Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992                   TAG: 9203020217
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: E-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

90 PERCENT LACK INFLUENCE WITH COUNCIL

Your statement, "But the larger question might be whether either candidate, with their populist backgrounds, but especially Bowers, would alienate a powerful constituency: the business community," clearly stated who defines what direction our city government will go.

No reference is ever made to the 90 percent of the city population as ever having any influence with council. Outside of an individual vote, which is wasted once a councilman or mayor is elected, we have very little control over what council does.

Our council is so afraid of alienating the business community that our votes are nullified. You are always so concerned about the business community downtown for which the city is willing to spend millions of our tax dollars, to the detriment of the vast majority of taxpayers. We get the crumbs while the business community gets the juicy steaks.

You expect the taxpayer to subsidize the building of a parking garage for the Dominion Tower, renovation of the Hotel Roanoke for Virginia Tech and many other projects that benefit only the downtown business community. If there is any alienation between the business community and the general public, you can blame it on the business community and your newspaper, plus City Council.

It's no wonder you power brokers are afraid of David Bowers. We don't know if he would change his tune if elected mayor, but we know that Mr. Musser has. Mr. Musser's comment, "But as mayor you have to go down the middle," would be fine if that were true of our mayors. The mayors seem heavily weighted on the side of business. Mr. Dalhouse is concerned that business would be depicted as villainous, but that is a perception of business from its control of the majority of City Council members.

The suffering masses that you refer to in your editorial don't need your condescending comments. We do need to be recognized as people living on the fringes of downtown Roanoke who need representation that we only seem to get by Mr. Bowers. MASIS GARINIAN ROANOKE