
Christiansburg Town Council incumbents Jack Via, Ann Carter and Ray "Eddie" Lester are being challenged by Ben "Chip" Capozzi, 19. The contest took a twist the other day when Barbara Capozzi, Chip Capozzi's mother, announced her candidacy against Mayor Harold Linkous for that separately elected post. To win, however, she'll have to overcome the considerable obstacle of being a write-in candidate whose name isn't on the ballot.
In other municipalities throughout Southwest Virginia, elections are today. Each race has its own story, and its own issues of direct and immediate impact for the community.
So, democracy's out there if you want it. At your neighborhood polling place. Six a.m. to 7 p.m. Today.
by CNB