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

DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993                   TAG: 9403230006
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAST OF CHARACTERS IN ROANOKE'S GAS WAR

You don't need a program to know the players, but you may need one to keep track of whose side they're on. One reason the dispute between the city and Roanoke Gas is so intense is that the key players are a small group of people who have worked closely with one another in the past, but now are on opposite sides. Here's who's who:

\ JOHN WILLIAMSON: Roanoke Gas Co.'s vice president for rates and finance. Former Botetourt County administrator. Knows Roanoke Valley government and its players, including Roanoke City Manager Bob Herbert. Hired by Roanoke Gas, partly because of his government experience, to deal with contract negotiations such as this one.

ROBERT W. GLENN Jr.: Roanoke Gas Co. vice president for marketing and strategic planning. Glenn is perhaps better known, though, for his chairmanship of the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority and its occasional role in city economic development efforts; his close political alliance with Roanoke Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr.; his help in recruiting industrial prospects on behalf of the city, notably the unsuccessful campaign to land Norfolk Southern Corp.'s national customer service center. Sometimes mentioned as a possible candidate for City Council.

BEVERLY FITZPATRICK Jr.: Roanoke vice mayor. Former vice president for economic development at Dominion Bankshares Corp., Fitzpatrick is widely considered a ``business Democrat'' in local, even state, political circles. Glenn played a key role in Fitzpatrick's recent re-election campaign, and Fitzpatrick has worked closely with Glenn on recent industrial development projects. Has come out against city's moves to explore acquisition of the gas company.

BOB HERBERT: Roanoke city manager. Generally considered a friend of business and development interests in the city. Herbert, under pressure from City Council to identify ways to increase revenue without raising tax rates, spearheads the city's recommendation to explore acquisition of the gas company. A self-described friend of Roanoke Gas' Williamson, Herbert feels ``blind-sided'' by the company's public relations blitz.

JOHN LAMBERT: Principal in John Lambert Associates Inc., a Roanoke public relations firm usually found at the center of most high-profile issues throughout the Roanoke and New River valleys. In the past, he's worked on projects with the city, now he's representing Roanoke Gas and orchestrating the public-relations campaign against the city. Lambert's previous roles include: representing a group of valley business and political leaders - including the city - that advocates construction of a ``smart road'' between Virginia Tech and Interstate 81; representing Tech and Renew Roanoke in its public fund-raising campaign on behalf of Hotel Roanoke; representing the Roanoke Valley Business Council in its effort to craft a strategic economic vision for Western Virginia.

DAVID BOWERS: Elected mayor in 1992 on a populist platform that vowed to take back City Hall for ``the people'' of Roanoke. Long considered hostile to business interests, Bowers has made economic development efforts - and the campaign to reopen Hotel Roanoke - top priority for the city and called for a coalition with business leaders. But his rivalry with Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick, a favorite son of business interests, has exploded in recent days, with Bowers condemning Fitzpatrick for his support of Roanoke Gas Co.

by CNB