Since Council narrowed its choices down to Mr. Culpert and Bill White, this was the better of the two. The fact that Bill White would get two votes is incomprehensible to anyone with a memory. This is the same man who received immunity to testify against someone in a criminal case, in which he would've received or been in the position to receive prison time. How could he be considered to represent Roanoke in any capacity?
With Roanoke's financial problems and immediate need to address them, the choice made is one of expediency and necessity. A citizen without extensive knowledge, that Mr. Culpert brings to the table, would not be a sound choice at this time, because there needs to be someone who can hit the ground running.
Roanoke needs competent people sitting on City Council, and, if Mr. Hicks and Howard would like to see new people in these seats, they need to start developing those individuals to be able to demonstrate those abilities. Otherwise, just having people "regular" people on Council for the sake of having new individuals will be more damaging than continuing to have present and former politicians continuously recycled through the system.