THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604230189
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Paul D. Fraim
LENGTH: Long : 309 lines
The following are excerpts from the ``State of the City'' speech delivered by Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim on April 11:
The first thought I'd like to pass on has to do with cities and the word ``urban,'' a word that causes some people to wince.
For too many people, ``urban'' is just another word for ``distress,'' or ``blight,'' or ``decline.''
And they have reacted accordingly, often opting for greater distance over closer proximity.
But, we're finding now, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, that we cannot escape ourselves.
Problems some thought they were leaving behind in their move to the suburbs are now showing up around the corner.
And we see that cities and suburbs, and the regions they lie within, will stand or fall together. Our destiny is not separate, but shared.
In just a few short years, humanity will pass a demographic milestone. For the first time in history, more of the world's people will live in and around cities than in rural areas.
As it stands, nearly half the world, and three-quarters of the west, live in cities.
In the three decades between 1960 and 1992, the number of city-dwellers worldwide rose by nearly a billion and a half.
The simple fact is that cities are here to stay, throughout the world.
Lewis Mumford once said that the ``chief function of the city is to convert power into form, energy into culture, dead matter into the living symbols of art, biological reproduction into social creativity.''
We can and should be such a place.
This city can be a center for initiative, innovation and collaboration, the very forces that move cultures forward.
But we cannot kid ourselves about what it will take.
It will take determination and confidence in ourselves.
It will take all of us.
But even that may not be enough.
We must realize that the answers - and the resources - must increasingly come from within.
In case you haven't noticed, the levels of government in America are shifting about.
The word from Washington is: Let the states do it.
The word from Richmond and the governor's mansion is:
Let the localities do it.
The word from Norfolk is: Thanks a lot.
There is irony in all this. Virginia leaders have long said that political power and responsibility should be brought closer to the people.
Some call the process ``devolution.''
Whatever label it goes by, it translates into a lot of serious and important changes.
At this moment, Congress continues to wrestle with the budget deficit and with plans to reduce spending by a trillion dollars between now and the year 2002.
For Washington, such changes remain largely an abstraction, but it will be real when it hits the streets of Norfolk. It will be tangible.
And we already feel it.
A quick example. The lead editorial in the April 1 edition of The Virginian-Pilot notes a 6.7 percent decline in Virginians' household income from 1992 to 1994, this at a time when national household income remained unchanged.
A real wake-up call for the Hampton Roads region came at the end of the Cold War and the reprioritizing of government funding. This reprioritization coupled with a general slowdown in the economy has meant loss of jobs as defense-related industries and the military downsize and privatize.
Listen to some of the figures quoted:
Since 1992, Newport News Ship has cut 12,000 jobs.
Nearly 20,000 federal military and civilian jobs have been lost.
And forecasts call for another 9,300 federal civilian and up to another 14,800 military jobs to vanish between now and 1998.
Again, we are going to be more on our own than ever.
I would characterize Norfolk's recent past as striving to maintain a balance between economic development and neighborhood development.
But now there is the additional need - indeed, the imperative - to look beyond the geographic boundaries of the city and focus on regional issues.
Events that happen outside the city limits, outside the Commonwealth of Virginia, beyond the borders of the United States, ultimately affect Norfolk.
That is why we must continue to pursue a regional agenda without diminishing the pursuit of our own vision.
Regionalism is not about helping the poor. It's not about correcting the past but rather fixing the future. It's about the economy. It's about a national and global competition.
To ignore the bigger picture is to risk the city's future prosperity and progress. Worse yet, it would be a lapse of leadership.
Today, it is no longer a matter of whether regional cooperation will happen, but rather in what form, when, and how effective it will be.
It may surprise some of you, but this notion of regionalism has been around for over 50 years.
As early as 1941, the idea of local government consolidation was proposed to an unreceptive audience. Even then, regionalism was a complicated proposition, and a half-century later it's no easier.
Progress, though, has been made.
Norfolk supplies drinking water to the Navy, to Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, a true regional water system.
The Southeastern Public Service Authority provides regional refuse disposal.
Similarly, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District provides waste water treatment.
And the Norfolk Airport is the region's busiest and most centrally located.
The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce is another example of regional progress.
Still, after 50 years, these are modest gains. Today, the winds of change are blowing at gale force strength, and I would submit we must embrace a strong, more inclusive sense of community, where artificial boundaries are not exploited as an excuse for inaction.
After all, what is it that divides us? A line on a map. A law on the books. Suspicion. Skepticism. Doubt.
These things we can overcome.
Recently, we have begun to make some real progress.
At the state level, the Urban Partnership, a coalition of urban jurisdictions across the Commonwealth, the private sector, state government and the state Chamber of Commerce have come together.
Formed out of mutual concern for our population and business centers, the Urban Partnership was founded on the indisputable fact that thriving urban centers are crucial to economic growth and to the state's economic competitiveness.
The partnership's primary focus has been to examine the impact of urban conditions at the local, regional and state levels; identify problems; and encourage regional solutions.
During this year's General Assembly session, legislation recommended by the partnership was enacted with $8 million in funding that provides financial incentives to encourage localities to work together.
This legislation was secured through the joint efforts of private, public and state legislative leadership.
The Virginia Waterfront Campaign is a regional initiative that includes communities from Williamsburg to Virginia Beach and Norfolk. Begun in 1994, its goal is to capture a greater share of the rapidly expanding tourist and convention market.
At the regional level, an initiative of real importance to our future is the recent birth of the Hampton Roads Partnership, an unprecedented effort to bring together top business, education, military, public and civic leaders to harness the entire region's resources to effectively address strategic regional issues for the purpose of improving our competitive position in economics and employment growth.
Now, let's turn to matters specific to Norfolk.
I stand here today as the representative of City Council. Though we are a body comprising seven diverse individuals, we nevertheless work together as a team. And, as a team, we have agreed upon a number of priority areas. Highest on the list are public safety, education, economic development and neighborhood development, and we strive hard to maintain a balance between them, for each one individually has an impact on the others.
Public safety
First and foremost, to continue to thrive, cities must be safe, both in fact and perception. Public safety is this city's top priority, and its funding reflects that commitment.
Norfolk pioneered community policing. Our PACE program is recognized nationally as a model to emulate, and for good reason - it works.
Since 1990, overall crime in Norfolk is down by over 30 percent. Homicides have decreased by 38 percent during the same period.
Citizen involvement, whether through civic leagues, the neighborhood crime prevention coalition, block watch programs or other avenues, has been the key element in the success of PACE.
For the foreseeable future, public safety will remain our top priority.
Education
More than ever before, education is the foundation for securing a better life for our citizens. We have, we believe, the finest public education in the region.
And this council is committed to maintaining that position.
Over 40 percent of budget revenues are appropriated to the schools, and we continue to work with the School Board in funding capital projects such as the $22 million renovation of Granby High.
The Norfolk school system has the smallest class size and spends more per student than any other school system in the region.
Conservative projections forecast an enrollment increase in our student body by nearly 1,000 students next fall.
After saying that, all of us recognized the trouble spots. The dropout rate is too high; test scores need to improve. The School Board has responded in an appropriate manner, and we have great confidence that, over time, they will succeed in improving both areas.
Economic development
Education and economic development go hand in hand.
Until recently, community college courses have been unavailable in Norfolk, where the greatest need exists.
The Norfolk Campus of TCC is now a reality and scheduled for completion in 1997. By this October, staff will be working out of the Granby Street offices.
Over 8,000 students are expected to be enrolled for this affordable and accessible higher education in preparation for employment and self-sufficiency.
The good news is that the TCC campus remains on schedule and within budget.
Of course, all of this will also serve to re-energize the Granby Street corridor.
An accepted barometer of a city's overall health is job growth. Conventional wisdom holds that a city's rate of job loss is in direct proportion to the rate of growth and development in the suburbs.
In direct defiance of the trend, during a time of explosive regional growth, Norfolk has held its own, and even gained ground, in the number of jobs located here.
This did not happen by accident.
Our economic development strategy has focused on putting into place features that corporations look for in a community before making a location decision: a premier medical center, a thriving cultural scene, quality institutions of higher education, convenient and efficient transportation, first-class hotel and convention accommodations.
Soon to join this list is MacArthur Center. The complexities involved with this, the single largest economic development project in the history of the city, are merely a reflection of its importance.
For too long this region of 1 1/2 million people has gone without a centrally located, premium shopping complex. If Norfolk is to fulfill its potential, this component must be added to our existing attractions, just as we must add a professional sports franchise.
This wisdom of our strategy has been demonstrated by results.
For example, between 1981 and 1994, taxes from downtown grew from $5.4 million to $15.1 million. By 1998, this revenue will surpass $25 million. This in turn, helps provide funding for all other services the city must provide citizens.
In 1995 alone, our job base grew by well over 2,000. TWA, The New York Times, the U.S Coast Guard, Super Kmarts, Target stores, Wachovia Bank and more are voting Norfolk the city of choice with their feet and with pocketbooks.
With 25 percent of the region's population, Norfolk now holds 40 percent of the region's Southside jobs but must do better - and we will.
The port of Hampton Roads, of which Norfolk is the major component, is now the largest in the nation in total tonnage. General Cargo is a 9 million tons and growing toward replacing the port of New York as first in that category. A total of 34,000 jobs are directly related to the port, and a total of 120,000 are port related.
A good credit rating is as important to government as it is to business. The major rating firms, Standard & Poor and Moody's, have given Norfolk a strong ``AA'' bond rating, which not only reduces the interest Norfolk pays on its bonded debt but attests to the general soundness of Norfolk's fiscal condition.
Efficiency has been a major goal. The number of city employees has been reduced by attrition by more than 800 in the last 8 years.
Neighborhood development
Now a few observations on neighborhood development.
I could list all the neighborhood improvement projects and the dollar amount associated with them, and you might be surprised. I could, for instance, cite the new recreation improvements planned for Huntersville and Berkley, the revitalization plans for the Midtown, 35th Street and East Little Creek Road and Ghent commercial districts, enhanced code enforcement efforts, or the project to redevelop 90 acres in East Ocean View.
Instead, I want to conclude by sharing a few thoughts about a less tangible but no less important attribute to determining our city's long-term success. I call this our community spirit. A nearly indescribable force that gives us our sense of who we are as a city.
As the pace of change continues to accelerate, as the size of government continues to shrink but demands upon it increase, as uneasiness about the future fluctuates with the latest news of the economy, and as we race harder and longer just to keep up, it seems to me terribly important that we not lose sight of who we are.
Our city, Norfolk, is a proud, old seaport town of humble origins that over the centuries and despite the ravages of plagues, wars and catastrophies has grown to become the cosmopolitan hub of a great and growing region.
At a compact 63 square miles, we are a city with an appreciation for our history, an awareness of our present, and an air of anticipation and excitement about our future.
We are a city that has truly made its own way.
For the last half-century, we have been blessed with a level of community service and quality of leadership that is the envy of cities across the nation.
And it is those citizen leaders, black and white, blue collar and white collar, who have transformed a town in danger of being relegated to mediocrity into a thriving, vibrant and modern city. And they accomplished this out of a love for their community and a vision of a brighter future for their sons and daughters.
I am proud, and at the same time humbled, to be in their company. And I am determined to preserve and nurture that tradition.
So here we are, poised at the threshold of the 21st century and in our best position ever for moving confidently forward.
The sprawling slums and blight of generations past are gone and with that the terrible blemish of segregation.
We boast new neighborhoods in Middletowne Arch, Lafayette Shores, Pinewell-by-the-Bay and Attucks Square.
Our older, established neighborhoods such as Ghent, Bayview, Colonial Place, Ingleside, Berkley and Willoughby remain strong and vital through successful partnerships between the neighborhoods and the city.
Others, like Olde Huntersville and East Ocean View, are making impressive comebacks.
And our retail centers, Military Circle and Janaf, 21st Street and Colley Avenue, Little Creek and Wards Corner, are thriving and will continue to do so long after MacArthur Center is completed.
I'll leave you with a couple of thoughts and challenges.
Earlier, I said that for us to continue to progress as a city it was going to take all of us. And I meant that.
This City Council has, in a deliberate and open fashion, sought to engage all the interests of this diverse city in the hard but rewarding work of community building.
It began with a citizens outreach initiative that was designed to improve communications between city government and its citizens and to make government and its officials more accessible.
In a continuation of that spirit of communication and community building, I am pleased to take this opportunity to announce the council will be sponsoring a community visioning day on June 1 at Lake Taylor High School.
We're calling it ``Neighbors All: A Conversation About Our Community and Its Future.''
It is designed to provide a forum for our community leaders, our business leaders and others to come together, to talk with one another, and listen to one another, about shaping our city's future.
It is also to help the City Council and city administration, as one partner in the community, to understand your needs and aspirations better and thereby enable us to be more responsive to them.
By holding this visioning day, we hope to encourage greater community involvement in shaping our city's future because, to repeat, it's going to take all of us. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim
by CNB