Well, first, I’m convinced of the goodness of Roanoke’s people. In spite of mistakes, misjudgments or misdirection in the past, Roanoke usually shines through as a success story. Our people make it so!
Change is inevitable and it has been said that “all progress is change...but all change is not necessarily progress.” Roanoke always needs progressive change.
As Mayor of Roanoke in the 1990’s, I thought we had a city government responsive to a majority of our people. We worked very hard down at City Hall to LISTEN to the public, and to let our citizens, not our city administrators, SET THE AGENDA for our city.
In my opinion, that “mindset” is the FIRST and PRIMARY thing Roanoke’s government needs to do:
ALWAYS...GET BACK TO THE PEOPLE!
The “moneypeople,” those who have wealth and influence, will always have their seat at the table of local government. It’s vitally important, however, that families and working people from every neighborhood and every sector of our All-America city should also be heard, be considered and be part of the local government process.
Our local democracy will be re-energized by the greater influence of:
PEOPLE!
So, our goal should be to ask why so few people participate nowadays, and to take steps to bring more PEOPLE into Roanoke’s governmental and community decision-making. When we have representatives elected by so few Roanokers, we risk having a local government subservient to the few who do vote, instead of the majority of us who CAN vote and should vote.
Let’s face it: We need a popularly elected Mayor and City Council in Roanoke! That means that we need representatives elected by a greater number of voters...we need more Roanokers to vote in city elections. With that in mind, I propose to move city elections to November (as is done in Roanoke County). Elections in May just do not have the turnout we need to make sure Roanoke’s government is supported by its people.