Sunday, February 24, 2008
Dowe failed to fulfill promise
Shanna Flowers
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It all began with such promise.
In 2002, Alfred Dowe was a young, black man -- then 35 -- willing to step forward as a city leader.
He was a hometown guy, a known entity; yet he was a relatively fresh face to Roanoke politics. He stood poised to make the leap from the planning commission, an appointed post, to elected office.
About a week before the Roanoke City Council election, then-Roanoke Times' Editorial Page Editor Tommy Denton noted in a column that Dowe was among several who "pose the most abundant array of talented, capable and promising council contenders in many moons."
Today, Dowe is an ex-councilman, a decent man forced out of office by his own poor judgment.
The young man on whom the city, fairly or unfairly, hung its hopes six years ago had no choice but to resign Saturday.
Public servants cannot forget their responsibility as good stewards of the taxpayers' money.
First we learned Thursday that Dowe racked up a hefty expense bill to the tune of nearly $15,000 last year.
That was bad enough.
Then evidence surfaced Friday that the public trust had been compromised, that Dowe had billed taxpayers twice for some of the money he spent last year on meals and travel.
At that point, the story took on an entirely new and more negative light and raised serious questions beyond the mere level of Dowe's spending.
And it underscored Mayor Nelson Harris' request for an audit of city council meal and travel expenses.
"I'm comfortable with people doing whatever they need to do to feel comfortable with what all of us are doing," Dowe told me in a telephone interview Thursday night. "I'm not trying to deceive nobody."
However, as news later emerged that he had billed both the city and the state for the same costs associated with five trips he took to Richmond last year, Dowe realized he had to go. Thankfully, he didn't prolong the agony -- for either his constituents, his council colleagues or himself.
That's an abrupt and harsh exit for a councilman who never met the high expectations thrust upon him but said in his resignation letter that "I have enjoyed my service over the past six years, learned much and met some great people."
Early in his first term, Dowe took a courageous stand and cast a crucial swing vote on Victory Stadium. Beyond that, his first term was largely unremarkable. He had not been a failure, but he had not been particularly active or a catalyst on major issues.
During his hard-won re-election two years ago, Dowe's constituents urged him to be more of a leader and more accessible and visible.
"I just heard from too many people, 'You got to get out in the neighborhood.' "
His desire to improve his effectiveness is admirable. But there are more ways to do that than by repeatedly traveling to state and national conferences that seemed to yield few tangible results.
He should have been more cognizant of his spending, particularly after the city clerk alerted him on several occasions about his credit-card spending.
Dowe's expenses far exceeded Harris', who spent $5,892. City Councilwoman Gwen Mason was next with $5,371; Sherman Lea spent $3,355; Vice Mayor David Trinkle had $3,148; Bev Fitzpatrick had $2,076 and Brian Wishneff spent $124.
When I spoke with Dowe last week before his resignation, he told me that as he became better known as a public official, his invitations to speak at different conferences increased.
"There was a [Virginia Municipal League] conference I had not planned on going to," he said. A member asked him to facilitate a session on youth because of some activities Roanoke has adopted with its youths, he said. That exposure, in turn, led to participation at a national conference.
At conferences, Dowe said, he also learned how other communities coped with issues such as eminent domain and immigration.
He stressed that while traveling, he acted as an ambassador for Roanoke, selling it as a good place to live.
Dowe said a conference could cost about $700 for registration. Workshops that led to certifications could add costs.
Let's assume for a minute that Dowe was charging too much, compared with the average council member. If that's true, it's also true that his charges aren't the only ones that stick out. Based on the totals, you might be able to make a case that Wishneff was not doing enough city business.
To Dowe's credit, he took a personal interest in the Emerging Leaders Workshop that brings young collegiate scholars to Roanoke for a weekend each summer. He was a fixture at many community functions.
Ideally, he would have taken the lead on pressing issues before the city council.
City voters urged him to become a more effective public official.
He attempted to do that. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of public trust.
Shanna Flowers' column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
