Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992 TAG: 9202170257
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER/MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MUSSER NOT SAME CANDIDATE HE WAS<
HOWARD MUSSER was once a populist outsider who accused city government of neglecting taxpayers. Now he prides himself on his ability to work quietly within the system.Roanoke Vice Mayor Howard Musser was an outsider who has almost become an insider on City Council.
When Musser was running for council a decade ago, he complained about rising property assessments and high real estate taxes.
He charged that council members were giving too much attention to downtown revitalization and too little to neighborhood issues and basic services such as police, fire and garbage collection.
A Democrat, Musser said council was too closely aligned with downtown businessmen and was trying to run the city like a business. He claimed council members were ignoring the financial pressures on working-class voters.
He cast himself as an advocate for the average taxpayer, caught in a financial crunch and burdened with rising taxes. He said "more common sense and fewer frills" were needed in city government.
Now, Musser is running for mayor, and some of the people he criticized 10 years ago are praising him.
Mayor Noel Taylor and Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles attended Musser's news conference recently when he said he would seek his party's nomination for mayor. Yet Taylor and Bowles, both Republicans, were on council in 1982 when Musser criticized the city's spending policies and won a council seat.
The Republicans said their presence at the news conference didn't necessarily mean they will endorse Musser, but Taylor described him as one of the city's outstanding political leaders.
During his early years on council, Musser cultivated a populist image and pressed for cuts in the real estate tax rate. In the late 1970s, before winning a council seat, he helped organize a taxpayers' group that protested rising property assessments and demanded tax cuts.
Fueled by that protest, Musser and the Democrats ousted most of the pro-business council members who had been part of Roanoke Forward, a ticket backed by a business owners' coalition that won all seven council seats in 1976.
The Roanoke Forward council included both Democrats and Republicans, but all ran on a non-partisan basis. Taylor and Bowles are the only remaining members of that council, which spurred downtown revitalization and other economic development projects.
A retired finance supervisor at General Electric's Salem plant, Musser has remained popular with taxpayers' groups because he has consistently supported tax cuts.
Despite his ties with the taxpayers' movement, Musser has developed a more pro-commerce image in recent years. He has supported an aggressive economic-development program and most downtown renewal projects, including the Dominion Tower.
In a high-profile disagreement with Councilman David Bowers, his opponent in the fight for the Democratic nomination for mayor, Musser voted to raze the Jefferson Street leg of the Hunter Viaduct to provide a site for the office tower. Bowers opposed closing the viaduct, casting the only dissenting vote.
Musser thinks city officials must continue their efforts to attract businesses and industries to help expand the tax base. They also need to encourage the construction of new middle- and upper-income housing so people of all income levels will have the chance to buy a house in the city, he said.
During his last two campaigns, Musser has received campaign contributions from several businessmen who traditionally make donations to pro-business GOP candidates.
Warner Dalhouse, Dominion Bankshares chairman, said Musser is well regarded in the business community and can expect a lot of support from business leaders if he is the Democratic nominee.
"The people who know him think that his business background and maturity would help make him a good mayor," said Dalhouse, who helped put together the Roanoke Forward council.
But one of Musser's problems is that he is not well known among business leaders, despite 10 years on council, Dalhouse said. Many of Musser's supporters are not the kind of people who attend mass meetings or other partisan events, he said.
Of the candidates in the mayoral race so far, Dalhouse said Musser would be his choice.
Still, Musser makes some business leaders apprehensive because they recall his ties to the taxpayers' movement and the anti-business mood of some voters. He understands their anxiety.
"I came on council as a taxpayers' candidate, and some people thought I was some kind of two-headed monster or something because of that," he said. "I think some business leaders may still view me that way."
Musser still favors tax cuts when the city can afford it. But City Council must make sure that the city remains economically viable and that municipal workers are adequately paid before it makes more tax cuts, he said.
The city needs corporations such as Dominion Bankshares and Norfolk Southern Corp., and city officials should try to work with them, not alienate them with political attacks, Musser said.
On the other hand, business leaders have more anxiety about Bowers because of his reputation for being feisty, partisan and independent-minded. Sometimes he refers to business leaders as the "big money boys."
Musser says the biggest issue in the campaign is who can provide "responsible leadership." He subtly points to differences in age and experience between him and Bowers and suggests that Bowers lacks the maturity and political style that will be needed in the next four years.
Musser, white-haired and 62, has been on council for 9 1/2 years and active in Democratic politics for 30 years. Bowers is 39 and has been on council for 7 1/2 years.
He said Bowers has used council meetings sometimes as a political forum to attack business leaders and other groups when he thinks it would benefit him politically.
Musser has the backing of most Democratic officeholders: council members Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. and James Harvey, Sheriff Alvin Hudson and Treasurer Gordon Peters. Their support could be crucial to him in getting a large turnout of party members to Saturday's mass meeting to vote for him.
"What I like about him is that he puts the city first. It is no big glory for him to be running for mayor, and he doesn't have any political ambitions beyond being mayor," Harvey said.
"It is a difference in style between him and David," Harvey added. "Howard works quietly behind the scenes to get things done, while David is more outspoken and confrontational."
Musser, who is now working as a real estate agent since he retired from GE, said his leadership style is similar to the city's past two mayors - Taylor and Roy Webber.
"I like to work behind the scenes to present problems [to city administrators] that are referred to me by citizens and other groups and not be vocal in public during the council sessions which may be misleading at times," he said.
Musser has been in the news frequently in recent years because he was one of the city's negotiators in the development of a plan for consolidating the city with Roanoke County. County voters rejected merger, but city voters approved it.
There is no disagreement between Musser and Bowers on the consolidation issue. For nearly a decade, Bowers has been one of the most vocal advocates of merger. He was one of the city's original consolidation negotiators, but he withdrew after a controversy developed over his role in a campaign to build support for combining the city and county.
During the consolidation negotiations, Musser said he became convinced that the city and county should be combined for the long-range economic health of the Roanoke Valley.
Musser worked closely with Fitzpatrick in representing the city in the talks. Fitzpatrick has high praise for Musser and his willingness to spend so much time tutoring him on the complexities of the issues.
Musser, a past chairman of the Virginia Municipal League's Education Policy Committee, said city officials must give adequate attention to schools, especially in making sure each child receives a proper education.
"We cannot allow children to be categorized as disruptive, disinterested and hopeless, and have them segregated," he said.
Musser has been a frequent critic of School Superintendent Frank Tota. He wants Tota to stay out of politics and be less vocal on controversial issues. In turn, Tota supporters and PTA leaders have accused Musser of being anti-education. But he has denied the charge, saying that his record on school funding shows he is pro-education.
If he wins the mayor's post, Musser said he has no delusions about replacing Taylor.
"The best anyone can do is to hope to have the maturity, experience and dedication to fill the void that will be left by his retirement."
Musser factbox
HOWARD E. MUSSER Age: 62. Occupation: Retired from General Electric after 34 years as a supervisor in the Finance Department. Now working as a real estate agent with Owens & Co. Realtors. Hometown: Smyth County, but has lived in Roanoke for 45 years. Education: Emory & Henry College, education degree. Political: Has served on City Council for 10 years. Was vice mayor three times. 1982-84, 1986-88, and 1990-present. Positions held while in public office: chairman of: Virginia Municipal League Education Policy Committee, War Memorial Committee, Roanoke Valley Regional Cablevision Committee, City Personnel Committee and consolidation negotiator for the city. Military history: Disabled veteran of the Korean War; member of Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. Family: Wife, Kitty. Two children, Jennifer Saul and Sandra Barham; two stepchildren, Brandol Boitnott and Dean Boitnott. Quote: "My method of operating is somewhat like that of Mayor Taylor and former Mayor Roy Webber in that I like to work behind the scenes to present problems that are referred to me by citizens and other groups, not be vocal in public during the council sessions, which may be misleading at times. As long as it gets accomplished, I am satisfied."
Keywords:
POLITICS