Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303060312
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CANDIDATE COUNTING ON GRASS ROOTS
Marsha Compton Fielder apparently will try to copy part of Roanoke Mayor David Bowers' strategy.She will take her campaign for the Democratic nomination for commissioner of revenue directly to voters.
Like Bowers in his successful bid for mayor last year, Fielder begins as an underdog - without the support of party leaders.
Most of the city's Democratic officials favored Councilman Howard Musser for mayor.
Now these same officials are backing Fielder's opponent, David Anderson, assistant city treasurer who has worked for the city for 24 years.
Nearly a dozen Democratic leaders appeared with Anderson when he announced last month that he was seeking the nomination.
When Fielder announced on Thursday that she was running, nearly 100 people gathered on the steps of the Municipal Building to hear her speak. But there were no party leaders in the crowd.
Among those at the news conference were the Rev. Charles Anderson Green, president of the Roanoke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Evelyn Bethel, president of Historic Gainsboro. Bethel led the fight against the Wells Avenue realignment project in Gainsboro.
Green and Bethel said Friday they are supporting Fielder because they believe "fresh new ideas and young blood" are needed in city hall.
The contest is a replay of a fight in 1989 when Anderson beat Fielder for the party nomination for the same post.
Anderson lost to Republican Jerome Howard, who is retiring this year after 28 years in the post that pays more than $60,000 a year.
Anderson, 49, said Friday he expects to have the support of most Democratic officeholders.
Fielder and her campaign manager, Tim Shock, acknowledge they Fielder face an uphill battle to win support among party chiefs.
"I've touched base with [and talked with] some of them, but I don't have any commitments from them," Fielder said Friday. "The city Democratic Committee is a close-knit group and it's hard to get them to change their minds." Fielder, 32, said she will try to appeal to a broad range of Democrats to win the nomination. "I'm going to be outreaching to all types of people and groups."
Shock said he's not surprised that Anderson has the backing of party leaders. "He has been working with them for more than 20 years and I would expect them."
Fielder will also try to counter the perception that she is an outsider, a Roanoke County employee who wants one of the top posts in the city.
She lives in the city, but she has worked in the commissioner of revenue's office in the county for 13 years. Her boss has been her father, Wayne Compton, county commissioner of revenue.
Even though she works for the county, she can run for the city office. The only requirement is that she be a registered voter and reside in the city on the date she becomes a candidate.
Shock, who helped run John Fishwick's unsuccessful campaign for Congress last year, said Fielder will seek a broad base of support, including black voters and labor unions who helped Bowers win the mayoral nomination.
"By the end of the campaign, we hope to have support from all segments of the community," Shock said. He was encouraged by the turnout for the kickoff of the campaign, describing it as a cross section of voters.
The Democrats will choose a nominee at a mass meeting on May 15. The candidate with the most supporters at the meeting will be the nominee.
"In the end, it depends on the number of people you have at the meeting, not who they are," Shock said. "Everyone has only one vote - regardless of whether it is the mayor or anyone else."
The Rev. Carl Tinsley, chairman of the city Democratic Committee, said he also believes that most party leaders will back Anderson.
"He has worked with them over the years and they know him,"Tinsley said.
Anderson has cited his experience in city government, saying it has given him a full understanding of the duties required of the commissioner of revenue.
Fielder has also pointed to her 13 years of experience in the county commissioner's office.
The commissioner of revenue levies business, personal property and real estate taxes and processes applications for business, professional and occupational licenses. The commissioner also administers the real-estate tax freeze for elderly homeowners.
Keywords:
POLITICS