Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 13, 1993 TAG: 9308130300
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE and STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I don't think there could be any realistic expectation that the consolidation of governments can take place anytime soon," said Warner Dalhouse, chairman of First Union National Bank of Virginia.
"Consolidation is a great idea, but the county voters said no overwhelmingly," said Jim Hopkins, who helped lead the pro-consolidation campaign three years ago.
"The thing I can't understand is the timing. Why bring it up now?"
One consolidation supporter - Roanoke County state Sen. Brandon Bell - contends that Bowers' one-man campaign is doing more harm than good.
Bell, a Republican, says valley governments cannot work together on important ventures, such as expanding the regional sewage treatment plant, if Bowers insists on raising emotional, divisive issues such as consolidation and annexation.
"I ask Mayor Bowers to stop this destructive action," Bell said Thursday at a news conference. "It is counterproductive and hurts relations not only with the county, but harms the city as well.
"This approach makes better cooperation more of a dream than a reality."
Bowers, a Democrat, says he does not understand what all the fuss is about.
"I have no comment, other than to say that the senator is entitled to his own view, which has changed from time to time," Bowers said.
Bowers referred to the fact that Bell, before his election to the Virginia Senate in 1991, led the petition drive to place the consolidation issue on the ballot in Roanoke and Roanoke County three years ago.
Bell contends there is nothing inconsistent with his past support for consolidation and his current position.
"My interest then as a private citizen was for the issue to be decided once and for all," Bell said. "It was. It was soundly defeated.
"I felt, with the issue out of the way, we could begin to truly work together. Mayor Bowers' suggestion that we revisit the issue severely harms future progress."
Bowers believes that Roanoke must either merge with the surrounding county, expand through annexation or attract more state funds to draw new industry and deliver the services needed in a core city.
Earlier this month, Bowers began a series of meetings with Roanoke County residents to hear their concerns and to make his case for consolidation.
"I don't know what the final result of all this will be, but I certainly believe that talking with people is always positive and productive," he said.
"My efforts, I think, are to build bridges. I'm getting a very positive response."
The response from the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, however, has been anything but positive.
Vinton District Supervisor Harry Nickens accuses Bowers of pursuing a hidden agenda - to gobble up the county. Hollins District Supervisor Bob Johnson suggests that Bowers must be slow-witted or bullheaded if he can't figure out what county voters - who rejected a city-county merger by nearly 75 percent - think about consolidation.
Bell says that Bowers' efforts have poisoned the city-county dialogue and could undermine future cooperation on issues of mutual concern, such as the sewage treatment plant.
"The city's problems will not be solved by convincing county residents to pay for city government," said Bell, whose district includes the city and most of the county.
When asked if his efforts have been counterproductive to county-city cooperation, Bowers said, "How can it get any worse than it has been over the last decade?"
Few leaders of the 1990 pro-consolidation campaign would comment on Bowers' timing and strategy.
"Everybody's got his own style, and I'm not going to presume to criticize that," former Congressman M. Caldwell Butler said.
"No comment," Dalhouse said.
"I think he's off on his own crusade," said Jack Avis of Avis Construction Co. "If that helps, that's wonderful."
"I don't know if `counterproductive' is the right word," building contractor J.M. Turner said. "I don't think we have very much cooperation right now, and I'm not saying there will be any more as a result of what the mayor is doing."
Former Roanoke County Supervisor Dick Robers says he finds no fault with Bowers because selling consolidation to county voters will take several years.
"Maybe talking about it now is a good idea," Robers said.
Hopkins, a Piedmont Aviation Services manager who was transferred to Norfolk earlier this year, says he cannot understand why Bowers continues to press the issue.
"If Roanoke is serious about this, they would simply surrender the city charter," Hopkins said. "But I don't think Roanoke City Council is ready to do that.
"What is David up to? I would love to know."
by CNB