The person to receive the Republican Party’s nomination in the Roanoke County race for the Hollins supervisor seat won’t get it because of his political positions, values or months of campaigning.

No. The names will be drawn at random on Tuesday, from a single, dark bag.

After an unusual 389-389 tie at Saturday’s Fire House Primary, the Roanoke County Republican Party convened during the weekend to work out the details on how to choose between Al Bedrosian and Mike Bailey.

David Suetterlein, the chairman of the Roanoke County Republican Committee, said that in the case of a tie the Hollins canvass rules dictate the nomination will be decided by lot. In this case, each candidate will have his name written on five markers, then the 10 markers will be tossed into a “dark bag.”

The committee selected former Republican Party of Virginia chairman Don Huffman to draw the winning marker at a 9:30 a.m. public event at the Roanoke County Administration Building.

The random drawing could carry broad implications about the future temperament of a board expected to make decisions about expensive and far-reaching issues, including stormwater management, at the beginning of the new year. As they came to the polls on Saturday to cast their votes, residents in Hollins chose between candidates who had established themselves as different types of conservatives.

Throughout the campaign, Mike Bailey staked his claims as a middle-of-the-road conservative. Al Bedrosian presented himself to voters as a candidate further to the right.

When the announcement was made that the nominee would be to drawn by lot on Saturday, Bailey immediately voiced his frustration.

“You’re talking about the future of the county being determined by chance,” he had said. “Welcome to leadership. Sometimes you have to make a decision and go with it. I would just be comfortable knowing that an actual decision was made.”

More than 1,300 people turned out to vote Saturday, in the Republican Fire House Primary to decide the GOP nominations in two Roanoke County Board of Supervisors races.

Former supervisor Joe McNamara defeated RoxAnne Christley by a razor-thin margin of five votes, according to numbers released by the party. Meanwhile, in the Hollins district, candidates Al Bedrosian and Mike Bailey are still waiting. Both candidates received 389 votes apiece in that race, leaving them at a dead-tie at 3 p.m.

You can read an overview of what happened Saturday by checking out this story.

What happens next is yet to be decided. According to David Suetterlein, the chairman of the Roanoke County Republican Party, the official rules of the Hollins Supervisor Republican Canvass state that in the case of a tie the party’s executive committee shall “determine by lot” a winner. To clarify, Suetterlein said the winner would be chosen at random. Just how the random pick will proceed remains to be seen.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of thought as to what would happen if there was a tie,” Suetterlein said, adding that a decision would be made during the weekend.

Already, Mike Bailey has expressed frustration at the nomination being handed out by random chance.

“I’m not comfortable with that,” he said. “You’re talking about the future of the county being determined by chance. I thought maybe they’d have another alternative than that.”

Bailey said he would rather the party’s executive committee come together and cast a vote.

“Somebody has to lead,” he said. “Welcome to leadership. Sometimes you have to make a decision and go with it. I would just be comfortable knowing that an actual decision was made.”

Al Bedrosian was unavailable for comment. Multiple attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

One-by-one, hopefuls for three Roanoke County Board of Supervisors seats Monday submitted their financial disclosure reports, showing the cash they have raised and spent so far in their campaigns.

The money came from all sorts: personal loans, out-of-state entrepreneurs, a hot dog restaurateur, even a tree surgeon. All told, the six candidates have raised more than $15,000 since January 1.

Hollins District

Topping the list of candidates and his own Hollins district, Republican Mike Bailey reported raising $5,630 – about a fifth of which came from the Business Leadership Fund, a Roanoke-based group that spent more than $23,000 in last year’s city council and mayoral races.

Bailey spent $2,378 to purchase signs, postage stamps and other items to propel his campaign forward.

His direct competitor for that district’s GOP nomination, Republican Al Bedrosian, raised $2,822 and spent all but $11 of it.

The sole Independent in that race, Gary Jarrell, raised $200. His race will intensify later in the year, after the May 11 Fire House Primary, and in the months before November.

Windsor Hills District

In the Windsor Hills district, Republican RoxAnne Christley leads the pack in campaign contributions and personal loan money. Since Jan. 1, Christley has raised $3,980 in donations. According the disclosure reports, she also took out a loan of just under $7,000 to help fuel her efforts.

Of all the candidates, her sources for her contributions were the most geographically diverse. Money trickled in from as far south as Blacksburg and as far north as Maryland. She got $250 from Susan Stimpson, who is currently running in the Lieutenant Governor race.

Christley’s expenditures – which sit just over $2,500 – include investments in office supplies, a campaign database, and a car rental to go to “campaign school” in Richmond.

Christley is racing against fellow Republican and former supervisor Joe McNamara for the GOP nomination in that district. According to his records, McNamara took out a $2,700 loan for the race and has raised $1,400. The Business Leadership Fund and the Roanoke County Republican Party contributed to his campaign.

Supervisor Ed Elswick, an Independent running to keep his seat on the board, has raised $916.

Vinton District

The lone candidate for the Vinton District seat, Jason Peters, reported having $750 in cash on hand after taking out a loan for $1,150 and spending $400 of that on his campaign.

A pair of state senators Monday publicly endorsed two Roanoke Valley people for judgeships, diverging partly from a local bar association endorsement that came just days prior.

David Bowers

Once a year Roanoke Mayor David Bowers opens his office to citizens without appointment. They can wander in, give the mayor a piece of their mind (whether it’s positive or negative) and have their photo — or their child’s or grandchild’s photo — taken in the mayor’s chair. After all, as the sign on his desk reads, “This Chair belongs to the People.”

This year’s open house comes a little early: It’s happening after the city council meeting on Monday, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The mayor’s office is Room 452 on the fourth floor in the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building in downtown Roanoke.

– Mason Adams

The Market Building in downtown Roanoke has been a hot topic since I came to the city beat in 2007. In fact, I checked our archives yesterday and today’s front-page article on the vendors makes 100 stories in which I’ve used the phrase “Market Building.” I think the only topic about which I’ve written more in that time is Countryside, 107 stories. (For some perspective though I searched my predecessor Todd Jackson and “Victory Stadium” — 303 stories.)

One of my stories on the Market Building from three years ago predicts what’s now occurring in downtown. Here’s the first few grafs from that piece:

Downtown Roanoke’s heart will undergo intensive surgery for much of the next two years, and it’s unclear whether the vendors who rely on it for their livelihoods will survive.

During this same period, Center in the Square also will undergo extensive renovations that will result in some sidewalk closings and the relocation of a number of farmers market vendors.

We’re in the midst of that now, and as we reported in today’s story, food vendors in the Market Building are feeling the pinch. Food writer Lindsey Nair has a thread about the Market Building and that story over at her Fridge Magnet blog.

One key thing we didn’t anticipate in that 2009 story was the role of the Market Building Foundation. Essentially, the city had to transfer the building in order to get the historic tax credits — which helped make the renovation project work financially — and so granted a 40-year lease to the non-profit Market Building Foundation.

The foundation is overseen by a seven-member board, which sets broad policy (such as operating hours and what happens with those kiosks in the middle of the food court), and the building is then managed on a day-to-day basis by Hall Associates. The board was set up so that the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Authority, Downtown Roanoke Inc. and city government all appointed representatives to the board. Those representatives then selected two at-large members.

Currently there’s a vacancy on the board. The term of Phil Davis, the Hotel Roanoke’s rep, ended and the Hotel then selected former Mayor Nelson Harris while at the same time requesting to be relieved of making such an appointment. As it turns out, Harris teaches a class at Virginia Western Community College that meets at the same time as the board meetings, so he stepped down. The board decided to make the Hotel Roanoke seat a third at-large position, and so far it remains unfilled.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the building vendors asked whether that position could be filled by a representative of the vendors. After all, none of the board members are involved in running restaurants. But as yet it’s unclear who will take that seat.

One running conflict between the board and the vendors is the question of operating hours. Since the foundation was established, it appears that one of its missions has been to expand the Market Building from its former role as a lunchtime hub to become more of a draw that’s open into the evening. Vendors, however, would prefer to set their own hours based on what works best for them. Board chairman Doug Waters told me they’re still “wrestling” with that question, presumably stretched between continuing to try and attract people beyond lunch hours and giving the vendors what they want to succeed financially in the short run.

As always, we’re interested in your thoughts. Is this a short-term issue that will get better once renovations at Center in the Square are completed and that building re-opens? Does the Market Building need mere tweaking to succeed, or are there larger issues inherent in the way it was set up? Have you visited the building since it reopened a year ago? If so, what did you think? Do have recommendations on a favorite vendor or dish?

– Mason Adams

David Bowers | Photo by Sam Dean

Former Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra is visiting Roanoke tomorrow, presumably to meet and greet some locals who may support his planned run for lieutenant governor next year.

But the Star City may have a potential candidate of its own for that particular office: Mayor David Bowers.

Bowers said that he’s been getting calls from “longtime friends of mine in the Democratic Party from other parts of the state” asking him to throw his hat in the ring.

“I knew it was getting around a little bit,” Bowers said when asked about rumors he may run. “Let me say that I’ve had friends from other parts of Virginia call me and suggest that I should run. My reaction is, who, what, when, where and why?

“The who is me. The what is lieutenant governor. When is next year. Where, I said, where? North Dakota?”

He’s being facetious about North Dakota, of course. But Bowers continued:

“When it came to the why, their reasons for suggesting it were two fold: First of all I’m one of the longest serving elected Democrats in western Virginia along with [Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney] Don Caldwell and Jack Kennedy, the clerk down in Wise County. And secondly as the Democratic ticket’s developing, it appears to be a northern Virginia ticket, and so they were suggesting that maybe the ticket needs some geographic balance to it.”

Remember, Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, suggested two years ago that he might run for statewide office. (We also posted a discussion thread on Ware’s chances.) But in May, Ware said he’d all but abandoned that idea and will most likely run instead for re-election to his seat in the House of Delegates.

Bowers said he’s not yet decided whether to run for lieutenant governor. But he’s giving it some thought.

“I would say no decision has been made,” he said. “I’m certainly waiting until the presidential race. That’s the first thing, probably. I would say I have had every intention of remaining in the mayor’s office. But others have brought it to my attention and asked me to think about it.”

So what do you think? How does Bowers stack up against Chopra, who under President Barack Obama was the first American Federal Chief Technology Officer of the United States? Does the Democratic statewide ticket for 2013 need more geographic diversity?

– Mason Adams

The former Countryside Golf Course | Roanoke Times

The Roanoke City Council voted last night to change the Countryside Master Plan so that 12 acres along Ranch Road will be designated not for “agriculture” but for “recreation.”

The change was made at the request of residents in the nearby Miller Court neighborhood who want to prevent of last year’s debate over an urban farm for the property. Some residents of Countryside, the other neighborhood that borders the property, opposed that change over concerns about its impact on the rest of the land.

Looming over the entire debate was the specter of the next debate likely to come on Countryside — a proposal for a sports complex that would include at least four full-sized soccer fields and an indoor multi-sport facility.

Monday’s council vote didn’t directly address that proposal — but it certainly opens the door for discussions that will likely continue through the fall into next year.

During last night’s meeting, City Planning Administrator Chris Chittum said the city is 15 to 16 fields short of where it should be, and the deficit is particularly pronounced in northwest Roanoke.

Remember that during the municipal elections last spring, three of the council members — Mayor David Bowers and councilmen Sherman Lea and Court Rosen — expressed strong views in favor of doing more to boost youth athletics in Roanoke.

Does that mean the sports complex is a done deal? Absolutely not — even some of the backers in the recreation clubs have expressed uncertainty about whether the current proposal is the best possible way to go about this.

But those comments during the campaign, paired with numerous remarks last night from council members talking about the importance of youth sports, particularly in northwest Roanoke, suggests that this proposal may have more legs than the proposed farm.

What do you think? Is a sports complex at Countryside out of bounds? Or should it be a slam dunk?

– Mason Adams

Court Rosen

In reporting today’s profile of Court Rosen and his path from barely getting elected to Roanoke City Council in 2008 to winning the post of vice mayor as the top vote-getter this year, I heard time and again how he has built support by showing up at neighborhood and community events.

However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point readers to at least one person who disagrees: Valerie Garner.

Since Garner’s a journalist for another newspaper, I don’t generally contact her as a source except in her capacity as president of the Countryside Neighborhood Alliance. But with a blog, there’s no reason I can’t link this post on her page, in which she criticized Rosen for one of the reasons he was praised by others — showing up for neighborhood meetings. In this case, she wrote, he was uninvited and unwelcome.

Garner and Rosen were both candidates in the 2008 council race — she as an independent and he as a Democrat. This year she didn’t run but instead covered the race — including this story in which she suggested Rosen was supporting Republican Mark Lucas for mayor over Democrat David Bowers.

For what it’s worth, I saw Rosen at some of Bowers’ events — including a campaign announcement where Rosen and the rest of council endorsed Bowers — but never saw him at a Lucas event.

In reporting today’s story, I asked Bowers about that, and this is what he said: “As an old warhorse, I’ve certainly had to live with and deal with a lot of rumors over my career. My reaction is, it just comes with the territory. People are going to speculate and think about things.”

So take that for what it’s worth.

What are your thoughts on Court Rosen as a member of Roanoke City Council?

– Mason Adams

Voters at the South Roanoke 2 precinct in 2008.

In February, Roanoke’s electoral board pitched the idea of consolidating the city’s precincts, from 32 to 19.

The city registrar and three members of the board say the change will save Roanoke roughly a quarter of the cost of each election but cutting down on staff and equipment that needs to be set up.

The city council heard the recommendation and put it on the backburner until after the May 1 elections, when councilman Sherman Lea proposed moving elections to the fall.

At that point, the consolidation came back up again.

Now, the electoral board has scheduled a series of open houses in August to collect public input on the proposed consolidation.

Three have been announced. They’ll take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Thursday, Aug. 9, at the Jackson Park branch library multipurpose room;
• Monday, Aug. 13, at Preston Park Recreation Center; and
• Monday, Aug. 20, in Room 159 of the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building.

Two other open house sessions will be held in August at William Fleming High School and Patrick Henry High School. Those dates have yet to be announced.

For more information, you can contact City Registrar Lavern Shepherd at 853-1037 or by email at lavern.shepherd@roanokeva.gov.