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Residents protest Ben Cline school visit

When Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt, read to Roanoke schoolchildren Monday, about 30 protesters were there to greet him outside Fallon Park Elementary School.

“Kids Deserve More Than Cline’s Photo Op,” one sign read. “Ben Cline’s smiling face no substitute for full bellies,” read another. 

Protesters said they were targeting Cline for his vote on a budget bill that slashes spending on Medicaid and food stamps. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the wealthy will benefit from tax cuts and the poor will see fewer government resources.

At Fallon Park Elementary, 77 percent of students are considered “economically disadvantaged,” according to state data. That definition encompasses a child’s eligibility for free meals, Medicaid and other welfare. The figure is 62 percent for the district as a whole. 

Chuck Simpson, a union organizer and Democratic party activist, said the protest was thrown together in a couple days.

“It was really kept on the QT, because even certain people in the school didn’t know,” Simpson said about Cline’s appearance.

Cline’s office arranged the visit after a Fallon Park staff member reached out as a constituent to suggest the idea, according to school spokeswoman Claire Mitzel. 

“As a public school division, Roanoke City Public Schools welcomes elected officials to visit our schools in an educational capacity and frequently facilitates visits with representatives at all levels of government,” Mitzel said.

Cline arrived about 10:30 a.m. and read “House Mouse, Senate Mouse” to about 15 students in a second-grade class, Mitzel said. He donated the book, published in 1996 by Peter Barnes, to the school library.

The book tells the tale of a second-grade class of mice that writes to Congress with an idea for a bill to establish a national cheese. Mouse representatives debate the merits of cheddar, Roquefort and Parmesan before compromising on American cheese.

“But it’s not always easy for all to agree / On just what a bill should do, say or be,” the book notes. “So many opinions, and such a big mess!” 

Maggie Clemmons, Cline’s press secretary, did not respond to two emails with questions about whether Cline saw the protesters. 

Cline staff members and law enforcement drove by the gathering, but The Rambler did not observe Cline in any vehicle.

Protesters have dogged Cline with demands to host a town hall in Roanoke, holding weekly rallies outside his downtown office. Cline last held a Roanoke town hall in November.

“I had a great time reading ‘House Mouse, Senate Mouse’ to students in Ms. Shelor’s Library at Fallon Park Elementary in Roanoke today,” Cline wrote on social media. “It’s always a pleasure to visit local schools and encourage a love of reading among students across the Sixth District.”

A new city homeless initiative: task force to be formed upon mayor’s suggestion

Roanoke Mayor Joe Cobb is spearheading the formation of a new group to tackle homelessness.

He is starting the effort through a new “city council initiative” program that gives its members the opportunity to fill out a form with a proposal for the group to consider.

Cobb chairs the Council of Community Services board, which includes the Blue Ridge Continuum of Care, a planning body made up of homeless service providers and community partners. Cobb says one idea is to create a central hub for those unhoused to stay and to store their belongings. Currently, the main service providers are spread out, he said.

More regional cooperation on the issue is another possibility, including the city broaching the issue of getting funding from other localities, Cobb said. Localities providing housing options, particularly for their unhoused residents who come to Roanoke, could also a potential topic of discussion, he said. 

Because Roanoke is the main urban location in the region and has support services, the city’s long been dealing with trying to care for the unhoused as well as the multiple issues that come with that, including panhandling.

The task force is to bring “community support, additional community voices, to better understand the challenges that we’re facing,” he said.

Overall, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the region, 389, fell 3.2 percent in January 2025 from the year before, according to the latest count. In 2024, homelessness increased 20 percent and surged 54 percent in 2023.

One of the city organizations that provides services to the most vulnerable is the Rescue Mission of Roanoke. Its CEO, Lee Clark, said Tuesday that Cobb is familiar with the challenges and barriers. Clark said if the task force can foster collaboration, it can be a benefit.

“We welcome the help,” he said.

Cobb said he would expect the task force — the members of which are still to be determined — to have some recommendations in a year or so.

The task force is the second initiative under the new council program. The first, also proposed by Cobb, was approved though a council resolution on Monday: It approved the naming of the traffic circle at the gateway to the Virginia Western Community College campus after retiring school President Robert Sandel.

Roanoke could use more hotel rooms, director says

Roanoke could use more hotel rooms to boost tax revenue and generate more traffic for businesses, the city’s real estate valuation director says.

The city lost 609 rooms among three hotels from 2020-22, according to K.C. Bratton, who gave city council a look at the numbers Monday. Those included a Sheraton near the airport, a Days Inn near the civic center and a Ramada not far from Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. The Ramada was demolished and the other two hotels are now apartments. 

There is a deficit of 450 to 500 rooms based on market occupancy, according to city documents.

A new tax reduction category for hotels could spur new development, Bratton said. The city could get more than $10 million in new money through such a program over a 15-year period, according to projections from Bratton’s office.

Bratton said he’s talked to hotel developers who say they need more equity to get loans. The abatement program could be a way to get those projects done in the city, he said, by offering a partial tax offset. 

New construction or substantial rehabilitations could qualify for the abatement program, which would include other terms, including a project’s value based on market comparisons. The abatement would sunset after five years, or 500 rooms.

“To me, it’s a sort of program that’s a win,” Bratton said.

The council will consider approval of the changes at an upcoming meeting.