ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 7, 1996 TAG: 9605070097
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TODAY, in dozens of Virginia municipalities, voters - a few, anyway - will troop to the polls to elect mayors, members of city and town councils, and school-board members. (The precise mix of offices on the ballot depends on the locality.)
Sadly, it will be the rare place where as many as a quarter of the adult population will have voted by the time the polls close at 7 p.m. In most places, the turnout will be far less.
One reason for this unhappy tradition is the belief of some that local elections don't matter. In fact, they do - and may well matter more now than before.
Granted, mayors and city or town councils do not settle grand issues of war and peace, do not determine national fiscal policy, are constrained by state and federal governments in what they can and cannot do.
Even so, local government traditionally has considerable responsibility for many of the services that most directly affect citizens, from trash collection to police protection, from street-lights to schools. Moreover, the devolution of power from the federal to the state levels, and from state to local levels, will increase the powers - and burdens - of local government.
In an update last month, the Virginia Municipal League identified four major areas - housing, transportation, community and economic development, and public safety - where projected budget-cutting on the federal level would have an impact on local governments. Increasingly, it appears, local government is where much of the action will be.
Nor can residents of the Roanoke and New River valleys complain this year of a lack of choices. Vinton, where Mayor Charles Hill and two incumbent Town Council members are unopposed for re-election, is the exception rather than the rule.
In Roanoke, incumbent David Bowers and challenger Pat Green are vying for mayor. Eight candidates are running for four at-large City Council seats - six in a race for three seats, and two in a separate contest to fill the remaining two years of an unexpired term. Only one of the eight is an incumbent.
In Salem, five candidates are in a contest for three City Council seats. Two are incumbents, so the election of at least one newcomer is assured.
In Christiansburg, two incumbents are among eight candidates for three Town Council seats. In Blacksburg, two incumbents are among four candidates for three Town Council seats. In Radford, there are only two candidates for two City Council seats, but four people are seeking two seats on the elected School Board.
Other municipalities in the region with contested elections include Bedford, Boones Mill, Dublin, Glen Lyn, Pearisburg and Pulaski.
While political weariness on Virginians' part is understandable, given the state's bizarre calendar of incessant elections, simply not voting is no answer. Too much is at stake, and the competition too keen, to sit out the balloting today.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS CITY COUNCIL MAYORby CNB