The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 85

T H E S H E R M A N AT O R

He won by a razorthin 134 votes out of
3,027 voters in the
firehouse primary.
Lea's primary victory essentially won him the
mayor's office. Although he faced a write-in campaign
from activist Martin Jeffrey, Lea easily won the May
general election with 82 percent of the vote.
So began the modern era of Roanoke politics.
Lea began his mayorship during an auspicious year in
the Star City. One year after Norfolk Southern closed
its final administrative offices from the city it all but
founded in the early 1880s, two West Coast breweries
and an Italian auto-parts manufacturer announced
they'd build in the Roanoke Valley, signaling the region's
economic transition away from the railroad.
Roanoke was clearly driving the wave. Office
buildings and warehouses downtown had been rebuilt
into a new neighborhood that was attracting enough
young people to reverse decades of depopulation.
As people flocked to regional greenways and trails,
an organic outdoor economy took root. The various
localities of the Roanoke Valley were finally beginning
to work with each other, and through Virginia Tech
and Carilion Clinic's collaborative medical school and
research institute, the Roanoke area was partnering
with the New River Valley too.
Yet Roanoke's history haunted it. More than a
century of segregation and demolition of ethnic,
largely African-American neighborhoods and business
districts created a legacy of inequality that lingered even
in a broader atmosphere of rising prosperity. In a 2015
study, Roanoke ranked near the bottom in economic
mobility for the poor, which means it's harder to
climb the socioeconomic ladder from the lower rungs
compared to other cities. In that it's joined by many
other cities in the South and Rust Belt.
In this moment, Roanoke elected Sherman P. Lea,
its second black mayor. The first was Noel C. Taylor.
City hall is named for him, and numerous city political
and civic organizations have played off the name of the
reform ticket he built in the '70s: Roanoke Forward.
"The Shermanator" nickname was
originally coined by former city
hall reporter Todd Jackson, who
covered Lea during his early Victory Stadium days.

LIZ LONG

TheRoanoker.com

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018

85


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The Roanoker - September / October 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - September / October 2018

The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Intro
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover1
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover2
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 3
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 4
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 5
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The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 98
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover3
The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - Cover4
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