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Robert Turcotte

Turcotte is a Roanoke native who has worked to improve neighborhoods and schools and to provide housing for the working poor.

During a campaign, every politician is committed to ideals. Two of the ideals we hear about time and again are a commitment to our young emerging leaders and to our schools. The reason is easy to understand. Our future rests squarely on success in these areas. Already there is laudable progress.

On May 6, Roanoke city voters spoke. In city council choices, our voters made two subtle commitments that we must understand and successfully embrace.

In electing Court Rosen to council, city residents made a commitment to change. However, I suspect that few readers of this newspaper understand the remarkable differences that Rosen and his contemporaries bring.

Those under 40 years old relate to the world in a very different way than those over 40. Rosen and his peers were raised in an era of technology that offers new, plentiful and innovative ways to connect with others.

For those under 40 years old, service groups like Kiwanis or Rotary, newspapers and television play a decreased role in social networking and information gathering. Newly effective are such tools as Facebook, blogs and e-mail. The message is clear. Baby boomers must adopt new ways or be left out as young leaders emerge.

In electing David Bowers as mayor, we have made a commitment that appears immediately to undermine worthy schools progress.

Rita Bishop returned to Roanoke less than a year ago to be Roanoke schools superintendent. She is here for two primary reasons: She loves Roanoke and she is driven to serve. There are those who say she is better than the job. As evidence, she has already shown her grasp of the remedies needed to improve our schools.

Bishop has successfully gained commitment from our school board to change schoolday start times. She has repurposed Forest Park School. She also has a multiyear project under way to redraw attendance lines to address declining student enrollment and underutilized facilities.

I respect the positive qualities that former and future Mayor Bowers has displayed. His time commitment to our city is praiseworthy. He will rarely decline when asked to appear at a public function. In the past, he has given to Roanoke causes at the expense of his legal practice.

However, before taking office he has already threatened to use budgetary leverage to stop the Forest Park repurposing. Bowers takes office on July 1. On the evening of May 12, city council met and approved the city budget and, as a result, school budgets for the year 2008-09.

With the budget decision made, the earliest Bowers could affect our school budgets would be for the fiscal year 2009-10. By then, Forest Park School will be in its second year of use as the Forest Park Academy. Bowers had no authority at the time the city budget was passed to influence the outcome. His threat is either a lapse in logic or an empty political promise. Either way, if this behavior continues, Roanoke's progress will stall.

We have made progressive choices to elect Rosen and to appoint Bishop. So what is ahead?

It's up to us. Do we continue with threats and a win-lose mentality, or do we seek relationships that result in community progress and civic well-being?

Roanokers, send a clear message to our leadership. We support our young folks as they attend school and start careers. We select partnership over conflict. We live in a community that can and will change with and not after the rest of the world.

We already made choices to declare that we want progress. Let's act like we mean it. Align promise with practice.