Friday, April 30, 2010
Roanoke council hopefuls argue policy
The final debate for Roanoke City Council candidates allowed direct exchanges.
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From The Roanoke Times
The final candidates forum in the race for three Roanoke City Council seats started off with the three Democrats each giving the current council an A for its budgeting work, while the Republicans gave it a D and two F's.
It only got more contentious from there.
Thursday's forum was easily the most confrontational of the race, with loose rules of engagement allowing candidates to argue directly.
The issue of how to budget in tough times has dominated most of the race, and it was no different Thursday.
When moderator Jay Warren of WSLS Channel 10 asked the men to grade the current council's handling of the budget, the three Democrats -- former Councilman Bill Bestpitch, lawyer Ray Ferris and incumbent Councilman David Trinkle -- each gave the council an A.
Independent community activist Carl Cooper gave it a C or C-minus.
The Republicans each gave a much lower grade, with retired Marine Col. Bob Craig and businessman Mike Powell each awarding an F while Roanoke County school official Tony Walker was slightly more generous with a D-minus.
Some of the most heated exchanges came after Warren asked Bestpitch about his claim in a mail piece that "some candidates" will cut teachers and public safety officials. Warren pressed Bestpitch to specifically name who he was talking about; Bestpitch said the statement applied to everyone but his fellow Democrats.
Cooper and the three Republicans vehemently denied they would cut education and public safety, pressing Bestpitch to cite examples from the campaign.
Bestpitch didn't, but he argued the conservative philosophy of small government will eventually lead to cuts in core services.
Warren followed up with a question about what the candidates would cut to balance the budget.
Cooper said he would close the City Market Building because it's losing money for the city.
Walker said he would delay renovation of the building for a year. Craig argued that the question glossed over important subtleties, but he, too, has advised delaying renovation of the building.
Powell went further, proposing to sell the market building to the private sector with a stipulation the first floor be kept as a food court.
Ferris said the market building is more than just a business endeavor, but an icon that generates energy in downtown Roanoke. After Ferris said it's OK if the market building loses money, Powell said Ferris isn't much of a businessman. Ferris angrily fired back: "I've forgotten more business than you'll ever know, my friend."
Trinkle argued the city should be held to a different standard than a business, saying Roanoke has a substantial homeless population, provides social services and serves a large number of school students below the poverty line.
"We're a city," Trinkle said. "We're not the military, we're not a business."
Bestpitch reached back to his first council term for a response. He said then-Mayor Ralph Smith, a staunch conservative with whom he served on the council, "spent four years scouring city hall for fraud and abuse. He couldn't find it."
