Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510300113
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In the political arena, Catawba residents have been coming up short for years, according to the four candidates for the Catawba seat on Roanoke County's Board of Supervisors.
"I certainly feel our end of the county has gotten last choice," says Democratic candidate Fenton "Spike" Harrison. "It seems the county divides up its resources 'one, two, three - four.'''
And Catawba is fourth.
The candidates' evidence: Glenvar was promised a new middle school. Instead, it got a middle school wing attached to the high school.
And after years of complaining of a need for widening a two-lane stretch of U.S. 460/11 that runs through Glenvar, nothing has changed.
Independent candidate Robert Crouse blames the problems on a 12-year legacy of ineffective leadership, starting with former supervisor Steve McGraw - who has donated $500 to Harrison's campaign - and ending with current Supervisor Ed Kohinke. Kohinke decided not to seek re-election after a falling-out with local Republicans.
Independent candidate Douglas Chandler Graham puts it this way: "It shows you what a good job that's being done over here, when you've got four people running" for one seat.
In fact, that idea of responsive, representative leadership has become a theme in each candidate's campaign.
Crouse says his only platform is the people of Catawba; GOP candidate Warren Brown Jr. says he wants to "bring government back to the people"; Harrison says he wants to "bring focused leadership back to the Catawba seat"; and Graham says he just "wants to represent this part of the county. We've been represented in name only."
Those messages may sound awfully similar, but the how-tos of making those goals possible is where their ideas begin to sprout in different directions.
Brown has started mapping a course for the county. First, he says, the county needs to start a complaint hot line for residents to report surly, unresponsive county staff.
Next, he wants to start a neighborhood advisory board, which would work like this: Two people from each of Catawba's seven precincts would sit on the board for two years. Those individuals would be hand-picked from area civic leagues. The board would meet once a month with Brown to keep him apprised of neighborhood concerns and for Brown to explain to them how he has voted.
Crouse, who lost the GOP nomination to Brown, says the advisory board idea is one that Brown stole from him. The only difference is Crouse calls his a steering committee.
He, too, would use the fertile ground of civic leagues to select active community members for his committee and would meet with them monthly.
But Harrison has his doubts about an advisory board's merits.
"Who chooses who's on the board? And will he get truthful information and the complete story?" Harrison asks.
Instead, Harrison proposes regular town meetings of the variety that former U.S. Rep. Jim Olin used. He envisions a meeting twice a month, held in the district's four distinct areas, so that, by the end of two months, he would have completed the circuit.
Graham, a retired postal worker, isn't sold on that idea, either.
"I intend to go to all of the civic club meetings, and I'm totally accessible. If somebody's got a problem, I want them to pick up the phone and call me. I don't want to wait to hear about it through some committee," Graham says.
Graham isn't the only one lauding his retired status.
Crouse, who retired from his family trucking business four years ago, emphasizes that to do the job of supervisor right requires time. Crouse says time is something he's got. He says the opposite is true for Brown, who works the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift as a machinist, and Harrison, who is a Glenvar High School teacher.
"I'm going to be [at the county administration building] at 8, and I'm going to be counting heads when they come in and waving to them when they leave at 5," Crouse says. "I'm going to take the time to review the credentials of the people running that government from top to bottom."
Brown and Harrison, however, are quick to point out that Kohinke, who they say "did nothing" for Catawba, also was a retiree.
When asked what needs to be done, the candidates again begin to sound surprisingly like-minded. The county needs to improve the way its staff treats the community; increase economic development to bring better jobs, but not build more industrial parks; and widen the two-lane patch of 460/11 through Glenvar.
"The first thing I'm going to say when they start talking about 221 is: 'Excuse me, we want to see 460 widened, and there won't be any bickering like the people in Cave Spring,'" Harrison says.
The two independent candidates, who have promised to serve only one term if elected, also talk a lot about money. Part of Graham's campaign literature is a piece of Monopoly money. He says the county spends taxpayer money as if it's play money. Graham, who is letting that leaflet and his 10-page handout do most of the talking for him, has refused to go door to door campaigning and has only one campaign sign.
Crouse spends most of his time at campaign appearances regaling government waste and the county's taxes. Taxation is a subject he says he became an expert on in the early 1990s. Roanoke County's commissioner of revenue charged Crouse with failing to pay taxes on two of his vehicles. Crouse, who ran unsuccessfully for commissioner of revenue in 1991, won the battle in court.
So, at public appearances, he gives a Taxes 101 course, in which he outlines the three ways the county can increase how much residents pay in taxes: zoning, tax rates and assessments. He also explains how he fought the county and won.
But Crouse isn't as astute in all areas.
At the Fort Lewis Elementary School forum, he sent a ripple of laughter through the audience when he referred to Roanoke County School Superintendent Deanna Gordon as "Mr. Gordon."
Another priority for the county is education, particularly renovation of Fort Lewis Elementary School, says Brown, whose daughter attends a private school to receive a Christian education.
"There are some inequities that have been there forever," says Brown, who supports charter schools. "My values come from my faith and right here where I grew up. They're home-grown.
"Someone who's been here awhile knows the people a little better."
All of the candidates, with the exception of Harrison, have lived in the county for most of their lives. Harrison, who was born in Alabama and raised in New York, moved to the county 19 years ago.
"The idea is that, if candidate X is not from our area, he cannot understand our issues. And I don't think it adds up," says Harrison, who says that, during one campaign appearance, Brown mentioned that he was home-grown 20 times. "I'm not going to tell people what they want to hear. If I don't know something, I'm going to tell them. But I have the intelligence and the ability to use that to work with other people."
WARREN BROWN JR.
Age: 32
Party: Republican
Family: Married, two children
Employment: Machinist for AMP Inc.
Hobbies: Horseback riding and hunting
Education: Graduated from Arnold R. Burton Vocational Center (where Harrison was his government teacher) and attended Virginia Western Community College
ROBERT CROUSE
Age: 59
Party: Independent
Family: Married, four children
Employment: Retired CEO of family business, Houston Motor Express Inc.
Hobbies: Designing and flying small aircraft, hunting, fishing, bowling and playing golf
Education: Graduated from Andrew Lewis High School and attended Orange Coast College and the University of Louisiana
DOUGLAS CHANDLER GRAHAM
Age: 64
Party: Independent
Family: Divorced, two children
Employment: Retired postal worker
Hobbies: Computer junkie and maker of cast bronze plaques
Education: Graduated from Eastern University
FENTON "SPIKE" HARRISON
Age: 51
Party: Democrat
Family: Married, one son
Employment: Government and world history teacher at Glenvar High School
Hobbies: Golf, reading, playing bridge and traveling
Education: Graduated from Duke University
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: ***CORRECTION***