It wasn’t exactly a shocker: the Democrat ticket of incumbent Dave Trinkle, Ray Ferris and Bill Bestpitch garnered the top three spots in Tuesday’s Roanoke City Council election, topping three Republicans and an Independent candidate. Most citizens did not bother to vote; less than 10% of the electorate cast their ballots.
The only Republicans to win council seats in many years have been Ralph Smith and Bill Carder.
Turnout is typically low in Roanoke City municipal elections, and the lack of any real hot button issues may have kept that total even lower. Incumbent Anita Price was on hand at 202 Market Street on Tuesday to offer her congratulations. She had “some angst” before the election but felt better after the results came in. “You do get a whole new mix,” said Price, who vowed to sit down with Ferris in a get-to-know-each-other session.
Trinkle, who captured the most votes of all the candidates, will now become Vice Mayor for a second time in July. He was swept into City Hall on the Independent “For the City” ticket four years ago – when the fate of now-razed Victory Stadium was the center of attention. This time Trinkle ran as a Democrat.
“I think people realize we’re in tough times…tough decisions are being made at almost every meeting,” said Trinkle, who felt that maintaining “some balance and consistency,” might have compelled some to pull the lever again for him. Trinkle said he “won’t be on Council forever,” but sending a tried and true face back for another term may have been comforting to some.
Trinkle talked about his second term wish list: “Pay attention to the issues and focus on moving the city forward with the economy the way it is.” He said the budget crisis was the major issue on people’s minds.
Trinkle called Ferris “very level-headed, balanced and fair,” and said Bestpitch, who served one term previously, “has a proven record on City Council. I don’t think anybody works harder than Bill Bestpitch on understanding the issues.”
First time candidate and attorney Ferris, the second highest vote getter, wants Roanoke to be a more desirable place, saying “we want our children to raise their children here. It’s extremely important to take the long view, to keep our eye on the horizon. We need to keep moving forward.” Ferris said it was “hard to read a mandate” into the election results when so few voted.
He did believe, however, that voters “were looking for a positive message,” a swipe perhaps at Republican Bob Craig, and other candidates who criticized the way City Council operated. Craig was the top vote getter outside of the winning trio, with about 400 votes behind Bestpitch.
The South Roanoke and Lee Hi districts ran strong for the Democrats. “Now,” said Ferris, “the challenge is to bring…the rest of the city into that equation. [They] need to have their input heard.”
Bestpitch joked about his six-year absence from Council: “as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted….” He also said the all-Democrat group will be productive. “We have a very good Council at this point. I think the seven of us will be able to work together. We’re not going to agree 100 percent of the time, but I think we’ll show respect for each other.”
Bestpitch said he would focus on youth programs, trying to get more adults involved in mentoring and tutoring as well. Keeping high school graduation rates “going up higher and higher,” is a major goal.
Mayor David Bowers called the winners “a good team, bright guys. They mean to do well and love Roanoke. We’ve got good hands involved in the operation of Roanoke City government.”
All three candidates thanked Roanoke City Party Chairman Donald Caldwell (also the Commonwealth’s Attorney) for his support and mentoring. Trinkle noted that the ticket had overcome a nationwide “anti-Democrat, anti-incumbent feeling. We proved them wrong tonight.”
Ferris told the crowd that he looked forward “to hearing input from citizens.” “Don’t worry,” said Bowers, drawing guffaws, “you’ll hear.”
By Gene Marrano [email protected]
