Jacob Demmitt

Joe McNamara is heading to the Virginia House of Delegates with the promises of a red-blooded Republican, from reining in spending to avoiding tax increases. But the former Roanoke County supervisor is also a supporter of municipal broadband, where taxpayer funds are used to subsidize a government-owned internet service provider that competes directly with private companies like Comcast and Verizon. “It’s definitely, definitely something that whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, independent it really makes no difference,” McNamara said.

Three years after local governments first came together to try to bring faster, cheaper Internet to the Roanoke Valley, the localities considering a plan to build an open access fiber-optic cable network aren’t on the same page, elected officials said.

The cities of Roanoke and Salem are ready to pay their share of the $8.2 million project, while representatives from Roanoke and Botetourt counties have expressed hesitation.