To help promote an informed citizenry, The Roanoke Star asked the three candidates running to be Roanoke City’s next mayor the following question.
What do you believe are the 3 biggest challenges now facing Roanoke City, and what do you plan to do to remedy these challenges, if you win?
Today’s interview is with David Bowers. Bowers earlier served three terms as mayor as a Democrat and one an an independent. He is now seeking to return to office as a Republican. His answers are below.
Issue 1: Many are Now Afraid to Live in Roanoke City
“For the first time in my life, and in my long public service to the people of Roanoke, I’m hearing Roanokers say that they are afraid to live in Roanoke. I know a senior citizen couple in South Roanoke who won’t walk on the Greenway late in the afternoon because the homeless are hanging out under the bridges, and they’re taunting them and drinking and carrying on.
“There’s an African-American teenager in Northwest Roanoke whom I’m representing; she won’t walk her dog around the block after school because of the gangs in her neighborhood. I talked with a young couple in Wasena. The guy says they’ve lived in that house two years, and they really love the house, but his wife is afraid to go into the backyard with the dog or to take the trash out at night, because of some kind of activity that might be going on in the neighborhood or up in the alley behind their house.
“And probably the most searing memory I have is of a guy who worked two jobs and has two children. He lives over in Southeast Roanoke, and he said he’s afraid that the house next door, which is empty and boarded-up, is nonetheless sometimes occupied by the homeless. And he’s concerned that in the winter these squatters may start a fire there to keep warm, and the fire, because the houses are so close to each other in Southeast/Belmont, his house with his wife, two children, and pets might also catch fire.
“My position is that Roanoke should help provide food and shelter for every homeless person or family, with particular emphasis on supporting and protecting our veterans. However, the homeless are not helpless, and they should know that we expect them to strive to be good citizens, just like the rest of us, with compassionate consideration, they must abide by the laws of our Commonwealth as everyone of us.”
Issue 2: Mass Rezoning Scheme
“If elected, on Day 1, in January 2025, I will vote to repeal this ridiculous new rezoning law. It was just passed by City Council a month ago; they started the process several months ago and it lingered and floundered all through the summer. This new voting scheme, which Joe Cobb refers to as “Equalization,” I refer to as the “Commercialization” of our neighborhoods. It is, in my opinion, the worst decision made by any Roanoke City Council in fifty years.
“When people buy a house, they do so because they can afford it, and the [spouse] likes the house. But they also buy that house because they like the neighborhood. And under the old law, that’s been in place for fifty years, if someone wanted to chop up their house into apartments or tear it down and build townhouses, they’d have to file a petition with the City government for a variance of the zoning law. And then proper notice, due process, would be provided to all the neighbors in the neighborhood, and there would have to be a hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals down at Roanoke City Hall, and if all the neighbors came out and said, “We don’t want chopped-up apartments in that single-family home, we don’t want it to be torn down and townhouses replace it,” then most likely the Board of Zoning Appeals would refuse the request for a variance. And the owners of the home would continue to have a single-family home.
“But under the new law, that whole process is gone. Because under the new law approved by Roanoke City Council, anybody can lickety-split take their single-family home and chop it up into apartments!
“I’m told where my wife and I live, over on Mill Mountain, we could put three to six apartment units in our corner house. And I once told her, “I don’t know where everybody would park.” And my wife said, “What would you do with all the trash cans?” We have two trash cans, so if we chopped up our house into six apartments or added an addition or whatever, that could be twelve to fourteen trash cans, and they couldn’t fit on the street, because that would be full of parked cars, and so the sanitation trucks couldn’t pick up the trash anyway!”
Issue 3: Education and its Funding
“I’d like to spend more time discussing how Roanoke City Council recently gave themselves a 90% pay raise, and that they botched the City Manager selection process to the point where it’s already cost the taxpayers $500,000!
“But my third issue has to do with the schools.
“Roanoke City Council, back in the spring, ditched the compromise 40% rule, which was started by Dave Trinkle, who was Vice Mayor ten years ago.
“That [40% funding compromise] did a couple of good things. One, it meant that the school system had a good idea from year to hear what their revenues coming in would be. So it provided some positive, clear expectations of the way they could spend the money. Two, it reduced the bickering between City Council and the School Board. We had that rule for the last ten years until our present City Council decided to ditch that idea and instead of a formula, the City Council and the School Board are going to have to negotiate a [new] budget each spring.
“So the second difficulty that this vote by Council last spring causes is that we will once again have bickering and politicking, I believe, between the School Board and the City Council. That [disputing] was eliminated by having this 40% formula. And we could allow the School Board to concentrate on what they do best, which is educating the children of our City, and providing good resources and pay for teachers and other employees.
“But now we’re going back to the old way which was not a good way, and [former Vice Mayor] Dave Trinkle realized that and that’s why he made this proposal that was adopted ten years ago, the 40% rule, so that the School Board knows what they’re going to get and the City Council knows what they’re going to give.”
The last day to vote is Tuesday, Nov. 5.