Mayor to temporarily fill Roanoke City Manager role

Rhian Lowndes
·2 min read

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — City Council unanimously voted Monday night for Mayor Sherman Lea to fill in as acting city manager until a formal interim is found.

Former Mayor and mayoral candidate David Bowers called a press conference on Tuesday, May 21, to object to the move.

“In my opinion, the Mayor cannot and should not serve as interim City Manager,” he said, adding he believes it violates the separation of powers. “The legislature is City Council and the legislature appropriates and makes policy and then the City Manager is the one who executes that policy.”

Former Mayor and mayoral candidate <a href="https://www.bowers4roanoke.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:David Bowers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">David Bowers </a>called a press conference on Tuesday, May 21, to object to the move. (Jemon Haskins/ WFXR News)
Former Mayor and mayoral candidate David Bowers called a press conference on Tuesday, May 21, to object to the move. (Jemon Haskins/ WFXR News)

City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Stephanie Moon Reynolds denies this and says the city attorney did not find an issue with the move.

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“I believe we’ve checked off all those boxes to say yes he can, and again if he could not why would a council want to put themselves in that situation?” she said.

Mayor Lea will not be paid any extra for filling in as manager.

WFXR reached out to Mayor Lea’s office for a response, but did not hear back.

Another question Bowers raised was, who should elect the City Manager.

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Mayor Lea is poised to retire at the end of the year and Councilmembers Trish White-Boyd, Luke Priddy, and Stephanie Moon-Reynolds are set to leave their council seats.

“My thought is, probably the best thing for the new city manager is for the new city council to choose that person,” said Bowers.

“I think this current council should see this through,” said Moon Reynolds. “If not, you’re putting in an ‘acting’ to postpone all the way until the spring pretty much.”

No reason has been given for Cowell’s departure. Both he and the city released statements voicing appreciation for his seven years with the city.

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