Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 21, 1993 TAG: 9308210086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Each new day of Roanoke's gas war seems more like the waning days of a presidential campaign, when dueling news conferences and orchestrated counterattacks become commonplace.
Consider Friday morning. About 24 hours after Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick called the city's possible acquisition of Roanoke Gas Co.'s assets "beyond my understanding," Mayor David Bowers responded:
"Unfortunately," Fitzpatrick's comments "may have cut the legs out from under the bargaining position of City Council, and ought not to be tolerated," the mayor told reporters gathered in his city hall office.
"What's on the line is a question of dereliction of duty to the citizens of Roanoke and the trust of members of City Council," Bowers continued. "Quite simply, a man should be good for his word."
Fitzpatrick's alleged transgression: announcing his intention to oppose a move by council to study whether it makes financial sense to acquire Roanoke Gas' assets within the city limits.
According to Bowers and other council members, Fitzpatrick concurred with an informal council decision directing city officials to continue investigating the possible takeover of Roanoke Gas.
"No one on City Council in the back room objected," Bowers said, referring to discussions conducted in executive session. "May I repeat that, no one on City Council in the back room objected."
Fitzpatrick offered a different version:
"This is interesting because we never take votes in the back room," he said in an interview. "As you know, it's illegal. I didn't break a daggone thing."
The way Fitzpatrick - Dominion Bankshares Corp.'s former vice president for economic development - sees it, any vote toward acquiring the gas company sends the wrong message to business owners. He said his reservations were made clear in executive session.
"This is a black-and-white issue," Fitzpatrick said. "There's no gray here for me, no gray."
A vote is expected Monday. With Bowers's announcement - echoed by Councilman William White - it now seems all but certain that City Council will be petitioning the State Corporation Commission to evaluate the gas company's assets with an eye toward acquisition. Three council members have signaled their intention to vote yes.
Bowers calls it a tough vote, but one a "patriot" - not "a puppet" who "bobs and weaves" - should be willing to cast. It doesn't matter that public sentiment appears to strongly oppose any effort by the city to acquire Roanoke Gas, several council members have said in recent days, complaining that residents remain poorly informed on the issue.
"This government - everything in life - must operate on trust," Bowers said, delivering a dual message about Fitzpatrick's alleged flip-flop and the impending vote.
Added White: "I ask the citizens of Roanoke to trust us to do the right thing on this issue."
Whatever its political symbolism, a "yes" vote on Monday does not mean the city has decided to take over Roanoke Gas. Indeed, several council members - Bowers and Council member Elizabeth Bowles among them - have expressed serious reservations about the city acquiring a public company.
"If they vote "yes," it will be business as usual until we're told otherwise," said Robert Glenn, senior vice president for marketing and strategic planning at Roanoke Gas. "We're not going to jack up rates - couldn't if we wanted to - and we're not going to cut service."
Even as city politicians are trading jabs, city officials and gas company executives are continuing to discuss ways to break the impasse. Thus far, Roanoke Gas has been unwilling to extend its 20-year franchise beyond its Aug. 30 expiration so long as the city is still considering acquisition.
"There have been some insinuations that we [won't] talk," Glenn said. "That's not true. We're willing to talk anytime, anywhere."
Gas company executives say wording in the franchise agreement ensuring the city's option to acquire the company's assets is archaic and was intended to protect customers from the failure of fledgling gas companies.
But Bob Cave, executive director of the Fairfax-based American Public Gas Association, said acquisition clauses can be found in many franchise agreements nationwide. And public acquisition of private gas company assets has occurred about five times in the past year alone.
"It is happening," he said. "Around the country you have many franchise agreements like Roanoke. The initial position of most [investor-owned utilities] is, `No, we don't want to sell,' and then they sit down and talk. If you can't agree on a price, then you take it to court and the court decides how much it might be worth."
by CNB