Councilman Lea's Position On Countryside

Here is word for word Councilman Sherman Lea's response to my request for his position on the Countryside Golf Course Property:
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"Before I comment directly on Countryside, let me state that during the campaign season all citizens will have to separate the two R’s. They are record and rhetoric. I stand on my record of nearly four years of committed service to all of the citizens of Roanoke. I have adamantly, clearly and without hesitation stood with and for the citizens of the Countryside neighborhood.

I recall the first neighborhood meeting with Councilman Brian Wishneff, at that time City Planner Brian Townsend and myself at which Councilman Wishneff and myself advised all those in attendance that we would do everything we could to see that members of the neighborhood be involved in the development process of Countryside. My position has not changed. I, again, stand on my record of supporting Countryside and my clear position that the 18-hole golf course be maintained and that representatives from the community be included on the committee to oversee any development that will take place in this neighborhood.

I have and continue to stress as a public servant and I emphasize the word “servant” that we as a governing body listen to citizens. I have not only visited with members of the community in their homes, but attended cookouts to let everyone know that my word is my bond. I want to continue to be that voice for the citizens on Roanoke City Council. Therefore, I am respectfully asking each and every citizen in the community for your support and vote in the upcoming Democratic Primary Election in February and then, hopefully, on to the May election where I would hope to be elected to serve you for four more years. I hope that through my work with the citizens during the last four years you feel that you can depend on me to speak out to voice your concerns. As many of you recall, I pushed through the Planning Commission and Council the renaming the golf course The Roy Stanley Golf Course. That effort was successful as all of the Planning Commission except one voted to approve the name change. I feel that there is a majority vote on Council to also support this change. However, I have placed that name change in abeyance because I advised the family I did not want that to become a “political football”. I still have expectations that this will take place within the next twelve to eighteen months.
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Again, I urge all citizens to just look at the record of where I stood on all issues during my tenure on Council. Please refer my to web page at ShermanLea.com, click on my announcement of candidacy speech and read it in its entirety. Also, I urge you to look at the multimedia reports that will share with you some of my thoughts on Countryside and other issues that affect you on a daily basis. Thank you for your support in the past and I appreciate and respectfully ask you for your continued support as I seek re-election to Roanoke City Council. As I said in my candidacy speech, this is your city and you have honored me the last four years to work on your behalf and I can sincerely say that I have done that to the best of my ability. Again, please support the re-election of Sherman P. Lea to Roanoke City Council."

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Thank you Councilman Lea for taking the time to respond.

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I will be asking all the candidates when they announce for Roanoke City Council or Mayor their position on the future of the Countryside Golf Course Property. Mr. Rich Cranwell will formally announce his candidacy on January 12th and will respond after his announcement. Any candidate who does not respond will be duly noted. Even a negative response will be better than no response at all. No response is as good as saying "I don't care about you".