THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504130414
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
It has all the elements: the rich, the powerful, politics, the media, and now scandal. Great stuff for a pulp novel, but is this any way to redevelop a Navy base?
Charleston, the genteel city the Pentagon wanted to use as a national model for how to put a closed Navy base speedily to new uses, has seen that promise sink in a morass of infighting that has torn apart two redevelopment committees.
Now a local TV talk show host has been charged with trying to bribe two City Council members in North Charleston, where the base actually is located, to support an unidentified candidate for a new committee. Two other men also were charged after the council members went to the police.
``A crazy drunk writer if he sat down could not conjure up such an incredible story,'' former Rep. Arthur Ravenel said Tuesday. He has been widely suggested as a possible chairman for a third redevelopment committee that legislators are considering.
In the newspaper and on television, it's called Watersgate, after the broadcaster, Bob Waters, who was charged Saturday with attempted bribery and conspiracy. The local solicitor's office, the state prosecutor for the Charleston area, said its investigation continues.
The Navy is closing the base next April. Proposals for the base include a shipping terminal, a shipyard, an office park, light marine industries and housing for the homeless.
The Navy has to approve any redevelopment plans before putting the property in private hands.
Nearly two years ago, the Pentagon declared it would make an example of Charleston by putting the process on the fast track. But the bickering has slowed the process.
``It does seem to me that Charleston politics have sort of a gothic flavor Charleston President Alex Sanders. ``To get this base reorganization straightened out, the minimum requirement is now a miracle.''
Though authorities won't say for whom Waters and the others allegedly were trying to buy support, investigators have subpoenaed bank records of William J. Gilliam, a Charleston businessman who served on the second redevelopment committee but continually clashed with its leadership.
Waters also is employed by Gilliam as a public relations worker and supported him on his talk show.
``I am not a criminal,'' Waters told The (Charleston) Post and Courier on Monday. Waters, who was taken off the air after being charged, would not discuss specifics of the case but said he continues to support Gilliam.
It's not even a sure thing that the North Charleston City Council will have any role in selecting members of a new base redevelopment commission. One proposal would give that power to Gov. David Beasley.
The infighting has diverted attention from the hundreds of shipyard workers who will lose their jobs in the coming months.
``We down here at the bottom get the feeling everyone is just looking out for their own interest,'' said Michael Weathers, a pipe fitter for 19 years. ``There's not even a hope of something coming in.''
KEYWORDS: BASE CLOSURE BRAC by CNB