ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090033
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
TURNOUTS were pitiful and the status quo was upheld. That pretty much sums up the results of municipal elections Tuesday in the Roanoke and New River valleys.
Voters clearly preferred familiar names and familiar faces. If there was dissatisfaction with business as usual, it manifested itself in low turnouts rather than a strong anti-incumbent mood among those who did make it to the polls. Lackluster participation, though, isn't only unfortunate in itself. It also clouds the results.
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers was among the re-elected. Some had thought he might be in trouble due to defections from the coalition that helped put him in the post four years ago. Voters proved them wrong. As it turned out, Bowers' 5-4 margin this year was similar to that of '92.
However, only 30 percent of the city's registered voters went to the polls this year, down from 47 percent four years ago. If you also figure in those who could be registered and aren't, turnout was less than 20 percent of the city's adult population. That's a shame.
And participation was no better elsewhere. In Christiansburg, the election was seen by many as a referendum on the status quo, and the eight-man field for three Town Council seats was unusually large. But only 20 percent of registered voters cast ballots. Even that looked like a groundswell compared with Blacksburg's turnout of 11 percent of registered voters.
In Roanoke, with three incumbents not seeking a return to City Council, turnover was inevitable. Even so, voters seemed to stick with familiarity to the extent they could. Hence the strong showing of School Board Chairman Nelson Harris, in a separate race to finish an unexpired council term.
Hence, too, the re-election of Councilwoman Linda Wyatt, who led the field as the only incumbent in a race for three four-year seats. Also winning a seat was Jim Trout, who has served on council in the past.
The election of Carroll Swain, a newcomer to politics, might seem an exception to the familiarity rule. (David Lisk, a former councilman, did not win a council seat.) But the trend at play here may have been a return to party-line voting in Roanoke, where the Democratic ticket swept. How else to explain the failure of Alvin Nash, a black Republican with a lot going for him, to gain one of the seats?
In Salem, the status quo was endorsed in the form of incumbents Alex Brown and Howard Packett, who were re-elected. Police Chief Harry Haskins, a newcomer to electoral politics, led the race for three seats - but he is more than familiar to Salemites.
In Christiansburg, several reform candidates had called for faster-paced development of new recreational facilities, including a municipal swimming pool. But not so fast. Voters re-elected incumbents Scott Weaver and Wayne Booth, and chose Richard Ballengee, who essentially had endorsed the current council's policies, to fill the third, open seat.
More of the same happened in Blacksburg's largely issueless election, in which incumbents Michael Chandler and Frances Parsons were re-elected. Ron Rordam, a local businessman who has served on the town's planning commission, was chosen to fill a third seat.
Congratulations are in order to both winners and nonwinners. The winners have been granted an opportunity to begin or continue public service in elective office. The nonwinners can take pride in the fact that they willingly assumed the burden of playing an active role in a fundamental exercise of democracy.
But little pride can be taken in the fact that, for whatever reason, the vast majority of citizens in this region chose not to do their part by voting.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines KEYWORDS: ELECTIONby CNB