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

DATE: SUNDAY, July 3, 1994                   TAG: 9407030012
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROANOKE COUNCIL CUTS ITS MEETING SCHEDULE

Faces aren't the only things changing on Roanoke City Council this month. Besides welcoming two new members and bidding adieu to a couple of veteran councilmen, council is cutting its work schedule in half.

Henceforth, council will meet on two days each month rather than four, and earlier in the day.

It means fewer public meetings but longer ones.

The action was taken by unanimous vote at council's June 20 meeting. Mayor David Bowers said he hoped the change will give council more time to deliberate on issues and interfere less with council members' work schedules and other commitments. All but one hold full-time jobs in addition to their part-time elected positions.

For years council has met weekly on the first four Mondays of each month. The meetings were at 2 p.m., with the exception of the second Monday, when council met at 7:30 p.m..

During summer the council has usually met only twice a month, reverting to four times monthly each fall.

City Clerk Mary Parker, who has served in city government for 27 years, said she can't recall any other schedule.

Under the new permanent lineup, regular meetings will be the second and fourth Mondays of each month beginning at 10 a.m. Public hearings will be held at 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday.

"I think over the last couple of years we felt like we were meeting too frequently and yet didn't have a lot of time to spend on some real difficult topics," Bowers said.

The weekly meetings sometimes lasted as little as 90 minutes, and there were inevitable conflicts with council members' work and personal schedules, he said.

Although he voted for the schedule change, outgoing Councilman Jim Harvey predicts it means marathon council meetings and perhaps more limited access for citizens.

"I think its going to be difficult to get all [council business] into two meetings. The agendas have gotten much larger and thicker in recent years," he said.

The two new additions to the council are Linda Wyatt, a schoolteacher, and John Parrott, a civil engineer. Their first meeting is at 2 p.m. Tuesday, when Bowers delivers the annual State of the City address. The next regularly scheduled council meeting is July 11.

Wyatt, backed by the liberal Progressive Democratic Coalition, beat Harvey in the March Democratic primary to complete the unexpired term of former councilman Beverly Fitzpatrick.

Parrott, a Republican, was elected in May and replaces outgoing Councilman Howard Musser. Musser suffered a stroke in August and didn't seek re-election.`

by CNB