ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Roanoke City residents will elect a new Mayor this election.
This comes as current Mayor Sherman Lea is stepping down after serving two terms.
The three candidates vying for the top spot are familiar faces, Republican David Bowers, Democrat Joe Cobb, and Independent Stephanie Moon.
Bowers previously served three terms as Roanoke Mayor and also spent time on the City Council. In past elections, he ran as a Democrat, but this year he has switched to running as a Republican after he said Democrats have become too liberal.
“I find a lot of discontent among the public right now. I don’t like the way things are going,” said Bowers.
One of Bowers’s biggest critiques of the current administration is the recent change in rezoning approved by the city council earlier this year. The change got rid of “single-family zoning.”
“They’ve come up with this rezoning scheme which is in my opinion, the worst decision that a city council has made in 50 years. It means just in a “lickety split,” you can chop up your house into apartments or multiple units. The new rezoning scheme does not protect the sanctity of single-family homes or preserve the unique character of Roanoke’s residential neighborhoods,” said Bowers.
Democrat Joe Cobb is currently the Vice-Mayor and has served over six years on the city council. He also leads the Gun Violence Prevention Commission.
“Well, we know gun violence is a challenge. I’ve been working on that for the last five years. I was the one with the council who created the task force to reduce gun violence. And this year we are seeing a significant reduction in gun violence, close to 70% reduction in homicides, and 55% in aggravated assaults. And that is all because of our community collaboration,” said Cobb.
Cobb supported the city’s rezoning. He believes it will create more opportunities for housing and in turn, could help other challenges the city faces.
“We’re working through issues related to homelessness. And some of the root causes that contribute to that. And as we know, across the country, the biggest way to reduce homelessness is by creating more housing,” said Cobb.
Independent candidate, Stephanie Moon, also known as Stephanie Moon-Reynolds joined the city council in 2021. Before that, she served as city clerk. She has over four decades of experience in local government. She said her biggest accomplishment is being a voice for the people.
“The people need someone who’s strong, who’s outspoken and will represent them,” said Moon.
Listening to the people is one of the reasons why Moon said she was the only council member to vote against the rezoning change.
“And the community keeps saying, what about these abandoned houses? Let’s look at those areas to test some of this, but not putting this all across the city next door to where people moved in wanting single-family homes,” said Moon.
The new mayor will also join three new city council members who will also be decided this November.