ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – He served the City of Roanoke with distinction for more than 25 years, 20 on City Council, the last eight, as mayor. Former Mayor Sherman Lee spoke with WFXR’s Ron Marasco who has said so long to public service, but not goodbye to Roanoke.
Former Mayor Sherman Lea loves Star City so much he still attends public events even in retirement.
Recently he cut the ribbon celebrating the grand opening of the new fire and EMS training center in the Riverdale community. Ron sat down with Mayor Lea at the event to talk about his time in office in life afterward.
“Public service is getting more and more demanding now and again and I have spent a long part of my life in public service.”
No more official duties but unofficially he’ll remain engaged.
“But I want to stay active. I don’t want to just walk away from everything.”
He says he’s proud of much of his work on the council including buying key pieces of land, Roanoke being named an All-American city several times, working to help curb domestic violence, and partnering with Carilion to ensure it remains a top-notch medical facility.
“I feel within the next five to ten years we’ll be one of the best medical research facilities on the East Coast and we’re going to put pressure on Duke University and John Hopkins University. We’ll be sitting in the middle.”
But it’s the people and the relationships Mayor Lea says that make Roanoke special, “We’re welcoming engaging community.”
He also recognizes the contributions African Americans have made to the city.
“Oh, we have a lot of black history here, I really admire the progressiveness of African American citizens here in the city.”
He points out several city buildings bearing the names of distinguished black Americans and also points to a statue near City Hall.
“We recently had a statue of Henrietta Lacks built there. She was a Lady that had the cell that wouldn’t die.”
Mayor Lea also takes pride when talking about his youth basketball League.
“The new youth outdoor basketball league, we brought police officers together with young people.”
And speaking of pride in basketball, he gushes about his favorite team.
“The Lakers are just an organization; they were always prepared, and I enjoyed how they worked and played under pressure. I’m hoping with LeBron James now they’ll get back to win another championship.”
Another banner for the Lakers is reminiscent of the banners we see flying downtown.
“I think this was good things happening here and I’m proud to be a citizen of the Star City Roanoke.
And many are proud to say Sherman Lea was their mayor.