Mayor Renee Turk graduated from Roanoke College in 1977 after spending her first
two years at Virginia Western Community College. As a commuter, she graduated with
a degree in business, education, and economics. Turk was a cheerleader, a caterer for
events, and a member of Chi-O. She lauded Roanoke College for being “an excellent
school with an unbelievable business program, great teachers, and a pusher of critical
thinking.” Turk’s grandparents are from Lebanon, has visited the area, she has
deep connections there and would like to express her deep concern for the situation.
“I would never have though when I was a student at Roanoke College that I would
one day be the mayor of Salem. The one thing I always said is if there’s something I
need to learn or something I want to do, I can do it. I will teach myself, I will do the
research, I will work on it and make sure I’m comfortable.” It is that mentality that set
her up to sell cars at a Saturn dealership shortly after being hired as a secretary.
Turk used her degrees to help her enter a life of teaching where, once she gained
certification through serving as a sub and classes at JMU and Radford, she was hired by
William Fleming. “I taught students in Roanoke City the theory behind computers with
punch cards since it was the early 80s. After five years of that I got a call from Walter
Hunt, the superindent for Roanoke City schools, to be interviewed. I wasn’t sure I was
going to do it at first but I’m glad I did because I got offered a job to teach at Salem
High school.” Turk taught computer concepts there for four years before she chose to
stay home to raise her kids. “Teaching was my favorite profession. I think I’m a natural
for it because everyone tells me I sound like I’m lecturing them!”
She has been Salem’s mayor since 2020 and is running for reelection this fall on the
same ballot as the national ticket. “As mayor, I’ve made it a point to network as much
as possible. I go to state conferences, regional meetings, and I think the important
thing is you don’t have to solve an issue by yourself. Usually it’s an issue that
somebody else has, just on a different scale. So making friends with those people is
what helps you to pick up the phone and call someone who can share their experience
on the issue.” Turk’s experience teaching students parliamentary law and being
sponsor for FBLA prepared he well for leading city council meetings with little wisdom
from her predecessors at her disposal.
If you want to speak at a city council meeting, you can head to salemva.gov and find
the tab “How do I speak at Council”. You have to apply to speak before the Friday
before the meeting on Monday. The agenda for the meeting gets posted usually on
Wednesday afternoon before the meeting. Speakers have a limit of five minutes and it
is only a time to present thoughts and information for council to take into
consideration.”
“I would love to go horseback riding if I had the day off! It’s been a long time but I
enjoy it tremendously. I also enjoy playing the guitar and singing with friends.”
Turk is grateful for her entire family. “My husband, David; he’s really my rock and he’s
the person I get to complain to and he gets to listen. I like having him at meetings
because then he can watch my body language and tell me what I missed! My brother,
who went to Roanoke College with me and served on Roanoke City Council for eight
years, is another great person for me bounce something off of.” Early voting has
started in Virginia, so if you can, please order a ballot and make sure you vote up and
down the ballot!
Juniper Rogers
Section Editor
