ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604080045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
IN a small room at Roanoke's downtown library on March 19, Mike Rhodes had a flash of insight.
The topic was representative government in Roanoke.
The Northeast Roanoke father of two has never supported changing the city's at-large election system to a modified ward system, where some members are elected by district. But all in one instant, he seemed to change his mind.
"I do feel connected to my congressman in my [congressional] district. I know who they are and they represent me," Rhodes blurted out. "Just maybe if I had a city councilman who represented my area, I might feel that connection. I never thought about it until now. It might make a difference. I don't feel connected to the council at all."
Heads nodded in agreement all around the table at the "community conversation," one of two that The Roanoke Times convened in recent weeks to talk with residents about city issues.
Rhodes was pointing up a major theme that emerged from these informal talks. Nearly all the participants in one way or another felt disconnected from Roanoke city government.
Some folks from different parts of the city don't know who council members are; they've never called one on a public issue or for help with a problem; and they rarely, if ever, see them out in the community.
"Do they have community meetings? Do council members ever come out in the community? I've never seen anything," said Jim Schlueter, a father of three who lives in South Roanoke.
"I don't think they know what we really care about, do you?" asked the Rev. Joan Shannon, who lives in Northeast Roanoke.
"Well, I don't think we pay too much attention to City Council to speak of, to tell you the truth, as citizens," said Tom Moore, who lives in South Roanoke. "I've never had any contact with any city councilman, so I can't say much about it, but I think we should have contact with them."
Susan Wadsworth, who lives in the Center Hill neighborhood in Southwest Roanoke, said she has no idea how many members City Council has.
"I don't know why; I guess it [doesn't] seem like they present themselves that much, or something," Old Southwest resident Harold Hodges said.
Out of touch?
The notion that citizens feel out of touch with the people they've elected to City Council is hardly revolutionary.
It was implicit in Mayor David Bowers' 1992 campaign theme of "taking back" City Hall for the people. The idea resurfaced again during 1994 council elections, when four candidates offered ideas for connecting with citizens.
There may be any number of reasons why citizens feel a "disconnect" from the people they've elected to City Council:
* Although community workshops on issues such as rental inspections and greenways have produced large turnouts, few citizens show up at most council meetings.
That may be because council usually meets when many people are at work - between noon and 6 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of each month. The exception is a public hearing at 7 p.m. the third Monday of every month.
"I find it deplorable that City Council has their meetings at 2 in the afternoon," said Judy Mitchell, a Northwest Roanoke resident. "If they are really interested in what the citizens think, they would have their meetings at a time when normal people can go to them and have their voices heard."
* Although votes are always taken in public, City Council frequently has decided issues in "executive sessions" out of the public's view. Consequently, the public has a hard time understanding why council members vote the way they do.
"I think council is too quick to go behind closed doors, way too quick," said Kermit Salyer, a college librarian who lives in Southwest Roanoke.
* Council hasn't begun broadcasting its meetings on cable television, although broadcasts probably will begin next month. The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors has been televising its meetings for more than a year.
* A "visioning" process in which council has been engaged for 14 months hasn't solicited one iota of input from the public on where it thinks Roanoke should be heading. Only council members, City Manager Bob Herbert, his department directors and council-appointed officers have attended the meetings that have produced a draft "vision."
Council's efforts toward the draft have been only "a beginning," Councilwoman Linda Wyatt said. The real work, she added, will begin when the public is brought in to comment on the draft later this year.
"The process is to build a relationship directly between council and citizens of this community where they interact, build a partnership and see council members as directly responsive and responsible to them," Wyatt said. The vision "is not owned by the council and by the city administration. It will be owned by the citizens of Roanoke."
* The city government employs two people to run the Neighborhood Partnership, which is supposed to network with community organizations and keep the administration and council informed of residents' concerns.
But leaders of 15 neighborhood organizations decided last month to form a separate "Presidents Council," which would meet directly with City Council members. The reason: They worried that the partnership, an arm of the city administration, wasn't fully communicating their concerns to council.
* Citizens can call council members at their homes or businesses whenever they wish. But more often than not, they don't.
Councilman Jack Parrott, for instance, says he averages three to four calls per week, mostly from people he knows.
On the other hand, some community activists get scores of phone calls per week from concerned citizens. Whatever you think of their agendas, these unelected and self-appointed volunteers build community networks that bring them closer to average residents than elected council members appear to be.
The Rev. Charles Green, leader of the Roanoke chapter of the NAACP, says he gets upwards of 25 phone calls a day, most of them on city issues. Perneller Chubb-Wilson, president of the Roanoke chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, estimates she gets hundreds of calls a week - many of them on city issues.
"The thing of it is, I think people call me because I'm direct," she said. "I tell them the truth, whether they like it or not. People like to have somebody ... who can relate to what's going on in their life."
Often, Wilson added, she refers them to Mayor David Bowers.
The ward system
Would a modified ward system make people feel more connected?
Proponents of the city's at-large system have argued for years that it provides the best representation. That's because the at-large system gives every resident seven representatives on City Council, instead of only one.
Council members who depend only on votes from a single district might be inclined to ignore other areas of the city, at-large advocates say. Even worse, wards could lead to turf battles or vote-trading, giving politics a bigger role in city policy-making.
But critics have contended that the at-large system caters to the "haves" - influential residents able to raise the comparatively large amounts of money that it takes to finance a citywide campaign.
It also allows at-large council members to safely ignore the concerns of one particular community, opponents say.
But perhaps the most compelling argument against the at-large system is the idea advanced by Rodney Lewis, a lifelong Roanoker who lives in Northwest: The way things stand, he said, no council member is accountable for representing anybody.
"You get people that maybe live ... in a certain part of town, and they're concerned about their part of town first and everybody else second, but if you don't have somebody to represent you, you're going to get stepped on," Lewis said.
That point was driven home at a Wednesday candidates' forum sponsored by the Central Council PTA, an umbrella group of Parent-Teacher Associations from schools across the city.
"The question I want to ask is: `What area do you represent?''' said Vicky DiProsperis, who lives off Williamson Road and has a child at Lincoln Terrace Elementary School. ``Because I want to know who I should call.''
All of the candidates answered that they would represent everyone.
A ward system "might make a difference," Mike Rhodes said. A council member "would know who he was responsible to, and I would know who to call. I never even thought about it until just now."
"If you had that connection with a council member, you could address education or snow removal or this or that or the other," said Wadsworth, a mother of three who's been active in PTA activities.
"You would have a place to start," Schlueter said.
All 10 of the council candidates have pledged to vote for a referendum on a modified ward system. Even the ones who think the change would be bad say the issue ought to be decided by the voters.
Citizens have heard those promises before, however. As of July 1, 1994, all seven council members had promised to vote for a referendum. When it came to a vote in March 1995, though, they voted 5-2 against it.
Nevertheless, the idea seems to be catching on again. The current council has scheduled an April 22 public hearing about it.
Other suggestions
What else could council do to be more connected? Beyond a ward system, several citizens offered ideas.
Barry May, a salesman for a Roanoke Valley tool distributor, said the feeling of "disassociation" he has with council members and other politicians stems from the notion that politicians don't really care what the average citizen thinks.
But the Northeast homeowner said he might feel differently if council members had regular mailings to solicit the views of residents.
"If there were something handed to me in the form of a letter that I had the opportunity to express my opinion on, I would probably do it," May said. "Just volunteering my input verbally or attending a meeting, I don't feel comfortable doing that."
Deborah Jones, a city schoolteacher from Northwest, says she trusts the council members she knows on a personal level.
That "makes a big difference," Jones said. ``... They can let us know them personally by telling us personal things about them ... [and] what they want and what they plan to do. City councilmen, I don't think they do that, and I have been to meetings."
Schlueter, who currently works as a substitute teacher, suggested simply that council members go out in the community and get acquainted with residents.
"I think what they need to do is some kind of an outreach program in the communities," he said. "The School Board, I know, has started to do that, and council may want to look at that."
Have a question for the Roanoke City Council candidates? Let us know so we can follow up. Write Dan Casey, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010, or e-mail dcaseyinfi.net, or fax 981-3346.
LENGTH: Long : 207 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. ARE YOU REPRESENTED? ``Do they have communityby CNBmeetings? Do council members ever come out in the community? I've
never seen anything.'' - Jim Schlueter. 2. ``I've never had any
connection with council members. But I do feel connected to my
congressman in my district. Maybe if I had a councilman who
represented my area, I might feel that connection.'' - Mike Rhodes.
3. ``If you had that connection with a council member, you could
address education or snow removal or this or that or the other. You
would know who to call.'' - Susan Wadsworth. 4. ``You get people
that are concerned about their part of town first and everybody else
comes second. But if you don't have somebody to represent you, then
you're going to get stepped on.'' - Rodney Lewis. 5. ``I don't think
they know what we really care about.'' - Joan Shannon. 6. ``I've
never called a councilman for an issue with the city. But I feel
very comfortable with the idea that I could.'' - Tom Schroeder. 7.
``Contrary to that, I feel disassociated with them. I feel if I were
to attend a meeting and be in a position to present my case, for
whatever it may be, it would fall on deaf ears.'' - Barry May. 8.
``The councilmen that I do know personally are those I've dealt with
in issues other than city issues. And it makes a big difference.'' -
Deborah Jones. color.