In July, Roanoke Mayor David Bowers and a newly seated city council pledged to work together and avoid the polarized politics that had characterized previous terms.

Bowers told reporters, "I say strike the tents and march forward: There will be no more camps on this Roanoke City Council."

But this week Bowers walked out of a closed meeting with other council members, frustrated with what he sees as a pattern of disrespect to the mayor's office. Nearly one year into this mayoral term, tensions are evident and other council members are just as frustrated with Bowers.

"It seems like some folks are still fighting over the last mayor's race," Bowers said. " ... And I'm just wanting to be the mayor today, to do the job the people of Roanoke asked me to do."

Bowers said the all-Democrat council has worked well on the big issues -- particularly the city budget and capital projects like the City Market Building. But he questioned whether the council has established a pattern of removing his perks and making it more difficult for him to respond to constituents and handle various ceremonial aspects of his job.

Some council members have begun to grumble that Bowers seems more interested in pomp than policy.

Vice Mayor Sherman Lea took issue with some of the mayor's comments: "It's unfortunate that he's taken that attitude."

Lea said that Bowers needs to work with the council instead of complaining when things don't go his way.

"Instead of backing up and getting aggressive, he's got to try to work with people. That's what leadership is," Lea said. "It's not having a vendetta and taking the issue into your own hands and using the media to attack council. That's not leadership."

Councilman David Trinkle said he thought Bowers might be overreacting.

"I'm not aware of any factions or camps or anybody purposely doing things to make it hard for him to be mayor," Trinkle said. "I think he's jumping the gun here and just over-interpreting and over-analyzing things ... Ultimately I think people have been getting along well and he's been doing a fine job."

First-year Councilwoman Anita Price seemed taken aback by the brewing conflict.

"It's too much he-said, she-said mess going on," Price said.

Much of the disconnect stems from changes that were made during the eight years between Bowers' first two terms and his most recent election.

During that time a Democratic council majority removed Republican Mayor Ralph Smith's access to taxpayer money for speech writers and local mileage reimbursement. Smith's successor, Mayor Nelson Harris, decided that he no longer needed membership in the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Both have become issues for Bowers over the past year, as he had to reimburse the city for mileage he'd improperly been paid, and after rejoining the mayor's conference he was asked to abstain from future membership because of its $5,269 dues.

"The mayor has just not taken time to understand how things have changed since the last time he was on council," Lea said.

The most recent incident involves his secretary, Joyce Johnson, whose position was recommended for elimination as part of citywide staffing cuts. City Clerk Stephanie Moon made the recommendation, and Johnson will get preference for other city jobs.

Bowers complained, saying the cut would make it "darn near impossible to do the job the way I think it should be done."

On Monday, the issue grew more heated as Johnson alleged that two council members were behind the elimination of her position. A few hours later, Bowers walked out of a closed meeting, saying the discussion was illegal. Bowers has declined to identify the topic of the meeting, but other council members said it involved Johnson and Moon.

Bowers said he gets along fine with the rest of the council most of the time. But he questioned whether his colleagues are doing enough to support him in his ceremonial role.

"Being mayor is not a part-time job, it's a full-time job," Bowers said. "I believe that the mayor ought to be visible, accessible and responsive and friendly to our people. That's why I'm out among the public. I do not see a lot of other council members out among the public as they should be."

This isn't the first time that Bowers has found himself in a public skirmish with his fellow council members. During 1992-'93 -- his first year in office -- Bowers was repeatedly rebuffed when his fellow Democrats voted against him on a variety of issues, perhaps most notably when denying him a seat on the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Commission.

Two years later, Bowers abruptly called a recess and walked out of a meeting when a majority of city council members voiced opposition to one of his proposals. After a few minutes, he returned from his office and restarted the meeting, explaining later that he had a headache, that he was surprised by the opposition, and that "I thought it was appropriate for me to recollect my thoughts on the matter and regain my composure."

Bowers said he doesn't believe the current spat over his perks will spill over into other council debates. He said his current complaint is a matter of laying out the case for Johnson's job.

But his volley also seemed to have touched a nerve with other council members. Lea said the best way to resolve the issue will be to focus squarely on governing.

"Good government makes for good politics," Lea said. "Govern good and politics takes care of itself. You won't have to worry about running in 2010 or 2012. Take care of the city well and 2012 will take care of itself."