www.newrivervalley.com

By Sharla Bardin

BLACKSBURG — Candidates for town council say they want to serve because they love the town, have ideas about how the community should grow and want to work for open and accountable government.

Those were some of the responses given in Monday’s candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County and held in council chambers.

More than 70 people were in attendance at the forum  that allowed the candidates to talk about why they are running, while also answering questions that touched on such topics as council actions, alternative transportation and affordable housing.

The candidates for the four open seats are incumbent Susan Anderson, Bryce Carter, Frank Lau, Cecile Newcomb, Robert “Tom” Rogers, Michael Sutphin, John Bush, Krisha Chachra and Greg Fansler. Incumbent Mayor Ron Rordam is running unopposed.

Candidate Paul Lancaster announced in September that he would cease active campaigning for the election to  dedicate time to his health. Lancaster was hospitalized in April with an extremely rare spine infection that affected his mobility. He returned home in July.

The election is Nov. 3, and the council seats are voted on at-large.

In Monday’s forum, candidates were asked to cite examples of what the current town council has done right and wrong.

Carter said he applauds efforts to create a more sustainable community but would like to see officials take a closer look at the historical value of structures in the historic overlay district.

Chachra said what the council has done right includes partnering with groups in the community and working to make it a tourist destination. She said a challenge in the town is the use of land and space in downtown and thinks  it’s important to take a look at zoning and the best use of downtown space.

Fansler thinks what the council has done right is revitalizing downtown storefronts . One action he questions is the renovated Blacksburg Motor Co. building. Fansler also said there is no current plan for the Blacksburg Middle School property redevelopment.

Lau said what the council and town staff have done right is addressing the sewer capacity issues in the north end of town. As for what the council has done wrong, he said a lot of time is spent on issues in downtown and there are other issues in the town.

Newcomb said what the council has done right is passing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2006. One of the goals is  adopting emission reduction targets, according to the town’s Web site. Newcomb thinks a wrong action was that town council should not have rezoned the entire First & Main shopping center property as commercial. She said there should have been a buffer of less-dense zoning between the homes and businesses.

Rogers said what the council has done right is the approach with protecting the environment. “We need to be good keepers of our land.” As for what’s wrong, Rogers said the town needs a better tax base to afford different projects and needs to work more with retail developers.

Sutphin said what the council has done right is creating an open government, complimenting the town’s use of its Web site. As for a wrong action, Sutphin said the council did not create a buffer zone between the residential area and commercial area at the First & Main shopping center property.

Anderson said what the council has done right is the environmental efforts going into “greening our community.” Anderson also said she thinks the Blacksburg Motor Co. building “is a showcase and gem” and was an effort to take a historic building and reuse it. She also thinks the farmers market renovation will help enhance downtown. As for something that council needs to address, Anderson said there needs to be a closer look at overoccupancy of some residences.

Bush said right actions from the council have been the efforts on downtown revitalization and the Blacksburg Motor Co. building. He thinks the council needs to focus more on creating more affordable housing.

More pathways needed?

Candidates also were asked whether they think it’s important for the town to have a totally connected and uniformly identified system of pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Rogers said he thinks the pathways are important and also said they should be safe. Sutphin said the town needs to be a pedestrian-, bike- and transit-friendly community.

Anderson said it is important to have a connected community of pathways and there are plans in the town that aim to enhance pathways. Bush also said he supports more bikeways and walkways and suggests that the town partner with neighboring communities to provide more paths.

Carter said he supports more pathways and also would like to see a trolley system. Chachra said she believes in the benefits of alternative transportation and thinks incentives could be used. She also said she is interested in a trolley service that connects to the town’s commercial centers.

Fansler said pathways are also beneficial and  that it’s important to improve the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians in the town. Newcomb also wants to see pedestrian and bike paths throughout the town, as well as more lighting for pedestrian paths in some areas.

Lau said he thinks students need more education about safety with alternative transportation, such as their roles as pedestrians and bicyclists.

David Rundgren, executive director of the New River Valley Planning District Commission, will be retiring effective Wednesday.

Rundgren has spent 25 years with the organization. Before coming to the New River Valley, he worked 12 years at the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission and served as its executive director for nine years, according to a news release from the organization.

Rundgren has also been as the director of Virginia’s First Regional Industrial Facility Authority, the New River Valley Development Corporation and the New River Valley Network Wireless Authority.

Rundgren plans to spend his time traveling to visit children and grandchildren and becoming a full-time farmer, the news release said.

On Thursday, Kevin Byrd will assume Rundgren’s duties, the news release said.

Byrd previously served the planning district commission for three years as a regional planner and is returning following a year of working for the Montgomery County planning department.

- Sharla Bardin

Governor Tim Kaine spent about an hour inside Volvo Trucks North America this morning, meeting with the general manager and visiting the production area.

Reporter Jeff Sturgeon has more on the governor's visit.

Ginny Weisz, an assistant professor of nursing at Radford University, has announced a last-minute bid for the House of Delegates.

Weisz, who lives in Roanoke County will challenge House Majority Leader Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, in the district which includes Salem and part of Roanoke County.

For more on this story from the newsroom of The Roanoke Times, click here.

Today is primary day in Virginia.

In the New River Valley, the only thing on the ballot are the Democratic primaries for governor and lieutenant governor.

The Republicans picked their candidates in a convention two weekends ago. Democrats get their turn in the primary today. The three Democratic candidates for governor are Creigh Deeds, Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran; the winner faces Bob McDonnell. The two candidates for lieutenant governor are Jody Wagner and Mike Signer; the winner faces incumbent Bill Bolling.

The polls are open until 7 p.m.

We'll be posting election results -- along with analysis by senior editor Dwayne Yancey -- tonight on our Primary 2009 site on roanoke.com.

A Blacksburg attorney and substitute judge has been selected to fill a vacancy for a juvenile and domestic relations court judge in the New River Valley.

The circuit court judges of the 27th judicial circuit selected Harriet Dorsey to fill the interim position and she agreed, Circuit Court Judge Bobby Turk said today. An order officially appointing Dorsey has not yet been entered, he said.

Dorsey’s appointment will begin June 1 and last through the end of the year.

Next year, the General Assembly will attempt to appoint someone to a full six-year term.

Judgeships are typically decided in the House and Senate, but if legislators can’t agree on a person, the circuit judges together make an appointment.

The 27th judicial circuit includes the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe, and the cities of Radford and Galax.

Dorsey is one of several substitute judges who have heard cases, primarily in Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, since former Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Michael Keith Blankenship went on leave last year following legal troubles and then resigned.

According to a bio of Dorsey:

"Ms. Dorsey has practiced law in the New River Valley for over 30 years, with experience in all fields of civil and criminal practice. She has been a Substitute Judge in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and the General District Court for 20 years, as well as an Administrative Hearing Officer for the Supreme Court of Virginia. Her community service has been directed to providing legal assistance to indigent and incarcerated individuals, as well as to children who are involved in the court system. Ms. Dorsey is also involved in assisting those with addictive and psychiatric disorders to obtain treatment, housing and other support through her work with the NRV Mental Health Association, Community Housing Partners Corporation, and Recovery Community of the NRV."

-- Shawna Morrison

A new ordinance scheduled for a Blacksburg Town Council vote on April 14 would ban teen night dance events and teen nightclubs within 500 feet of any establishment that sells alcohol. The ordinance would also establish a permitting process for holding such events.

Read the full story in Friday's (March 27) Current. Read the full text of the proposed ordinance here.

-- Tonia Moxley

The first public phase of Radford University's review of 29 programs begins today (March 23). The protesters are already organizing.

Students Advocating Liberal Arts (SALA) and Demand Excellence at Radford (DEAR) had an organizational meeting Sunday. They have more actions planned throughout the week. What's spurring them on is the speeding along of the expedited review. Today the Academic Program Review Committee will review 11 programs. The committee -- made up of administrators, faculty and one undergraduate -- is scheduled to announce its vote on those programs about 7 p.m. The committee will have a similar session Friday.

The three possible verdicts, according to faculty senate president Stephen Owen, are continue (which means it can accept applications for the fall); discontinue (the program can't accept any more applications and needs to begin "graduating out" its majors); restructure (the program can't accept applications for the fall and should "reconfigure its resources to attain another potential degree program with all deliberate speed."

On Thursday, the university is holding an open forum on the campus budget. (3:30 p.m. in Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall) It was rescheduled twice, once because it conflicted with Radford's appearance in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

That meeting will overlap with another open forum about students' being barred from using the Dedmon Center after its reopening fresh from a $15.7 million renovation paid for with student generated money. (4 p.m. in the auditorium in the Bonnie student center) The budget forum also conflicts with the faculty senate, which is scheduled to meet at 3:30 p.m.

SALA and DEAR say they have a budget, growing membership and a conviction that Radford is headed down the wrong track. "This has escalated from a Facebook group and angry majors to a full-fledged faculty and alumni supported group," according to Stephen Schmidt, one of the organizers.

Schmidt said in an email March 21 that SALA was closing in on 100 members and $1,000.

You can find more discussion about this here and here.

-- Tim Thornton

This message went out to the faculty and staff at Radford University about 7:30 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day:

This is the second postponement for the forum. It was set for March 9, but Radford's administrators decided they didn't know enough about what the General Assembly was going to do to hold it then. So it was set for March 19. Now it's March 26.

That doesn't conflict with Highlanders v. Tarheels in Greensboro, but it does conflict with another forum scheduled to talk about the wellness and fitness facilities at Radford. Students can't use the Dedmon Center anymore -- it's reserved for athletes -- and many students don't think that's reasonable, since it was mostly student money that paid for the recent $15.7 million renovation and it has the only indoor track on campus and the facilities left on campus can't accommodate (according to some students) the student body.

These are economically hard times, but Radford kept dorms open for an extra day so students could stay for the Big South championship game and the school is providing bus service to students headed to the big game in Greensboro. President Penelope Kyle has sent emails praising students for being so supportive of the basketball team, but there hasn't been much word on the budget or the 29 programs that may be discontinued.

What folks will talk about at the budget forum is an open question. It was originally meant to talk about cuts in state funding , but those cuts that didn't happen. Federal stimulus money is plugging the gap.

Here's an update from university spokesman Michael Hemphill.

"According to Provost [Wil] Stanton, the RU administration is currently studying the most appropriate use for the stimulus money and will present recommendations to the Board of Visitors at its April meeting. The program review will continue as planned. Additional information may be available at next week’s open forum on the budget."

-- Tim Thornton

P.S. Here's the "thank you mentioned a comment below."

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

What an incredible time to be a Radford University Highlander! Together this season, we generated tremendous excitement for the RU community and carried the school's name all across the country.

The season’s magical journey became possible through the hard work of our staff, team and RU administration, but just as important, by our team of loyal and passionate students, alumni, fans and friends.

We thank you for a wonderful season that began in Peter’s Hall in front of just 500 people and continued through the ESPN televised Big South Championship in the renovated Dedmon Center. It concluded with a dance on the grand stage at the Greensboro Coliseum as we played North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before a crowd of 20,000 and the CBS national television audience.

Thank you to everyone who proudly displayed their Highlander pride and made this basketball season a joyful success. We look forward to more magic in 2009-10!

In appreciation,

Coach Brad Greenberg

*   *   *   *   *

Here are some links you may find interesting:

• Photo gallery of NCAA tournament memories
• Share your memories in words and photographs on the official RU Facebook page or the RU Highlanders: Big South Conference Champions Facebook page

·         Decorate your computer desktop with scenes from the Highlanders remarkable season  http://www.radford.edu/NewsPub/wallpaper.html

• RU Basketball
• Radford University homepage

Radford University - 801 East Main Street - Radford, VA  24142

Last week, Radford Mayor Tom Starnes wanted to cut 5 or 6 cents off the city's proposed real estate tax increase. This week, he wants to cut 10 cents off the 14-cent increase. Paying for a recently completed elementary school will take 9 cents of the real estate tax rate, so the mayor's first proposal could have left enough of an increase to cover that new debt. Starnes' latest proposal would take away most of that, so the difference would have to be made up by cutting into city operations.

And this year's budget is already smaller than last year's.

"I truly believe that the city has to look at getting by with a little less in these times," Starnes said.

Getting by on a little less might mean not replacing equipment, not doing any street maintenance above what the Virginia Department of Transportation will pay for and sending employees home without pay for three days.

Council agreed they'd give up a month's salary  and cut their conference budget in half.  That would save the city about $6,500. Cutting the real estate tax by 10 cents would require about $786,720.

There will be more about this in Wednesday's Current.

-- Tim Thornton