THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9412300195
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Another View
SOURCE: BY ADRIAN C. WARNER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
I read Ida Kay Jordan's columns often and must agree that she is the best public relations person the city has, but I must note that I have never read an article or heard anything from the city officials that sets the city's problems in the right perspective, including Jordan's column ``High crime statistics and urban sprawl unfairly burden city'' (Currents, Dec. 11).
I came to the city in 1941 from the Midwest when I joined the Navy and was stationed at the Portmouth Naval Hospital. I was in and out of the hospital as a staff member through 1961 with time out for service in Europe.
Almost from the beginning of this period, Portsmouth city officials were squabbling with Norfolk County over water. This was during the period that the county seat was located in Portsmouth and should have fostered good relationships between the two entities.
Portsmouth had a relentless case going to annex more land from the county. When something would build up outside the city limits, the city would cry foul and want to start annexation procedures so they always had one in the system.
Just as it is now, if the city fills a pothole in Churchland, people Downtown complain that the Churchland area gets everything. So what would it be if Chesapeake and Portsmouth were to merge and something was built in Great Bridge? It would be hell to pay under the present mentality.
Then-City Manager George Hanbury completed a shotgun deal with Chesapeake on the water contract, meaning that Chesapeake residents would pay twice the amount charged the Portsmouth residents, yet Chesapeake had to pay to increase the size of the pipe in Portsmouth leading out to Chesapeake. Even this unreasonable deal hasn't helped Portsmouth's coffers that much, let alone the ill will it caused.
My family lived in Portsmouth for approximately 10 years before moving to Norfolk County in 1955 as the area we lived in began to deteriorate. So what incentive did Portsmouth offer us to stay? None. Two men controlled the city: George T. McLean and C. E. Russell. If it wasn't good for them, it wasn't good for Portsmouth. I make no apology for leaving Portsmouth, and I don't owe anyone an apology for doing so. So why the guilt trip?
My employment was with the federal government in the U.S. Navy, a state office and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, all of which I retired from. Now, these positions were all located in Portsmouth, but what do I owe Portsmouth for being employed in the government offices, particularly when Jordan and others are frequently complaining about all the government holdings in the city that doesn't pay taxes.
While I was working as a purchasing agent with the shipyard, I bought thousands of dollars worth of material from city businesses. Now, I am sure that if the city doesn't recognize and appreciate the value of these government entities, Chesapeake would gladly exchange an equal acreage in the wide open spaces for them.
I say all this to say Portsmouth has had many opportunities to excel, even to have merged with Norfolk County, but blew it first-class by braying about their water system, which could have been their ticket to encourage others to join in forming a new city.
Instead, city officials were too proud and pigheaded to recognize an opportunity when they saw one. Yet, when the idea came out about Norfolk County and South Norfolk merging, Portsmouth officials again cried foul, and, of course, wanted Churchland as a consolation prize.
Portsmouth is contiguous to Suffolk, so why not merge with them? No one is rushing in to save Portsmouth from a predicament of their own doing, and the same attitude still prevails. . . .
. . . If the city officials would realize that they can only drink so much water but could create an enormous amount of goodwill and, yes, maybe even cooperation with the water system, they might find a positive reception by other city officials as well as residents of nearby cities. Anyway, there is an answer to the problem but sometimes it pays to be a little humble. MEMO: Mr. Warner, who retired in 1993, lives in Western Branch.
by CNB