ROANOKE, VA – The election is less than two weeks away - and while all eyes are on the presidential race, here at home, we have several key local elections.
One of those is the Roanoke City mayoral race.
Leading up to the election, each of the three candidates will be joining us for a digital exclusive interview to discuss their experience, goals, and key issues voters are concerned about.
Sunday, former mayor David Bowers sat down with 10 News Anchor Abbie Coleman.
You can watch the full interview, or read a full transcription of the conversation below.
Coleman: “David, thank you so much for joining us.”
Bowers: “Hey, thank you, Abbie. It’s nice to meet you. I want to congratulate Channel 10 on covering all the candidates for mayor because I think it’s very important as we go into the election, not just to deal with the presidential issues, but to deal with the local issues that affect Roanoke.”
Coleman: “And it’s very important to get every single candidate and talk about all of the issues that are affecting Roanoke, which is exactly what I want to do with you this morning. Now, you have a very unique political experience. Over the past 30 years, you’ve spent a total of 16 years in office as mayor. What were some of your key takeaways during that time that you’re bringing into this election?”
Bowers: “Yeah, you know, I was a councilman before I became mayor, and I served under the legendary mayor, Noel Taylor. So I watched him, I learned from him. I hope I was a good student, watching Noel Taylor. I’ve always enjoyed serving the people of Roanoke. I find the people of Roanoke to be fascinating and to be able to be a part of the progress of our city over the years - I really consider it, God has blessed me, and the people of Roanoke have been very good to me. We’ve done a lot of great things. We reopened the Hotel Roanoke. We built two high schools. We had never had greenways before. Now we have greenways and trails. And of course, brought the Virginia Tech medical school to the Carillion Clinic. So a lot of great progress over the years, Oh, and by the way, the Saint Patrick’s Day Festival has often been rated one of the top ten Saint Patrick’s festivals in the country.”
Coleman: Yes, absolutely, a very fun day. And now your campaign slogan that’s on all your signs, is ‘Experience for a Change.’ What does your experience bring to the table that maybe other candidates don’t have?”
Bowers: “Well, you know, I’ve had 46 years practicing law. I’ve taught as an adjunct professor at Virginia Western for 10 years, and as you indicated, 16 years as mayor. I represent people. I have to be a good listener. I have to listen to what my clients want me to present to the court. I have to listen to my students and what it is that they’re wanting to learn in the government classes that I teach. And as mayor, it’s important for me to listen to what’s going on in all the neighborhoods of our city. So that’s the kind of experience I think I bring to the table as the mayor. But at the same time, I want people to know that I still have a lot of energy. I have a lot of enthusiasm. I have some new ideas that I want to put forth as well.”
Coleman: “That leads me exactly into my next question, is there anything you would do differently this time around that you didn’t do in your first two terms?”
Bowers: “That was a gotcha question for a presidential candidate. Let’s see here. No, I can’t say that I would. You know, I wanted to, I met my first mayor when I was in high school at Patrick Henry, years ago, and it was always an interest in me to I was always interested in in what’s going on in Roanoke, that’s all about me.
Coleman: “In your experience, you have run and won as both a Democrat and an Independent, and now this year, you are running as a Republican. Where did the decision to change parties come from?”
Bowers: “I started as a John Kennedy Democrat when I was in, you know, as a young boy, and I stayed with that party for a long time. I’m reminded of what Ronald Reagan used to say he was a Democrat before he became a Republican. He said, ‘I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.’ And I just felt like there were so many issues that went too far to the left. My constituency and my interest has always been in the working class, middle class, black and white people who, you know homeowners, have their homes, home renters. I represent people who get up in the morning, get their kids off to school and then go to work and then come home tired, and yet they find time to spend time with their kids at the soccer game or baseball game or take them out to Blue Cow for ice cream. Those are the folks I represent. And I just feel like over the last few years here in Roanoke, those folks have not been heard at Roanoke City Hall.”
Coleman: Let’s get into the issues a little. There are a lot of issues concerning our voters. And for you, what is your top issue you are concerned with?”
Bowers: “I think the issue that Roanokers are really concerned about is this new rezoning scheme that Roanoke City Council just recently approved. Well, they approved it back in the fall. They botched it then, and they came back with it again. I find that it’s really that the new proposal, the new rezoning, does not protect the sanctity of single-family homes, and it does not preserve the character of our residential neighborhoods. When you buy a home, you buy because you can afford it, you like the home, and your wife or your partner likes the home, and you like the neighborhood. And under the old law that we had for 50 years. If you wanted to chop up your house into apartments, you had to file a petition and ask for a variance on the zoning, and then the neighbors would get notified, and the matter would have to go before the board of zoning appeals. And if all the neighbors, in my neighborhood. If my wife and I tried to do that, all the neighbors would be furious with us. We wouldn’t be invited to the neighborhood Christmas party, I could tell you that. And the board of zoning appeals would turn us down. But under the new law, my wife and I could just lickety-split, tear up our house, chop up our house into apartments. Imagine what that would do. How many more cars would be there on our corner lot? And my wife was thinking, how many more trash cans would be out? Instead of just having two, we’d probably have 10 trash cans to deal with. So it’s a terrible law. It is the worst decision that a Roanoke City Council has made in 50 years, and on day one, when I have an opportunity, if elected mayor, I’m going to vote to repeal this rezoning scheme,”
Coleman: “Something that we have covered very, very extensively here at Channel 10 over several, several years is the issue of homelessness and people experiencing homelessness. In terms of this topic, specifically, what would you like to see done?”
Bowers: “Just like you and everybody in our community, my heart goes out to those folks. I spend time once a month, most months, helping out at RAM house, and I make contributions, charitable contributions, so it’s a very real social concern. I want to make sure, first of all, that there is food and shelter for every homeless person in Roanoke. And I would prioritize the veterans. I think we have neglected them, and they need to be taken care of. But having said that, I want to say to the people of Roanoke and the unfortunate homeless community, they too are citizens, and they must abide by the law of our city. And when there’s defecating and urinating and things we don’t like to usually talk about on television, I’m sure, when there’s intoxication and whatever, those things are not permitted, and we need to expect that the homeless would be good citizens also.”
Coleman: “Another thing that is top of mind for voters is gun violence. We’ve seen a number of homicides this year. We’ve also seen several non-fatal gun incidents. We’ve had Chief Booth in office for about a year now. Do you think that we are moving in the right direction, and what would you like to see changed?”
Bowers: “Yeah, that’s a good question, and it’s on everybody’s mind. I’ve advocated for the last several years, not an emphasis on gun violence prevention, but instead an emphasis on gun violence apprehension. And I would have had Chief Booth here in Roanoke two or three years ago if I’d been serving. I’m glad that he’s here. He’s a remarkable police chief for our city. And I think there has been a downturn in the last several months on gun violence, and I think it’s because of the chief’s emphasis on gun violence, apprehension.”
Coleman: “Something that often comes up when we talk about gun violence is gun violence and its connection to teenagers and young people in the city. There’s been a lot of focus over the last few years about curbing youth gun violence and violence in general. We’ve had a curfew, we’ve had different community events, but we still have this violence. What steps do you think need to be taken?”
Bowers: “It’s a very difficult answer. You know, I worry about our society. As a lawyer, I go into juvenile court, and this year, for the first time that I can remember in decades, I’m representing 14-year-olds who are accused of malicious wounding and stealing and racing cars, you know, all through the residential neighborhoods at 14 years old. So, I wish I had a better answer. It’s a complicated issue. I always encourage people to participate with their church or synagogue or temple. I think they’re they ought to participate with the PTA and be involved with their children’s education. And we need to have more after-school programs, I think. But we do have some. And I talk to these young people and I say, ‘Are you in the choir?’ ‘No.’ ‘Are you playing a musical instrument? The band?’ ‘No.’ ‘How about football or tennis?’ ‘No.’ And so we need to help our families get their children more involved, I think, and they should be more involved in things, positive things in their life.”
Coleman: “While we’re on the topic of kids, teenagers, young people, I want to talk a little bit about schools, and specifically school funding. Over the past few years, the standard was that when there was a budget surplus, 40% of that automatically went to the school system. Now that has changed this year to where the school system doesn’t automatically get it. They can apply for up to 40%. This decision caused a lot of backlash in the community, from the school system itself, and I know that this is not the end of the discussion by any means. What are your thoughts on that budget surplus? Do you think that they should automatically get it, or do you think they should have to apply? ”
Bowers: “When I was mayor before we said under that 40% formula, and that did two things. First of all, the schools should be a priority of city government, the education of our children should be a priority. And the school board was able to, every year, know the percentage of what they were going to receive. And this city council, the current city council, ditched that idea back in the spring, as you said, and now it’s a formula that it’s not a predictable funding source for the schools anymore. The other part of that is in Virginia, this the City Council or the Board of Supervisors funds the school system. And what we have not had in Roanoke for the last 10 years that we had the 40% formula is the bickering and the politicking between the city council and the school board during the budget session. And the reason is we locked in that 40%. So, one of the things that I would do is reinstate what the city council ditched, and that would be the 40% rule. One other thing I want to say, the city council took in $29 million more last, I guess this for this fiscal year than last fiscal year, and yet they didn’t get one cent back to the taxpayers. And I’m concerned that Roanoke City needs to have a tax rate that is more competitive with our surrounding jurisdictions. And there’s one more aspect to that: affordable housing. I’ve just talked to dozens and dozens of people that have had to move this year, and the reason is because the tax on their rental property went up, and of course, the landlord has to raise the rent, and then the renter can’t afford that rent and has to move on. So it’s important for Roanokers to understand that tax policy does cause a problem for those who need affordable housing.”
Coleman: “Switching gears for our final topic, we’re in a big time of transition here, not just with council, but also in terms of a city manager. Bob Cowell no longer works with the city, and we have an interim manager right now. As we move forward in this process, how crucial is it to find a city manager that works well for the city and also with city council?”
Bowers: “Well, it is important to have a good relationship. We have seven members on the city council. It’s very likely that there will be four new members on council come January, and hopefully a new mayor. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to serve as mayor again. I think the city council has botched the city manager selection process going back to June. According to the newspaper, that’s cost the city taxpayers $500,000 already, And now they’re talking about going on and saddling the new council with their own pick. I don’t think that’s right. If I’m going to be in office in January with three new council members, so it’s a four-member majority. I think that the new council should choose the next city manager because we’re the ones that are going to have to work with that city manager and have a relationship that’s not just stuffed down on our throats. We need to be a part of the process, and we need to make the decision, the new city council does in my opinion.”
Coleman: “David, I want to thank you for joining us. I have one last thing for you. We’ve talked about a lot of very important issues. Is there anything else you want to add? Or are there any more campaign promises that you’ve made?”
Bowers: “Yes, I have made one. I’ve made a few, but one that comes to mind - I promise my Irish Catholic friends that if I’m elected, I will paint my hair green and march down Jefferson Street for the St Patrick’s Day parade.”
Abbie: “Now, isn’t that a great promise? We love that. Oh, well, David, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate your time here.”
Candidates and Vice Mayor Joe Cobb will join us next Saturday, November 2, to round out our coverage.
Tune in then for a live interview with Cobb on 10 News at 7 a.m.
You can find a full-length, digital exclusive interview on our website for Stephanie Moon- Reynolds here.
You can also see Moon-Reynolds’ live interview and Bowers’ live interview.
