THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270415
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Some stalwarts of Ocean View told the City Council on Tuesday night that the idea of their community seceding from the city is so silly they were embarrassed even to talk about it.
Yet they went on to blast the secession movement anyway, hoping to squash it immediately.
Jim Janata, president of the East Ocean View Civic League, said: ``I think I have a broad enough perspective to sum up the popular reactions to this burlesque: ho-ho and ho-hum.
``The only people who seem to think it has any credibility are the media.''
Joe Hoggard, owner of the Ships Cabin restaurant in Ocean View, said: ``I feel sort of silly even discussing this. It just needs to stop. It's just absurd.''
Ocean View has long complained of neglect from City Hall. On July 4th, Ocean View politician Michael Bond and weekly newspaper publisher James Dozier launched a drive to split Ocean View off from Norfolk.
They have created a city seal, calculated potential tax benefits to residents and drafted a Declaration of Independence.
Dozier's newspaper, the Ocean View Times, has given the movement banner headlines.
Depending on whom you ask in Ocean View, it is either an inevitable result of long-simmering resentments or a fantasy with the permanence of a sand castle.
It is not clear yet how much public support there is. Opponents said Tuesday night that ``maybe 10 percent'' of residents would back secession. The planned petition drive has not begun.
City officials insist it is not even legally possible for Ocean View to secede. Mayor Paul D. Fraim and immediate past mayor Mason C. Andrews have publicly lambasted the proposal.
Bond, who has lost two campaigns for City Council, said he wonders why there's such a concerted attack.
``If they didn't feel it was serious, why would they go down there and stand up to talk about it?'' he said Tuesday night. ``They would just ignore it. This is an attempt at a pre-emptive strike, to keep it from getting any bigger.''
Bond said city officials are upset because two civic leagues, in Willoughby and East Ocean View (not Janata's civic league, but its rival in the same area) are letting their members consider the idea. by CNB