New Council seated

Roanoke City Council met for the first time yesterday with two new members - Ray Ferris and Bill Bestpitch. I'm looking forward to working with both and am confident we'll have a cordial and collegial Council.

It's also important to thank Rupert Cutler and Gwen Mason for their service. They both worked hard to make the best decisions for Roanoke during these very challenging times. Dr. Cutler deserves the opportunity to have more free time and to pursue challenges important to him. And Ms. Mason has a challenging new role with the U.S. Attorney - one I know she'll be excellent filling.

As we begin a new fiscal year, we should work hard to find opportunities in this financially troubled time. There are opportunities out there and we need to find them and take advantage of our ability to more efficiently and effectively run city government.