by Thomas Schwendeman
Former 5th District Congressman and Democratic candidate for Governor, Tom Perriello, met recently with a handful of Roanoke pastors and activist to seek their input on “things that are meaningful to the community.”
The group was brought together by Kimble Reynolds, former Mayor of Martinsville. In his brief introductory remarks, Reynolds said he learned first hand while working with Perriello as his Regional Director, that he was “smart, hardworking,” and someone who “delivers” (as in millions) for the 5th District during his tenure as Congressman.
Mayor Sherman Lea followed, suggesting a major issue, not just for Roanoke, but cities and towns across the country, is the loss of revenues due to the exclusion of sales tax for internet businesses, an issue commonly referred to as Market Place Fairness. Roanoke loses about $2-million in revenues annually. Another need was to work toward the continued expansion of broadband, allowing Roanoke to continue to compete.
Perriello continued the conversation by first sharing some of his background, that included immigrant grandparents who settled in the coal fields of West Virginia; his father, after winning a local scholarship, being able to attend the University of Virginia, the midst of where Perriello grew up.
Even with a Yale education and acknowledged privilege, it was the learned tenet of his Catholic upbringing, “to serve the least among us, “ that would become the mantra for his future. His earliest campaign (in high school) was to go door to door for future Governor Doug Wilder. Along with his stint in Congress, Perriello has worked on anti-poverty and racial reconciliation issues along with working in Africa. More recently, he has served as a special envoy for President Obama, running the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, overseeing 80,000 employees and a $50-Billion budget.
Virtually all of the feedback offered by those in attendance centered on education and technical training. Pastor Kelvin Edwards touched on his experience in understanding the cultural differences of students and curtailing the curriculum accordingly. Andre Peery spoke briefly of the importance to create summer jobs for our youth, and queried, “what happened to apprenticeships?”
The most impassioned comments focused on the fact that we have stopped teaching our children to read, and that all the programs available mean nothing if they don’t have the appropriate reading and writing skills.
Perriello acknowledged, “We must create pathways to a living wage career with education systems early including technical training.” He fully endorses 2 years of free community college, as, “it pays for itself.”
The exchange of ideas was ended as the candidate articulated his stance against the 2 locally proposed pipelines. Dominion Power has never made a case, and they continue to block all efforts at alternative energy sources. They will outsource the construction jobs, and only create 75 permanent jobs. He offers an alternative which includes creating far more permanent jobs related to weatherization programs which will reduce energy usage at a fraction of the $8.6-billion proposed to build the pipelines.
