Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994                   TAG: 9405040129
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

BLACKSBURG BACKS COUNCIL INCUMBENTS

Voters Tuesday re-elected incumbents Al Leighton, Joyce Lewis and Lewis Barnett to Blacksburg's council, deciding to keep the town on the same path instead of asking challenger Ray Chisholm to change it.

Less than 12 percent - 1,184 - of the town's registered voters cast their ballots on a day that began with sunny skies but by afternoon turned cold and rainy. The candidates said a lack of media coverage, combined with the absence of stirring controversies, may have kept voters away.

In many ways, the three incumbents' platforms advocated maintaining the status quo. In response, Chisholm argued for greater attention to detail in the way the town is run and more consideration for business interests.

Top vote-getter Al Leighton, who will begin his sixth term, said the low voter turnout bothers him but that "in a way, it also says ... we may be doing something right. We've done what we can within the limitations that we have."

"It says to me that the citizens are happy," Lewis said of the vote. "That's not to say that there's ... not a lot of room for improvement."

Barnett said the outcome reveals that the citizens are happy "with what we're doing and with what the [town] manager is doing," alluding to attacks that Chisholm made on the town's staff.

Four years ago, Chisholm said he had no desire to run again after he lost his first bid for council. He considered pulling out of this year's race. Tuesday, he would not rule out another bid.

But "there's a lot better places to do business than in Blacksburg," said Chisholm, an engineer and developer. He said citizens aren't as informed as they should be on issues, and he wondered how well his campaign might have done had he put more effort into it.

Roger Hedgepeth, who will continue in his third term as mayor, said the main issue facing the town is retaining retail business.

He has said that this will be his last term. "I'm not going to say I don't enjoy the challenge, but it does take a lot of effort if you do it right," he said.

Keywords:
ELECTION