THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408090145
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 251 lines
A PORTLY MAN with a perpetual smile and a gray bushy beard leading City Council members through exercises such as analyzing their personalities based on their birth dates might not seem like the most productive use of two days.
But the council retreats, led for the third year by Florida consultant Lyle Sumek, have evolved into what the council agrees is generally one of its more productive sessions.
The two days spent holed up in a small room at the Pavilion has evolved into an intensive time for council members to work out their differences, set rules of conduct and decide their priorities. The retreats often represent the only chance council members have to sit down and talk to one another without the pressure of an immediate council meeting.
And if next year's retreat is like the one held last Friday and Saturday, it won't be uncommon to hear a council member say during a contentious discussion, ``Well, remember at the retreat, we said this would be a priority
Although no formal votes were taken at this year's retreat, some consensus of thought and action emerged.
The council remains united behind the strategy of trying to build the Lake Gaston pipeline. The city must win permission from federal regulatory bodies, over the objection of North Carolina, as well as win a few outstanding court cases.
During a council election year, candidates often campaign on altering the city's tactics. But once elected, all usually come on board the city's Lake Gaston strategy.
``I was one of those candidates who suggested compromising more with North Carolina,'' Councilman William Harrison said. ``But after talking with staff and thinking about it, I think we ought to stay the course.''
The council may sell Corporate Landing, the 400-acre office park, which now sits vacant off General Booth Boulevard. This would likely mean an enormous loss of money. The council-appointed Development Authority owns the park. It was begun in the late 1980s and is already equipped with roads. But the authority has been unable to sell the land and already had to come to council once for a loan so it could meet its debt payments.
Councilman Louis R. Jones brought up the issue. He said he expected ``to get laughed out of the room'' for proposing selling the land. Instead, he got a general chorus of agreement.
The council is sharply divided on the merits of the proposed Southeastern Expressway. At least four council members expressed reservations about building the 20-mile, restricted-access highway, which would cut from Chesapeake into Virginia Beach. Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said she might prefer an at-grade, parkway style road. Councilwoman Nancy K. Parker questioned whether this was the best use of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The council approved the project as a top priority - but by a bare six votes.
The council is seriously considering a plan to preserve agricultural land and open space through buying the development rights from farmers. Barbara Henley and John Baum, who together can often pull together a council majority, are working on the issue.
They suggested a dedicated tax to create a fund of $3 million to $4 million annually to buy the development rights. If a farmer sold development rights, he would still be able to farm the land, but would not be able to build more buildings. The council could sell the public on the idea, they said, by pointing out the city would otherwise have to pay for the additional roads and other infrastructure in what are now agricultural areas.
Give young people, especially the poor, more activities to do after school. This was vital, several council members said, to help prevent and reduce delinquency.
These goals were set after reviewing long lists that Sumek had gleaned from one-hour interviews with each council member in the weeks before the retreat. During the latter half of the first day, the council reviewed a list of 14 general goals for the city and from this list, the council voted on its top five goals for 1999.
On the second day, the council reviewed a list of more than 50 specific projects and plans that Sumek had again culled from prior interviews. The list included everything from Lake Gaston pipeline to proposed Grand Prix racing at the Oceanfront, to the idea of allowing police to take home police vehicles at night.
The council also examined how it did business - how meetings were conducted, and how they interacted with each other and staff. The council opted for several changes. It agreed:
To return to an informal meeting before the formal session. This informal meeting would take place in the conference room, with council members seated around a long table.
For the last four years, the council has held these informal sessions, which include discussions and presentations, on the council dais with the proceedings televised over city cable. But there was general agreement that the council had suffered from not having a weekly opportunity to discuss city business in a relaxed session. The informal sessions would be open to reporters and interested public members, but would not be televised.
To only consult staff members and the city attorney with the knowledge of other council members. In the past, council members had begun consulting staff members and the city attorney on issues, and asking the staff to keep this secret from other council members. The city attorney would sometimes have to write opinions on a policy issue for two separate council members, each on opposite sides of the issue, without the knowledge of either council member. The council agreed this would stop, to the evident relief of City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley.
To do a better job keeping the proceedings of closed executive sessions secret. The council regularly discusses legal, personnel and land deals in closed session. And just as regularly, word of what was discussed leaks out to business people, civic leaders and reporters. Council members agreed to keep their mouths shut - or at least to tell other council members beforehand, if, on matters of principle, they decided to expose what went on in an executive session.
Take a break every two hours during formal council sessions. That way, both the public and the council would know to expect regular breaks. Council sessions often go on for more than eight hours.
The council also failed to agree on a few things.
It could not agree on rules to limit the amount of time one council member could speak, or the number of questions he or she could ask. This was an attempt to streamline and shorten meetings. The council did agree to try to ask questions of staff members in advance, and try not to monopolize the time of the council.
Sumek, who runs similar council retreats around the country, appeared to have gotten pretty familiar with the council members over the three sessions in the last two years. For example, in illustrating the difference between two council members' operating styles, he skipped across the room showing how one council member was inclined to move forward even though there might be land mines in the way. At times he played council psychiatrist, helping members understand why the council sometimes had problems and what they could do about them.
The city paid Sumek $1,000 a day to run the session, plus paid his plane fare from Orlando and other miscellaneous expenses.
The council spent the better part of the first day in more amorphous discussions about society and themselves as an organization. Each council member took a test to show how he or she made decisions. It showed the council is heavily weighted toward quick action, and less toward reflection or analysis, although there were a few deep thinkers in the bunch.
The members also listened as Sumek assigned them general categories according to their age, which Sumek said often showed general trends in personalities.
Members born between 1954 and 1968, Sumek said, were ``hedonistic traditionalists.'' They are inclined to be ambitious, intensely focused, but irritated by long discussions or focus on process. Council members born between 1947 and 1954, Sumek labeled ``rejectionists'' who, despite the title, are often very able at participating in meetings and interpersonal relationships. ILLUSTRATION: Cover Photos
John Baum
Linwood Branch
Robert K. Dean
William W. Harrison Jr.
Barbara M. Henley
Louis R. Jones
John D. Moss
Meyera Oberndorf
Nancy Parker
William Sessoms
Louisa Strayhorn
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Members of the City Council, holed up in the Pavilion, discuss city
successes in 1993-94 with the help of Florida consultant Lyle
Sumek.
During a lunch break, Mayor Meyera Oberndorf - and a stuffed doll -
listen to a conversation between councilmen Louis R. Jones and John
Baum.
Posterboard filled the walls of a Pavilion meeting room, indicating
a lot of work ahead for the City Council in 1995.
Oral Lambert, chief of staff for the City Council - and a retreat
participant - sits below a sign of the city's assets.
Louisa Strayhorn and Robert Dean discuss an issue before the meeting
restarted after lunch.
WHERE COUNCIL WANTS THE CITY TO BE IN 1999
Top five goals (in no particular order):
1. Making the city's economy vital with good-paying jobs.
2. Making the community safe from crime so someone can feel safe
anywhere, anytime.
3. Matching city services to city's ability to pay for them.
4. Having quality educational opportunities for everyone, all
their life.
5. Making the city a top tourism destination in the country.
High priorities (in no particular order):
Protect, and use, our natural resources.
Make citizens and businesses active participants in city
government.
High quality services to support urban living.
Improving regional cooperation.
Improving transportation options for citizens and tourists.
How council plans to get there
Top 10 priorities. These are specific projects and policies at
least six council members judged to be important (in no particular
order):
1. Lake Gaston pipeline
2. Horse racing track
3. Making, keeping and expanding businesses that are here
4. Improving youth activities
5. Economic development
6. Burton Station office park
7. Central Business District
8. Improving police staffing
9. Southeastern Expressway
10. Oceana Naval Air Station
High priorities (in no particular order):
1. Preserving agricultural land
2. Regional leadership
3. Developing comprehensive transportation plan
4. Streamlining development review procedures
5. Schools, goals and directions
6. Amphitheater
7. Permanent graduate center
Moderate priorities:
1. Building more golf courses
2. Keeping Tourism Growth and Initiative Fund
COUNCIL MEMBERS' PET PROJECTS
At the encouragement of the seminar leader, council members were
urged to pick one project to ``champion'' and be a ``cheerleader''
for:
John A. Baum and Barbara M. Henley - Preserving agricultural
land
Linwood O. Branch III - Streamlining development review process
Robert K. Dean - Transferring War Memorial from Newport News to
Virginia Beach
Louis R. Jones - Lake Gaston pipeline and horse racing track
John D. Moss - Promoting new Vocational Education Center in
Bayside
Meyera E. Oberndorf - Keeping Oceana Naval Air Station
Nancy K. Parker - City beautification
William D. Sessoms Jr. - Permanent campus for graduate studies
center
William W. Harrison Jr. - Regional amphitheater
Louisa Strayhorn - Improving available youth activities
by CNB