Ray Ferris officially announced his candidacy for re-election to Roanoke City Council on Feb 1st, stating, “It has been my pleasure to have had an opportunity to play a part in Roanoke’s progress, and I look forward to the great things we have coming in the future, which is why I am formally announcing my candidacy for re-election to Roanoke City Council. My service on City Council has taught me that partisan politics should play no role in local government; therefore, I have concluded that I can better serve the citizens of the City of Roanoke as an Independent. My only allegiance is to all the citizens of the City of Roanoke.”
Ferris said he is proud of Roanoke’s progress, stating that “the evidence is all around us: Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, Jefferson College of Health Sciences and the Radford University partnership, an expanding Virginia Western Community College, rising graduation rates, healthy and growing neighborhoods, renovated neighborhood libraries and parks, craft breweries, multiple entertainment venues, and people actually moving to Roanoke instead of away.”
Ferris went on to boast of Roanoke’s progress by pointing out that Amtrak service is back, that the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority is quickly ramping up service and that, “’Now Hiring’ and ‘Help Wanted’ signs confirm the low unemployment rate that Roanoke now enjoys.”
The councilman says he is also proud of the healthy status of the City’s finances, claiming that because of solid financial policies, Roanoke has earned AA+ bond ratings. Ferris says he will continue to advocate for common sense budgeting and investments with an eye toward investing in the future, a future he says includes thousands of Virginia Tech students taking classes on the Tech Roanoke Campus, employers lining up to hire mechatronics graduates from VWCC and research and development taking place in the health sciences and technology innovation corridor.
Ferris says he does not consider himself to be “the typical politician who relishes endorsements from other politicians. The only endorsement that I am actively seeking is the endorsement of the voters of the City of Roanoke by casting their votes to allow me to serve them again on Roanoke City Council.”
