Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990 TAG: 9005110549
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Although the anti-consolidation bandwagon may be picking up speed in the county, merger proponents have not started their campaign to persuade voters to approve the plan.
They are expected to counter anti-city feelings among county residents by playing on the economic fears that surfaced in a survey of 1,000 residents in the city and county.
The pro-merger forces may also try to defuse the school issue, because Tech researchers found no relationship between county residents' views on consolidation and whether they have children in school. The Tech researchers said the lack of such a relationship was "particularly surprising" because it had been speculated that county residents with schoolchildren would be more likely to strongly oppose consolidation.
The researchers found that both city and county residents are concerned about what they see as the lack of jobs and the governments' inability to provide enough economic opportunities for young people who want to stay in the valley.
They found strong support in both localities for moderate economic growth. And there is strong evidence that consolidation advocates have studied the results and will focus their campaign in part on the jobs and growth issue.
Specifically, the survey of 500 city and 500 county residents last fall found that:
Seventy-eight percent of city residents and 69 percent of county residents were concerned about the "lack of good jobs" in the valley.
Seventy-eight percent of city residents and 57 percent of county residents believed consolidation will help create "more new jobs" because it will "make it easier for business and industry" to locate in the city and county.
Eighty-two percent of city residents and 63 percent in the county thought consolidation will help improve long-range planning.
Ninety-eight percent of city residents and 95 percent of county residents agreed that economic growth is important for a community's health.
In each locality, the residents were asked if they would like to see the valley "grow substantially larger, grow somewhat larger or stay as it is now."
Sixty percent of county residents want the valley to become "somewhat larger," and 18 percent favor "substantial growth." In the city, 54 percent of the residents want the valley to become somewhat larger, and 27 percent prefer substantial growth.
Only about 20 percent of the residents in each locality want the valley to remain as it is.
Overall, the survey showed that 49 percent of county residents supported consolidation, while 45 percent opposed it and 6 percent were undecided. In the city, 74 percent supported consolidation and 22 percent were opposed, with 5 percent undecided.
The survey has a margin of error or plus or minus 5 percent.
Tech's Center for Urban and Regional Studies conducted the telephone survey for the consolidation negotiators last September and October, before the current consolidation plan was agreed on. The results were not made public until recently.
Roanoke Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr., Del. Chip Woodrum, D-Roanoke, and Ken Robison, president of the Roanoke Jaycees, all have cited jobs and economic growth as reasons for their support of consolidation. Jobs and economic growth were a major theme in Fitzpatrick's campaign for City Council two years ago, and it was a recurring theme in the recent council campaign.
County Supervisor Harry Nickens, who says he will work to defeat the merger, has disputed the claims that consolidation would boost economic development.
The survey found that schools may not be as big an issue with county residents as some analysts had thought. The results on school issues seem to be mixed:
Fifty-four percent of county residents said they preferred separate school systems if the localities consolidate.
Among the 20 percent of county residents who strongly opposed consolidation, about one-third have children in school.
The breakdown is similar for 64 percent of county residents who were classified by the researchers as the "pivotal group" - people who are undecided or neither strongly oppose nor strongly support consolidation.
The survey also found:
No apparent relationship between county residents' attitudes on consolidation and their age or length of time they have lived in the county.
The strongest support for consolidation among middle-income residents with higher education levels and the strongest opposition among those with lower education levels.
That costs of government and the quality of services were the biggest concerns among county residents, after schools.
A majority of residents in both localities believe consolidation will improve or have no impact on the quality of services currently provided. But the researchers said a "sizable minority of county residents believe consolidation would cause a decline in service quality."
Thirty-five percent of county residents and 19 percent of city residents expect a merger to result in higher property taxes.
A majority of city and county residents think consolidation is inevitable, even if voters do not approve it this year.
by CNB