ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608120017
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
* AS A MEMBER of Roanoke City Council from 1982 to 1994, Howard Musser was neither the formal head of city government nor a full-time politician.
Yet Musser, who died Thursday at age 67, enjoyed mayoral-like influence as the informal leader of council's Democratic majorities. And when he sought the post of mayor, an ironic fate befell him that has befallen many a career politician: After first gaining office as an outsider, he eventually came to be regarded as too much the establishment insider.
There's a certain logic to the process. Musser's election in 1982 came as part of a populist reaction to the Roanoke Forward movement of the late '70s and early '80s. By 1992, when Musser failed to win the Democratic mayoral nomination to succeed retiring Republican Mayor Noel Taylor, his outsider themes of a decade earlier - lower real-estate tax rates, more attention to the city's neighborhoods - had become established policy.
Too, Musser did not have the kind of boisterous personality often associated with populist insurgents. His strengths and contributions to Roanoke lay in his diligence, his love of the city and his insistence on honesty in municipal government.
* A SALUTE - or perhaps we should just shout ``Bingo!'' - to Gov. George Allen, Lt. Gov. Don Beyer and Attorney General Jim Gilmore, for showing some gumption on gambling.
On the possibility that operators of Virginia's first horse-racing track will try to add casino-style slot machines as a come-on for gamblers, Allen said, ``Neigh.'' Should the General Assembly pass a bill authorizing slots, the governor said he'll veto it. Beyer, the likely Democratic candidate for governor next year, and Gilmore, his likely Republican opponent, said slots won't get their backing either.
``I'm very much against it. I continue to believe the movement toward gambling in Virginia is bad for us as a culture,'' said Beyer. Added Gilmore: ``If you put slots in at a track, you no longer have a horse track with slot machines. You have a casino with horses running around it.'' It's nice to hear them say it.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB