Politics and development in Roanoke

I spent most of my time in the last years asking people to vote for our political group in Colombia. One of the many things we said in the campaigns is that “whether you like it or not, politicians make the most important decisions in society”. We were looking to impulse citizens to engage in the democratic process even if they didn’t vote for us.  At the end, the main reason I came to the MPAID in HKS was to improve my analytical tools to improve my political group’s approach to Colombia’s and Latin American problems and in that way help to increase the level of the political discussion in my region.

During this year, I became aware of what may be obvious for many of you: in some contexts, politics is not that important. This week in Virginia started in Roanoke where we met, among many others, Brian Townsend, Assistant City Manager, Chris Morrill, City Manager and Wayne Bowers, Director of Economic Development. My sense is that Roanoke has advanced in the middle of the difficult times for the U.S in large part because it was managed by these apolitical professionals. These individuals do not need to get out and find votes, are not worried by reelections and do not belong to national wide organizations with interests that may be unrelated to the needs of Virginia (i.e.: political parties). Although it was a superficial and short contact, I think that they have a clear plan where they want to get Roanoke and work to push for that direction. In some parts, I felt that “politics” was just an obstacle to get straight in this development path.

Some open questions related to this short reflection: is the case that in Roanoke, “whether you like it or not, professional managers make the most important decisions”? Is that good? Is it the case that the people we met are particularly good city managers and that explains Roanoke success? How do we rethink the American democracy in this context?