THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994               TAG: 9410210368
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   35 lines

IN GOOD TIMES AND IN BAD WORKING TOGETHER

Regional cooperation for a campaign to protect the area's military bases is a positive development.

It's interesting that 15 different governmental units can get together in the face of adversity but are not so cohesive when the region is going for new development.

Each community has something to lose when a base anywhere around here closes. Conversely, each has something to gain when a major new business or attraction comes to the area.

The adage that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link certainly applies to this region, where one place runs into another and where only locals know when they have left one city and gone to another.

By competing against each other for new business and new attractions, we sometimes drive away prospects who might have been sold with closer cooperation among the communities.

Forward Hampton Roads is a good idea, but sometimes it seems cities are giving only lip service to the notion except when the organization is putting a business directly on their tax rolls. Supporting FHR or any other regional organization cannot be a sometime thing.

Maybe the cooperative effort to save the bases will help make the case for more joint endeavors that will enhance everybody. by CNB