Roanoke City Councilman Peter Volosin apologized Monday to colleague and fellow Democrat Phazhon Nash for a comment that Nash said he believes had “racial overtones.”
Volosin, during a regular meeting of the council, said he regretted the comment and that he understands “his words landed differently than he intended.”
Nash, who sits next to Volosin on the dais, made no comment regarding the apology, but the two shook hands. Nash was not immediately available for comment on Monday.
Nash posted on Facebook on Friday, saying the comment was made by Volosin at the end of a July 6 city council meeting, after a tense 4-3 vote over city zoning amendments that have been debated for more than two years, with Nash and Volosin on opposite sides.
Nash, the only Black council member, said that Volosin, who is currently up for reelection, leaned over and told Nash that another council member, Nick Hagen, “owns” Nash. Hagen, the lone council Republican, also voted in the majority on the zoning matter — a vote that resulted in tense discussion among council. Hagen was not immediately available for comment Monday.
“The comment immediately struck a nerve,” Nash posted on Facebook about Volosin’s remark. “Regardless of the intent behind it, I cannot ignore language that, for me, carries and invokes a feeling of racial undertone and historical significance.”
Volosin is one of five Democratic candidates on the ballot for the city’s Democratic primary election on Aug. 4; others are incumbent Vivian Sanchez-Jones, Raekwon Moore, Danny Clawson and Harvey Brookins. Three of those candidates will advance to the general election in the fall.
Nash and Volosin were seen arguing about the matter at the end of a city audit committee meeting on July 8. Nash said in his post that he had approached Volosin to confirm what had been said, at which point, Nash said he became “upset and agitated.”
After Monday’s meeting, Volosin told Cardinal News that he did tell Nash, “Nick Hagen owns you,” and that the comment was made in reference to the 4-3 vote made by the council to send zoning recommendations back to the planning commission for a fourth review.
Nash was among the four council members, including Hagen, Evelyn Powers and Terry McGuire, who voted to send the matter to another review. Volosin disagreed, and has supported higher density zoning recommendations since the city’s first recommended package to the council in 2024.
“This was a Democratic priority,” Volosin said, of the zoning changes. “It’s more about a Democrat versus a Republican, and that he’s voting with a Republican on something that’s a Democratic priority, and so that’s where that was coming from.”
Volosin said he does think the comments made will have an effect on voters in the primary.
“I will let voters weigh his account versus mine. I do not wish to turn a disagreement between colleagues into a longer public fight,” he said during Monday’s meeting.
Nash said in his social media post that he did not vote for Volosin in the Democratic primary. “Our city deserves leaders who can disagree without being disrespectful, who can engage in debate without resorting to personal attacks, and who understand that public office is a privilege that carries significant responsibility,” he wrote.
Moore, another candidate in the Democratic primary, reposted Nash’s Facebook post on July 17, “commending” Nash for speaking up, and said, “many of us who have been involved in local politics, community advocacy, and economic development over the past 5 years are not surprised at all by the situation.”
He said Volosin “has a history of disrespecting people whom he has a disagreement with.”
“We simply cannot move forward without maturity and mutual respect on council,” Moore said.
Volosin said after Monday’s meeting, in response to Moore’s post, that he works “in a collaborative manner,” and that “there’s a reason” why he is the vice chair of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission.
The Roanoke City Democratic Committee posted on Facebook on July 17, saying the committee spoke to Nash and Volosin.
“We do not believe that anyone should ever be disrespected or abused,” the post read.
The council met in a closed meeting Monday to discuss its code of conduct — a matter that was not on the scheduled agenda.
