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

DATE: THURSDAY, May 5, 1994                   TAG: 9405050176
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD                                LENGTH: Medium

WRITE-IN SPURRED FLOYD TURNOUT

The polls here were unusually lively Tuesday, as more than 40 percent of the registered voters turned out to elect the town mayor and two council members.

Although there was no registered opposition, election officials credited a last-minute write-in candidate with drawing the extra voters, making the turnout the second highest on record for a municipal election .

Larry Petrie, chairman of the town's Board of Zoning Appeals, announced a bid for Town Council after a community organization called Neighbor-for-Neighbor called for a candidate "to better represent the wishes of the people of Floyd." Petrie received 25 of the 106 votes, but was defeated by council members Rebecca Harman and Otis Howell. Harman received 72 votes, Howell 69.

Neighbor-to-Neighbor had objected to some aspects of the plan by Boddie-Noell Enterprises to build a Hardee's restaurant in the middle of town, the first fast-food outlet in Floyd County. Members feared other fast-food chains would interpret this as an invitation to move into Floyd, harming its hometown atmosphere.

Dr. Meredith McGrath, a veterinarian, said Tuesday that the Hardee's plan showed "how insensitive the Town Council is, how they're really not listening to what we want."

Mayor Skip Bishop, who ran unopposed and received 81 votes, disagreed.

"We're not trying to keep anything from anybody," he said. "As mayor, I see a need for jobs and a place for our teens to go. I'm all for good neighbors, and [Boddie-Noell] will be a good neighbor."

Bishop also noted that Neighbor-for-Neighbor is a vocal group of only about 25 to 30 members.

"It's not that we're not listening to the people," he said. "It's that we're listening to a majority of the people, and [Neighbor-for-Neighbor] is not the majority."

All three winning candidates agreed the competition made for a better election. Bishop, a teacher and coach at Floyd County High School for the past 20 years, said "winning an election with no opposition is like winning a game by forfeit."

"I would have preferred another name on the ballot [for mayor], but at least this got people more involved."

by CNB