ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 19, 1996 TAG: 9602190109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on February 24, 1996.
$ Independent and party candidates for upcoming Roanoke City Council
elections must file certificates of candidate qualification with the
city registrar by 7 p.m. on March 5. The time was incorrect in a story
published Monday.
They're throwing an election this year over at City Hall, but from the low level of public interest, you'd hardly know it.
Five of seven Roanoke City Council seats are up for election in May - the largest bloc in 20 years. They include:
The mayor's seat, now occupied by David Bowers, a Democrat.
Council seats held by Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles, a Republican; Councilwoman Linda Wyatt, a Democrat; and Councilman Mac McCadden, a Republican.
The unexpired two years of the term of former Vice Mayor John Edwards, who resigned his council seat in December after winning election to the state Senate. A special election will be held to fill that post.
But so far, the level of disinterest among potential candidates appears to be high.
City Democratic Chairwoman Sandra Ryals said only four Democrats have pledged to run or expressed strong interest in running for council, including incumbents Bowers and Wyatt.
Two other Democrats considering council bids are the Rev. Nelson Harris, the city School Board chairman who ran fourth in a three-way race for council in 1994; and former Councilman Jim Trout, who served four terms on council between 1968 and 1990. Trout lost council bids in 1990, '92 and '94.
"I know there have been some other folks who have been deliberating, but beyond that I wouldn't want to comment," Ryals said.
City Democrats will hold their nominating convention Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Patrick Henry High School auditorium. The deadline for candidates to declare is a week earlier, on Thursday, Ryals said.
If the party doesn't have five candidates declared by Thursday, the Democrats may nominate others at the mass meeting, Ryals said.
There is also some question about whether the GOP will be able to recruit a full slate of candidates.
City Republican insiders doubt that either McCadden, who was first elected to council in 1992, or Bowles, who has served on council since 1976, will seek re-election. But neither has announced publicly.
The only Republican council candidate to announce formally is Jeff Artis, who ran and lost on the GOP ticket for the House of Delegates against incumbent Democrat Vic Thomas of Roanoke.
Artis, a church custodian and substitute teacher in city schools, is running in the special election for the two years left in Edwards' term.
Councilman Wendell Butler, who was chosen to replace Edwards, isn't interested in running to keep the seat.
Another Republican expected to announce this week is Alvin Nash, deputy director of housing programs for the local community action agency, Total Action Against Poverty.
The GOP mass meeting will be held the morning of March 5 in City Hall. Deadlines for candidates to declare are unclear.
On the GOP mayoral front, the only definite candidate so far is James P. "Pat" Green, a 55-year-old insurance agency owner from South Roanoke who is untested in city politics. The retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves hasn't formally declared his candidacy, but he has sent out fund-raising letters to area Republicans seeking contributions of $50 to $1,000.
All nominations are due in the city Board of Elections office at by 5 p.m. on March 5, said Louella Thaxton, of the board.
The terms of Councilmen Jack Parrott, a first-term Republican, and William White, a second-term Democrat, won't expire until 1998.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB