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Don't Miss the
2010 State of the County Address
When: November 5, 7:30Am to 9:00AM
Where:
Green Ridge Recreation Center (map)
For
more information or to register, click here.
Businesses
Awarded Cool Green Biz Designation
Recently, Berglund Chevrolet and Brandon Oaks completed the
Cool Green Biz certification process and earned recognition for
their respective commitments to sustainable business practices.
The Chamber partners with the Roanoke
Valley Cool Cities Coalition to administer the Cool Green Biz
program.
  
For more information on the program, contact Tori Williams 983-0700
x.229 or
click here.
Local
Government Briefing
County
of Roanoke
On
Thursday afternoon, Board members Ed Elswick and Charlotte Moore
changed their respective political affiliations to independent.
Chairman Joe "Butch" Church, himself an independent,
applauded their decision and urged his colleagues in other
localities to explore ways to remove partisanship from local
government. Will Roanoke County Democrats field a candidate to
oppose Moore in her re-election bid in 2011?
Roanoke
City
There
are still a few more days to complete the City of Roanoke's Arts
and Culture Plan survey. Results from the survey will serve as
one component in the development of a long-range plan to improve
"the cultural quality of life for all of Roanoke's
citizens." More information on the survey can be found here.
Regional & State
Briefing
Special Session
of ABC Privatization Cancelled-Can proposal be resuscitated by
January?
Late last week, Governor McDonnell made a tactical retreat
on his plan to privatize Virginia's state run ABC stores. Unable
to herd enough cats in the House of Delegates behind his plan,
the Governor cancelled plans for a special session in November
to consider the issue. Perfunctory press releases from House and
Senate Republicans (see here
and here)
lauded the Governor's decision and stated that lawmakers look
forward to continuing the debate during the regular session.
Earlier in the month, Speaker Howell proposed convening a
legislative working group to study the issue that would include
wholesalers, distillers, retailers, and members of the
Administration and both houses of the General Assembly. (see
more here).
Next step: A Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee
(JLARC) analysis of the McDonnell plan and its revenue estimates
should be released shortly.
Congressional
Races - Update
As the 2010
campaign slog nears the finish line, weary voters will soon
rejoice as the airwaves will soon be liberated from interminable
political ads. Many prognosticators foresee a Republican
takeover of the House (see here,
here and here)
and a smaller Democratic majority in the Senate. Forecasters
point to the so-called 'enthusiasm gap' as a likely indicator of
a Republican triumph. (see more here
and here)
For an overview of the House races nationwide, click here.
In our own backyard, races in the 5th and 9th Congressional
Districts could come down to a handful of votes.
5th
District Perriello vs. Hurt
Polling data from earlier this month gave
Hurt a small lead with 13% still undecided (see more here).
President Obama will attend a rally for Perriello in
Charlottesville on Friday (see more here).
Could this be a double-edged sword for Perriello? Will Obama be
able to rekindle voter enthusiasm that helped Perriello cross
the finish line in 2008 or will Obama's presence further
validate Hurt's claim that Perriello is too closely aligned with
the President and his agenda? Over the next few days, several
high-profile Republicans will stump for Hurt throughout the
district (see more here).
Video from an October 13th WSLS candidate's forum can be found here.
The candidates have a final debate on Friday in
Martinsville.
9th Congressional District
Boucher vs. Griffith
In only their second joint appearance of the
campaign, Boucher and Griffith dueled over a range of issues on
Tuesday evening. In an interesting twist, third party candidate
Jeremiah Heaton's pointed barbs about Griffith's legal clients
and marriage ceremony led to the tensest moment of the
debate.
According to a recent Survey USA/WDBJ poll,
Griffith and Boucher are locked in a dead heat with Griffith
making up considerable ground from earlier polls especially
among women and independent voters. Mason Adams of The
Roanoke Times provides an excellent overview
of how the King coal continues to be a major issue in this race.
With an assist
from some special interest organizations, Griffith has
repeatedly hammered away at Boucher's somewhat nebulous defense
of the controversial cap-and-trade legislation, creating a
narrative that Boucher is out-of-touch with the interests of the
9th district.
Enjoy the last few
days of the Congressional campaigns-the 2012 race for the White
House begins on November 3rd.
State Revenue
Numbers, More Cuts on the Horizon
Driven by an uptick in withholding, corporate income taxes,
and sales taxes, Virginia's tax revenues continued their
tentative growth in September, up 4.1% when compared to
September 2009. (see more here).
In other state economic news, the Governor recently convened a
session of the Joint Advisory Board of Economists to prepare
revenue projections and an economic forecast for the November
meeting of the Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates
(GACRE). The Governor will release his revisions to the
2010-2012 budget on December 17th based on revenue estimates
provided by GACRE. Economist Nigel Gault warned Virginia's
budget writers that a tax increase is no longer a matter of if
but 'when and where.' (see more here).
Finally, the Governor recently sent a letter asking state
agencies to develop cost cutting measures of 2%, 4%, and 6% of
their General Fund appropriations for fiscal year 2012. The
proposals are due November 5th (see more here).
Quick Hits
Cutting Their
Losses - Card Check
How will labor unions move forward on their signature
legislative priority as the political terrain changes in
Washington? See more here.
Position: The
Chamber has consistently opposed the misnamed Employee
Free Choice Act (Card Check).
Didn't the stimulus take
care of American infrastructure? According to The
Economist, a whopping 8% of the $787 stimulus went to roads,
public transport, rail, bridges, aviation, and wastewater
systems. See more here.
Raising Revenue for Transportation- the case for indexing the
gas tax to inflation.
See more here.
Stat of the Month: America's Top Trading
Partners. See more here.
Quality
of Life Projects Briefing
One
of the Chamber's priorities is to monitor the development of
quality of life projects in our region. Enhancing our
region's considerable amenities is vital to attracting and
retaining young workers, fresh capital, and innovative thinking.
Below is a list of recent developments:
Greenway
Moving Forward
On Tuesday afternoon, Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Mayor David
Bowers joined several other members of the community to
officially open another vital piece of the Roanoke
River Greenway. The $1 million pedestrian bridge over the
Roanoke River provides access to the new Vic Thomas Park from
Wasena Park. The Roanoke River Greenway will next expand
westward from Vic Thomas Park to Bridge Street in the Norwich
community. Planners envision connecting all of the sections of
the Greenway in Roanoke County, Salem, and the City of Roanoke
to form a continuous 18 mile stretch through the Roanoke
Valley.
Position: The Chamber supports expansion of the
Roanoke River Greenway.
Market
Building Construction On Track
Renovation efforts on the Roanoke City Market Building will
move inside as construction crews finished upgrades to the
building's water and gas lines. A construction fence along the
exterior of the building will be draped in a custom 'wrap' as
workers finish demolition and begin to reconfigure the
interior space.
on
this project, click here.
Meanwhile, Downtown Roanoke Inc. recently launched a promotional
video to remind
the public that Roanoke's unique restaurants and retailers
remain open for business.
Position:
The Chamber supports improvements to the Market
Building.
Y
Update
Work continues on the $1.7 million expansion of the Kirk
Family YMCA in downtown Roanoke's west end. Phase one of the
10,000 sq. ft. project includes an expansion of the Wellness
Center. Phase two will include a state-of-the-art,
interactive youth center. The new Wellness Center is slated to
open in January 2011. See more here.
Countryside
The
City of Roanoke's Planning Commission has scheduled a series of
workshops on the former Countryside Golf Course property. An
open house on the project is tentatively scheduled for January
27th and a final report could be ready by the end of February.
See more here.
Green
Ridge Recreation Center Golden
Roanoke
County's Green Ridge Recreation Center recently received LEED
Gold Certification for Design from the U.S. Green Building
Council. See more here
A
comprehensive list of these projects can be found on the
Chamber's website.
Do
you have ideas on projects you'd like for us to follow? Send us
an e-mail or
write a comment on the Chamber's blog
on local and state public policy issues. RSS feeds are available
for both the quality of life projects page and the legislative
blog.
If
you have questions about any of the blog features on the
Chamber's Web site, please contact Tori Williams at twilliams@roanokechamber.org
Upcoming
Events
State
of the County Address, Friday, November 5th, 7:30AM to 9:30AM,
Green Ridge Recreation Center.
The
121st Annual Meeting with Adrian Cronauer (the inspiration
for the Robin Williams' character in "Good Morning,
Vietnam!"), Thursday, December 2, 6PM-9PM, The Hotel
Roanoke & Conference Center.
Save-the-Date:
Chamber's Annual Capital Dinner, Tuesday, January 25th, Richmond
Marriott, 6:00 to 8:00PM.
For
a list of more Chamber events, click
here
and
to access the Chamber's Community
Calendar,
click here.
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