ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, July 2, 1996                  TAG: 9607020058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON 

SALEM CITY COUNCIL ELECTS A NEW MAYOR

Salem City Council elected a new mayor for the first time in 22 years Monday, naming 22-year council veteran Sonny Tarpley to fill outgoing Mayor Jim Taliaferro's post.

Alex Brown, a councilman for 16 years, was named vice mayor during council's organizational meeting.

Virginia Supreme Court Justice and Salem resident Lawrence L. Koontz, Jr. swore in Brown, 12-year councilman Howard Packett and newcomer Harry Haskins to four-year terms on council.

The 5-member council then decided who would become mayor and vice mayor. Salem does not have the direct election of its mayor.

Tarpley and Brown were then sworn in as mayor and vice mayor, respectively.

The council members stressed that they must keep up the pace that Taliaferro has set for Salem. Taliaferro, who retired this year at age 60, has been praised by his peers as probably the most dynamic leader the city has ever had.

"We have to follow a legacy in our own time," Brown said. But "it's not time to slow down. It's time to move forward ... and maybe speed up a little bit."

LENGTH: Short :   32 lines