Here’s a top-10 list that Roanoke County doesn’t want you to know about: Of Virginia’s largest counties, Roanoke ranks lowest in population and per-capita income, but 2nd highest real estate taxes. Take a look!
Read the full story: Roanoke County Ranked #2 in Real Estate Taxes.
What would cause Ed Elswick, a 68-year-old retired General Electric finance manager, to run against a long-standing incumbent for Roanoke County Supervisor from the Windsor Hills District?
Read the full story: Who Is Ed Elswick And Is He About To Turn Roanoke County Politics Upside Down?.
Just who is Ed Elswick?
In the September/October 2009 edition of The Roanoker, we take a look at this surprise win of this political newcomer over three-time incumbent Roanoke County Supervisor Joe McNamara.
“It is time that people stood up and said let’s stop this and put common sense into how we should run our government … [...]
Read the full story: Is Ed Elswick the answer to big government in Roanoke County?.
Roanoke City Council, characterizing last issue’s taxes story as “excessively negative and certainly misleading,” defends the city as “one of the best places to live in the United States.”
Read the full story: City Council: The Glass is More Than Half Full.
What if we’re thinking about it all wrong? What if it shouldn’t be at Riverside or at Elmwood Park, but on some acre-sized plot we haven’t identified yet?
Read the full story: Whither The Amphitheater?.
In today’s edition of The Roanoke Times, columnist Dan Casey provides some interesting insights into the winners and losers from city council’s decision to force Darlene Burcham to retire from her position as city manager on March 1 of next year. Among the winners are council member Gwen Mason and our own Roanoker magazine. The [...]
Read the full story: Winners and Losers in Queen Darlene’s Exit.
Breaking news from city council: City Manager Darlene Burcham will retire on March 1st, 2010.
Roanoke city council announced the decision after meeting in closed session for several hours Monday night. Burcham says she will use her final 272 days to wrap up some unfinished business.
Burcham – who said she hadn’t even contemplated retirement before it [...]
Read the full story: The Queen Prepares to Relinquish Her Throne.
A lot of folks are talking after reading the article, perusing this blog or watching our television commercial.
Bet you didn’t know we’re also on the radio. Listen to our radio broadcasts below and then get involved in the conversation.
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Read the full story: Queen Darlene on the Radio.
There are two other City projects initiated and strongly supported by Mrs. Burcham that have not been mentioned but I feel need to be investigated further.
The first is the acreage behind Berglund Auto on Williamson next to VDOT’s road maintenance facility that was to be a new stadium site. This investment totals approximately $3.5 [...]
Read the full story: Roanoke Real Estate Developer Weighs In.
As part of the response to our current issue’s cover story, we’ve had a few critics point out that city of Roanoke does have a rainy day fund that currently amounts to $19.7 million.
What we feel is important to add is that this amount reflects only a 0.3% savings during the Burcham-era administration. Based on [...]
Read the full story: Leaks in the Rainy Day Fund.
First of all, thank you all for your calls, letters and comments on this issue. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to continuing this discussion with you over the coming weeks.
Over the last few days, several of you have commented about our decision not to speak with Darlene Burcham or members of City Council [...]
Read the full story: Dear Defenders of the Queen….
Note: “Mr. Big” is a current employee of the City of Roanoke. His name has been altered to protect his/her identity.
Although there has been much publicity over the Queen Darlene article, Roanokers should not hold high hopes of anything changing anytime soon. While we view Darlene as the problem, the problem exists because of the [...]
Read the full story: Roanokers Should Not Have High Hopes in City Council.
It’s been just 11 days since we launched this blog, but the dialogue is already beginning to spread. Just check out a few of these excerpts from conversations about our coverage taking place on other sites…
Read the full story: The Conversation is Growing – Whose Side Are YOU On?.
The following letter was received from Roanoke City resident Robert R. Craig.
An excellent article and well researched. I hope it will be a wake up call for the current City Council that it is time for Darlene to leave. Having said that, Darlene’s defense is she only did what the City Council authorized. For anyone [...]
Read the full story: A Citizen's Response: Don't Let City Council Off The Hook.
Note: “Mr. Big” is a current employee of the City of Roanoke. His name has been altered to protect his/her identity.
Roanoke City Council has a bad habit of not doing their job. As with most government entities, there are politics involved, but in our case no one knows who is on the right and who [...]
Read the full story: Roanoke City employee speaks out.
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