Garner Announces Run for City Council

Valerie Garner and Governor Tim Kaine share a moment in downtown Roanoke.
Valerie Garner and Governor Tim Kaine share a moment in downtown Roanoke.

It may seem early to begin looking at the May 4 city council elections but with the decision of the Roanoke City Democratic Committee to hold a primary, Democrat- ic candidates have to make their decision even earlier. A primary will take place on March 2 if more than three candidates run for the nomination.

Incumbent Dr. Dave Trinkle has al- ready announced he will seek reelection but Gwen Mason has yet to make up her mind. Trinkle and Mason ran with Alfred Dowe, Jr. in 2006 as independents in a “For the City” ticket. Mason recently lost her bid for the 17th District House of Del- egates seat vacated by retiring Republican William Fralin.

Bill Bestpitch was gathering petition signatures at the Democratic reorganiza- tion held on December 10. Bestpitch ran unsuccessfully in 1998 as an independent. In 2000 he won a council seat as a Demo- crat and served until 2004. In 2004 the Victory Stadium issue ushered in Brian Wishneff and Vice-Mayor Sherman Lea.

Valerie Garner, retired from an infor- mation technology career is entering the Democratic primary.

Garner ran as an independent in 2008 and received 13% of the vote. Along with being President of her neighborhood organization she serves as a council ap- pointed member of the Roanoke Neigh- borhood Advocates.

Garner has taken up writing and re- porting on a variety of Roanoke news on her website and for The Roanoke Star-Sentinel. She primarily reports on city hall. As a member of the VCOG (Virginia Coalition for Open Government) it comes as no surprise that her platform includes government transparency.

“The city and administration needs some work on that … just because you can keep secrets doesn’t mean you should … it’s all about trust,” said Garner.

“I have attended most every brief- ing and Council meeting in the last two years,” Garner said. She added that she

believes that this will give her a leg up on what the current plans and issues are for the city.

She graduated from Leadership College in 2005 and has attended work sessions on code enforcement and the city budget.

Garner lives in Northwest City, has two adult children and is a member of Sweet Union Baptist Church.

By Staff reports
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