THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9411030422
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Vice Mayor Arthur Dwyer mended some fences with the city housing authority Wednesday, but he delivered a clear message - get rid of your attorney.
The differences between Dwyer and the housing commissioners had become public in recent days after he released a letter warning the commissioners that he and other members of City Council were unhappy with the board's decision to stick with attorney John E. Zydron.
A year ago, the council had removed the previous board of commissioners for misconduct, and clashed with Zydron in the process. City Attorney Ronald Hallman filed a complaint about Zydron with the Virginia State Bar.
Wednesday night, during a specially called meeting of the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Dwyer delivered his disapproval in person.
``You have all the attorneys in the Tidewater area to choose from,'' he said. ``It's very clear to me that Mr. Zydron is not the man for the job. I don't care who you hire, I won't tell you who to hire, but I will say I don't believe he's the man for the job.''
The commissioners voted 5-4 in a secret ballot Sept. 27 to open negotiations with Zydron for a new contract. Dwyer objected to the secret ballot and to the vote for Zydron. He told commissioners in his letter that they could be removed, too.
The commissioners are waiting for an answer from the state attorney general about whether the secret ballot was illegal under Virginia law. Commissioners said they are willing to listen to legal advice if the vote violated state law, but they resented Dwyer making the issue a public controversy.
``The impression we got is, if you made a mistake, we're going to cut your head off and not give you a chance to correct it,'' said commissioner Roland Thornton. ``Some of the things that were said . . . were just diabolically wrong.''
Chairman Walter Berry said to Dwyer and Councilman Robert Nance, ``I'll tell you two gentlemen to your faces, take a shot about the vote if you want, but some of the shots . . . were positively uncalled for.''
Dwyer quickly reassured commissioners that the council is satisfied with their overall performance, which has helped to improve the authority's poor ratings with federal housing officials.
``I hope you don't believe the council thinks you're doing a bad job,'' Dwyer said. ``We don't.''
Commissioner John Burke said, ``We all have the same goal of providing the best housing services to the people.''
The commission said it will vote again on Zydron's contract if the attorney general or the Chesapeake commonwealth's attorney says that it should.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY by CNB