ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605030026
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
CHOOSING Roanoke's next mayor may be, for many city voters, an unhappy task.
On one hand, the credibility of the mercurial incumbent, Democrat David Bowers, hasn't exactly ballooned during his first term. On the other hand, there are reasons why his challenger, Republican Pat Green, is an unknown quantity.
And yet, choose a mayor the voters must. After weighing the candidates not against wishful ideals, but against each other, this newspaper recommends the re-election of Bowers.
To begin with, we're not upset by some features of Bowers' record that so offend his supporters-turned-detractors.
Neither his failure to push for a modified ward system of elections, nor his inability to secure union jobs in the Hotel Roanoke's rehab, bother us. We don't favor the former; on the latter, we never imagined he'd have an impact.
If Bowers hasn't always toed the Roanoke Education Association line, that's not an "F" in our book. If his support for Wells Avenue realignment turned off Gainsboro activists, so be it. If his willingness to listen to business people has prompted cries of betrayal, too bad. The way we figure it, working stiffs have as much a stake in job creation as the "big money boys" do.
Nor are we ones to belittle the vigor with which this irrepressible pol pursues the pomp and ceremony of his duties. In representing the city, Bowers devotes a lot of time to addressing functions, welcoming conventioneers, leading council meetings. It's a key mayoral role, which he seems to relish performing.
No question, Bowers has proved less accomplished at the quieter work of building council majorities and community coalitions to get things done. He floats ideas - his and other people's; everything from a "smart road" office park to a joint city-county high school. All of which is fine, except that getting his name in the news doesn't always take a proposal far.
Bowers has, however, helped with some important initiatives, including the landmark hotel's renovation, improvements to the transportation museum, and creation of a statewide alliance of business leaders and municipal officials hoping to restructure local government in Virginia.
No question, too, the lawyer-
politician has shown an impulsive, combative, petulant streak, along with a need to seize the limelight. It's no wonder, for instance, that some Roanoke County residents discern a craving for control and status behind his talk about regional cooperation.
For that matter, we aren't prepared to dismiss as trivial or purely private a 1994 incident in which his wife, since divorced, called 911 during a domestic argument. The mayor phoned back to cancel the call. While no one was physically hurt, dispatchers did violate city policy by not referring his wife's 911 request to police.
And yet, once again, for all our reservations, voters Tuesday will be gauging Bowers against another guy on the ballot. It's a shame Republicans failed to muster stronger opposition.
Green, who owns a small business that sells credit insurance and auto-refinishing products to car dealers, is a genial enough candidate, but new to politics. He combines scant knowledge of city government with an apparent desire to micromanage its workings - to run it, he says, "like a business."
He suggests, for example, making Valley Metro profitable. Never mind that the ailing bus system is a service, not a business. On a host of issues, we fear, Green might be even less likely than Bowers to nurture consensus.
Voters needing consolation may find it in the city charter, according to which, ceremony and symbolism aside, the mayor's is but one vote on council.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS MAYOR ENDORSEMENTby CNB