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2002 State of the City
MAYOR RALPH K. SMITH
STATE OF THE CITY
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA
July 25, 2002
Wyndham Roanoke Hotel
7:30 a.m.
[Note: The State of the City Address will be cablecast on RVTV-3
on the five Thursdays in August, at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.]
Good Morning, Members of City Council, City administration, and the Regional Chamber of Commerce, distinguished guests, fellow citizens of Roanoke, ladies and gentlemen.
I want to thank and commend the Chamber for hosting this second annual State of the City Breakfast. We are on our way to making this a tradition.
So ladies and gentlemen, what is the State of the City? Right now, our most pressing issue is our water supply. It’s on everybody’s mind, it’s on everybody’s lips. We are in one of the most severe droughts ever faced by the Southeastern United States, with several Western Virginia counties declared drought disaster areas; and with Roanoke, Portsmouth, Charlottesville, Richmond, and several other cities in our commonwealth now on water restrictions.
Searching for a long-term solution, the State of the City can be summarized in two words – “regional cooperation” – or what I believe we should call it, “neighborly cooperation.” As you know, we are currently in earnest discussions with our neighbors in Roanoke County to form a regional water authority that could be empowered to explore, develop, and maintain our region's water supply and distribution network.
I want to thank the citizens of Roanoke for conserving whenever and wherever they could. Discipline is tough; especially when it involves something we have taken for granted all our lives – the flow of water.
However, fear not, there is a solution around the corner. Four people deserve our credit and patience as they work through this long and difficult process of “pooling” our water resources to create a regional authority.
They are –
- Roanoke City Manager - Darlene Burcham
- Roanoke Director of Utilities - Mike McEvoy
- Roanoke County Administrator - Elmer Hodge
- and Roanoke County Director of the Utility Department - Gary Robertson
For several months, Ms. Burcham, Mr. McEvoy, and I have met with the County officials to discuss possible solutions to our water crisis. After personally seeing these four leaders in action, I have all the confidence in the world that they will resolve our water problem for the greater good. It is my belief that the politicians should stay out of the way, and let these four professionals do their jobs.
What are we doing in the meantime to address the immediate need for water? As you may have read in Vice-Mayor Harris’ newspaper editorial last week, the City administration, with the support of City Council, has been engaged in a number of strategic efforts to resolve our current drought condition and move toward long-term regional solutions.
Here are some of those highlights:
- City Council approved conversion of water rates to encourage conservation and penalize excessive consumption.
- Roanoke revised its conservation plan to begin conservation earlier than was done in 1999.
- There will be temporary filtration equipment in place by the first of August to bring Crystal Spring on line and a permanent filtration system by the first of October. You may remember that the State Health Department shut down the 4 million gallon-a-day Crystal Spring in May of 2000, because of increased regulations.
- Three new wells are now producing 1.5 million gallons of water per day.
- Two additional wells should be on line by October 1, producing 2 million gallons of water per day.
- A water connection between Salem and Roanoke can transfer up to 1.5 million gallons per day.
- Water connections between Roanoke County and the City allow for the transfer of 4 million gallons per day.
These measures demonstrate that the City has been highly engaged in addressing our water shortage.
Working with the best information they had at the time, City leaders of many years ago determined it was not wise to invest in a regional water supply.
But, to quote Albert Einstein, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
Today, new circumstances bring us to new decisions about sharing these resources with our neighbors, and we are truly excited about the hands of friendship and cooperation that now extend between the City and the County.
The City has the customer base to mitigate the County’s higher water rates, while at the same time, the County’s water resources can ensure an adequate water supply for City residents. Economies and efficiencies can also be achieved in distribution line extensions and operating costs.
But more about regional cooperation later. Let’s talk about the internal State of the City…
First of all, I want to express my appreciation to my fellow Council Members who are with me at the table this morning:
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and I regret that the following council members could not be here:
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I would also like to thank our esteemed Constitutional Officers who work as a team to make our City such a great place to live and work:
- David Anderson, City Treasurer
- Sherman Holland, Commissioner of the Revenue
- Don Caldwell, Commonwealth’s Attorney
- Bert Crush, Clerk of Circuit Court; and
- George McMillan, City Sheriff
I have worked almost on a daily basis with our Council-Appointed Officers:
- Darlene Burcham, City Manager
- Bill Hackworth, City Attorney
- Jesse Hall, Director of Finance
- Mary Parker, City Clerk
- Drew Harmon, Municipal Auditor; and
- Will Claytor, Director of Real Estate Valuation
I would like to commend them on the work they do because they go that extra mile every day to make sure that our Star City shines bright.
Ladies and Gentlemen, here are just some of the highlights of our City’s accomplishments in the past year:
In our public schools, we upgraded the Governor’s School with four state-of-the-art mathematics laboratories, a new life science and biotechnology suite, a general engineering laboratory, and expansion of computer instruction and network services.
The schools implemented two Leadership Forums for parents, volunteers, and administrators, which were designed to enhance working relationships between schools and parents.
Two teachers, Ben Bazak, a math teacher at Patrick Henry High School, and Wade Whitehead, a third grade teacher at Crystal Spring Elementary, were each awarded the prestigious $25,000 McGlothlin Award this year. The award recognizes teaching excellence. In addition, last year Mr. Whitehead was named by USAToday as one of the top teachers in the country, and is a former winner of a $25,000 Milken Foundation national award.
This past year Character Education was implemented and emphasized in all Roanoke City schools; the Moment of Silence was implemented; and the Pledge of Allegiance – including the words “one nation, under God” -- was reinforced as a daily activity in each school.
The 2002 graduating class of students received over $1.6 million in scholarships, with 67% enrolling in colleges and universities.
Over 6,500 school volunteers contributed their time this year, and have had a marked influence on students.
School-to-work initiatives were expanded through Business Lunches, sponsored by the Regional Chamber, at the middle-school level.
With all these tremendous accomplishments, we still face challenges in our schools.
With excellent schools, and more than eight colleges and universities in our region, we are turning out an extremely talented labor pool. Businesses are attracted to regions with good labor pools. This is a “natural resource” we have in abundant supply, yet we export this labor pool to cities like Richmond, Charlotte, and Washington, instead of keeping it here.
Our schools, in conjunction with our business and community leaders, must raise students’ awareness of the career opportunities right in our own back yard. Recent focus group research has shown us that many teachers and their students are not aware of the companies and the job opportunities that are already here. Companies such as Meridium, the Spectacle Lens Group, Soft Solutions IT, and soon, Carilion Biomedical Institute and others, can provide jobs for our best and brightest, and keep them from thinking that they have to move to Richmond, Charlotte, or D.C. to find a job.
This is a mindset that Roanoke has developed over the years - that we are the minor leagues. We train our young people so they can move up to the big leagues. Only there, can they succeed.
Changing that mindset starts in our classrooms. Those who teach and nurture our young people are some of the most able people to assist us in that endeavor.
There has been a great advertising slogan we’ve heard for years ---- “Buy American.”
Well, now I offer you ---- “Sell Roanoke.”
Sell Roanoke career opportunities in our schools.
Sell Roanoke career opportunities in our businesses.
Sell Roanoke career opportunities to our young people everywhere we can, every chance we have.
Roanoke employees should be our sale force.
And their message? Roanoke isTHE place where careers are made. PERIOD.
Another challenge we face is that we need to find funds to modernize our two high schools, while at the same time identifying the funds to make our teachers’ pay more competitive.
Realizing that a healthy body is as important as a healthy mind, our Parks and Recreation department strives to build a healthy and vibrant community.
The Department has upgraded, renovated, and built new facilities. People are noticing the difference in the quality of the facilities, and the rental of shelters and athletic fields has increased substantially over last year.
Parks and Rec opened two major Greenways this year. Wiley Drive and Lick Run represent the community’s support for open green space within an urban environment.
And the future of our urban landscape was propelled forward last August when City Council unanimously adopted Vision 2001 as the City’s comprehensive plan. The plan represented the combined efforts of more than 2,000 people. Vision 2001 will be instrumental in guiding future decisions in land use, development, public infrastructure, and budget allocations.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must continue to encourage sound economic development to make Roanoke a more attractive place to build careers. We made great progress this past year, and our Economic Development Department has catalogued industrial and commercial development totaling $134 million.
That development includes…
Carilion Hospitals’ $70 million dollar expansion project. By the way, American Hospital Association has cited Carilion as one of the 100 “most wired” health systems in the country, and the National Committee for Quality Health Care has given its 2002 award to Carilion for its efforts in reducing medical errors.
Additional development has come from…
- The Roanoke Times’ $31 million press facility addition
- Maple Leaf Bakery’s $12 million expansion
- WDBJ’s $5 million new home
- And thanks also goes to Grand Home Furnishings, FootLevelers, Advance Auto, InfoSeal, Excel Prosthetics, and Virtual IT for expanding in our City.
Because of the challenges of the economy and the stock market, and the fallout from September 11th, unemployment has increased dramatically around the country, but is up only slightly here in the Valley – just proving once again, what a stable economy - and tremendous employers we have here.
And we are working to bring more employers to the area. The Mayor’s Technology Business Council is working with Virginia Tech and business, educational and governmental leaders to bring to or grow more technology business in the City.
Where people choose to live dictates where they choose to work, and spend their time and money. The City is taking a multi-tiered approach to expand its housing stock, with a number of major initiatives underway.
Bringing more people to live downtown has been a long-held goal of City. The Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority is about to complete the renovation of the Norfolk and Western’s GOB South into a downtown apartment complex. This project will be the catalyst for the City’s downtown living initiative.
The Department of Housing and Neighborhood Services is working on a new neighborhood revitalization strategy. The City is targeting its federal housing funds and other resources in one neighborhood at a time in order to achieve a greater and faster impact.
A prime example is the Bullitt-Jamison corridor, located in the Southeast community. This was the first area selected under this new strategy. We are committing $1.3 million to completely revitalize the corridor, to renovate derelict properties, to construct new houses, and to increase the number of homeowners in that neighborhood.
We are partnering with the homebuilders association to develop a strategy to build more upper-income housing in our City. We are also partnering with local non-profit housing providers, to eliminate substandard housing and revitalize our distressed neighborhoods. Residential housing permits are up significantly over 2001.
The housing and neighborhood initiatives I have just described are already paying dividends. Our neighborhoods are cleaner, and there is a renewed interest in revitalizing the areas in which we live. Together, these initiatives will lead to a more economically and socially vibrant city.
On the topic of revitalization, I’m happy to say that the O. Winston Link Museum is scheduled to open in 2003 in the former Norfolk and Western passenger station.
Since our last State of the City, one day has changed all of our lives forever. That day, of course, is September 11th. I want you to know that your City is prepared for emergencies I pray we’ll never have to face.
In June of last year, Mayor Rudy Giuliani invited me to New York. While I was there, I had an opportunity to view the city’s state-of-the-art emergency management control center, located in Building 7 of the World Trade Center. To say I was impressed is an understatement.
Then, a few weeks later, I traveled with the Red Cross to West Virginia to help the victims devastated by the huge floods of last summer. The emergency management plan there was in great contrast to what I had seen earlier in New York.
These two trips got me thinking about Roanoke’s emergency management plan, and so I immediately asked the City Manager to review and totally update the plan, never suspecting what was to lie ahead for our country come September 11th.
In January, the Roanoke Police Department launched its Homeland Defense Initiative. The department evaluated its response to acts of terrorism, then took a pro-active approach to reduce risk and prepare us for these threats. In partnership with citizens, businesses, and other law enforcement agencies, the department educated officers and the community on how to be aware of and combat terrorism through teamwork. That training is now being offered to other Virginia jurisdictions.
I feel that it is important to mention, our Fire Department and Police Department have both undergone vigorous review in the past six months seeking national accreditation. Our City Jail continues to be nationally accredited and Roanoke is one of the first two Virginia communities designated as a Crime Prevention Community.
Ladies and gentlemen, all the accomplishments I’ve related to you this morning were achieved during tough economic times, yet the economic outlook ahead demands an even more fiscally responsible approach to government spending.
My intent has always been to see that this City is run more like a business – with efficiency and fiscal responsibility. And that goal is more important than ever before.
We in government must continue to analyze costs versus benefits when spending your money on projects and programs.
Just as the private and non-profit sectors must continually become more efficient to remain competitive and productive, we must do the same in government. I’m proud to cite some of our City’s accomplishments in this area over the last year:
- For about the same cost, the Department of Solid Waste Management raised the recycling rate from a low of 7% to 57.5%. Solid Waste’s first leaf mulching facility has also saved tens of thousands of dollars in tipping fees. In addition, the weekly bulk trash pickup has helped us maintain a much cleaner city.
- We have reorganized the Fire Prevention Division to increase fire inspections by 300%.
- The Water and Sewer Department has re-engineered the application and connection process for new water and sewer service to make it easier and faster for builders, developers, and homeowners. The time it once took to shuffle paperwork through various City departments was overly cumbersome.
- It once took separate crews for maintenance, trash collection, mowing, and landscaping at Roanoke parks. Now, the Parks and Recreation Department has created multi-tasking crews that combine all these functions at some park locations. Maintenance times have been shortened, and crew morale has been improved.
- And finally, our very able Technology Department has brought democracy one step closer to the citizens with live video broadcasting of council meetings on the Internet.
That’s how you make government more fiscally responsible and user friendly. And I know there is more to come.
I began this morning by talking about regional cooperation – or what I like to call “neighborly cooperation.” We are all part of this Valley, we are all part of this beautiful corner of the Commonwealth.
Too often, our regional governments have fought “turf wars” because of the egos and attitudes of a few bureaucrats and politicians. And too often it was to the detriment of each and every one of you.
How many of you have felt that you’d never see our regional governments working together??? Please raise your hand.
You, the citizens, have demanded cooperation from your regional governments for decades. Today, I’m here to tell you that through the efforts of our City Council, our City Manager, our city employees, you -- our citizens, and the citizens and governments of our surrounding localities, neighborly cooperation is truly becoming a reality.
I want to present to you some examples:
Of course, the cooperation of the City and the County to create a regional water supply is one of the cornerstones in this era of neighborly cooperation.
In the Mayor’s Office, I initiated the first-ever Valley-wide leaders summit of elected officials and administrators. This leaders summit continues to meet every quarter, while an executive subcommittee of City Mayors, County Chairs, and Administrators meets every month to try to solve our common problems and work together on common goals.
Today, sitting among you are City, County and Town Managers, Mayors, Supervisors, and Council people from our surrounding governments. I’d like to personally recognize
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Temple Kessinger, Mayor, City of Covington. (He is also Chair of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghaney Regional Commission.)
Their presence here today is a testament to a real “can-do” attitude about all of us working together. Ladies and gentlemen, these folks are here because they truly care about the State of our City, and the state of our region. Please join me in thanking them for taking the time to be here with us today.
Our Regional Leaders Summit has provided the impetus for our new initiative to improve air service at Roanoke Regional Airport by bringing in a low cost airline that will help businesspeople, and the leisure traveler, get in and out of Roanoke cheaper. It will keep our flyers from being forced to drive to Greensboro to save money on a plane ticket. It will increase the number of people using the airport, and therefore increase revenues for our region. And it will make Roanoke more accessible to business across the nation and the world. We have retained the services of Virginia’s former Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Barry DuVal, who, as the former Mayor of Newport News, turned around his city’s floundering airport. There is no doubt that major improvements in air service will produce great benefits throughout the Valley and Southwestern Virginia. Please welcome Barry, as he is with us this morning.
Neighborly cooperation is contagious and spreading. In November, Salem’s Fire-EMS crews began aiding Roanoke’s Fire-EMS department in fire response. Roanoke County had already been doing this. In addition, City Fire-EMS is now co-staffing Roanoke County’s Clearbrook Station, so that fire and ambulance units can better respond to the 220 South - Southern Hills area.
The Department of Technology has expanded the police Mobile Radio System to include Roanoke County and the Virginia Western Police.
I have already mentioned how our Police Department’s Homeland Defense Initiative provides extensive training in combating terrorism for surrounding jurisdictions.
The Roanoke Regional Firearms Training Center and the Roanoke Police Academy provides training for both the City of Roanoke and Roanoke County recruits and officers.
In the Department of Environmental Management, Roanoke has shown its support of regional environmental projects such as the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission and Clean Valley Council Clean-up Days.
The emergency management coordinators of Roanoke, Salem, Vinton, and Roanoke County, meet monthly to discuss issues and plans for exercises and training on a regional basis.
These four emergency management offices, in conjunction with the American Red Cross and the Virginia Department of Health, have developed an “All-Hazards” preparedness brochure. Every household in the Valley should receive one this fall.
Economic Development meets quarterly with its County and regional counterparts to update each other on issues of mutual concern.
Last month, the City of Salem hosted the 31st annual Roanoke Valley Horse Show. The show brought in nearly $14 million to our Valley. Roanoke and Roanoke County both were major sponsors of this Salem event. Why? Because for 31 years, it has benefited ALL OF US. Horse show participants from all over the country come to the Valley to compete….. and to buy our gas, to eat in our restaurants, to stay in our hotels, and to shop in our stores.
Last week, Salem, Roanoke, and Roanoke County, came together to host the National Softball Association’s Girls World Series. More than 24,000 visitors came to the Roanoke Valley for this tournament, making it the largest one-time sporting event in our history. Thanks to Salem’s ability to attract this national event to the Valley, and to the City’s and County’s parks and rec departments’ ability to provide the facilities, this was a world class world series.
Also last week, Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem, along with other jurisdictions, came together to host Virginia’s Commonwealth Games, the state’s Olympic-style amateur sports competition. Regional governments and private industry contributed the facilities and the dollars that brought 10,000 competitors from around the Commonwealth to the Valley for the three days of games.
It is especially gratifying because, at a time of year when the Valley is usually exporting tourist dollars as we head off to the beach and elsewhere, these events made us a net importer of tourist dollars.
These events were terrific for the Valley this year, but I’d also like to give you a preview of a great event to come. Most of the music on the radio comes to us from far away places: Recording studios in New York, L.A., Motown, and Nashville. But we have a sound here that is all our own, and next summer the world will hear it when Roanoke hosts a week-long international bluegrass competition and celebration. The Roanoke Valley sits at the head-lands of the Southern mountains, where most of the great bluegrass had its start. Now it’s our time to showcase this great music to the world. The Roanoke Fiddle & Banjo Club, along with Center in the Square, is coordinating the International Bluegrass Week, featuring the best in the business, performing live throughout the Valley.
Regional cooperation proves that working together, we can accomplish great things. We WILL accomplish great things.
Here’s to us, Roanoke, and here’s to the beautiful Blue Ridge community that we are a part of, and that we are proud to call home. May every glass be filled to the top -- not only with refreshing water – but also with abundant opportunity…for ALL of us.
If you remember a bit of my talk from last year, I said that “we are better than we think we are – better than we give ourselves credit for.
“More than anything else, we need to believe in ourselves and in the power of our own creativity and hard work.
“As Roanokers, we never have to apologize to anyone for being who we are. God has blessed us abundantly. We don’t have to be Charlotte to be the Queen of the Blue Ridge. We don’t have to be New York to be the Manhattan of the Mountains.”
As a testament to those words I spoke to you last year, let me end by telling you what others think of our accomplishments:
- Roanoke has been named the top e-Government City in the nation by the Center for Digital Government.
- Our city was chosen by Money magazine as one of eight “Best Places to Retire.”
- We were named Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation for the seventh year in a row.
- And Expansion Magazine named the Roanoke region one of the top 50 places in the country to locate a business.
Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve had a great year. Let us draw inspiration from the past year’s accomplishments… and let us look forward with enthusiasm to the work yet to be done.
May God bless you and may we continue to be “one city, under God, with equal justice for all…”
THANK YOU.
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