2009.01.07
Discuss Wednesday's editorials
Roanoke remains stuck in neutral
Leadership is the remedy to Roanoke City Council's pattern of backtracking on decisions.
A splintered Roanoke City Council couldn't agree Monday to do what it previously had proposed: Hire a consultant to draft the fate of the Market Building. Predictably, the mayor and council members delayed action until later this month. It doesn't really matter -- hire the consultant, don't hire the consultant. The result is likely to be the same. Council will spin its wheels. The Market will remain in limbo. There is little cause to hope otherwise.
Read more.
Kaine's call to partisan duty
The governor has made his job more difficult by agreeing to become his national party's chair.
Gov. Tim Kaine will have to prove in the coming weeks that his decision to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee will not intrude on the critical job of steering Virginia through a budget crisis. Republican House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith says, "I will start complaining if the governor is going to be AWOL." Griffith won't be the only one.
Read more.
RSS feed 
No leadership on Roanoke City Council?? I didn't vote in the election but sure wish I had. That young guy, Cort Rosen, is the only one on Council who is consistently right on the issues for Roanoke. Just because you have a bunch of people on there who wouldn't know how to follow a leader if they walked into one doesn't mean there aren't any leaders present. Cort Rosen is a leader.
Comment by Jack Mullins — January 7, 2009 @ 8:53 am
This whole Kaine thing is much ado about nothing. It's not like he is going to run for governor again.
Having Kaine as the head of the DNC when the Democrats control Washington is a MAJOR win for the Commonwealth.
Comment by Henry — January 7, 2009 @ 10:25 am
"Predictably, the mayor and council members delayed action until later this month."
It was a procedural snafu per the City Clerk due "second reading" requirement that was not in the resolution (seemed though that could have been overcome if it were a "5" to 2 vote per Hackworth. I think she said it was a State law. The County actually has "second readings" at subsequent Board meetings.
"The snafu was due to leaving off the wording “Pursuant to the provisions of Section 12 of the City Charter, the second reading of this ordinance by title is hereby dispensed with.” This now requires that Council have a “second reading” at the next Council meeting on Thursday, January 22nd. The Thursday meeting was a result of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday on Monday, the 19th and the Presidential inauguration on the 20th."
Comment by Valerie — January 7, 2009 @ 11:17 am