THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504150295
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 163 lines
Beleaguered by allegations of misconduct from some citizens and colleagues on the City Council, Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer resigned Friday afternoon.
The resignation, according to a letter sent to fellow council members, takes effect immediately.
The council has 30 days to appoint someone to fill Dwyer's seat until November when the voters will elect a replacement.
In his letter, Dwyer said he was stepping down to spare the city and his family further anxiety and damaging press.
On Monday, Dwyer pledged to continue to serve as vice mayor. But accusations have continued to emerge that Dwyer pressured a Chesapeake woman to have sex in exchange for getting health benefits for her husband, and that a romantic interest in the woman drove his public decisions about whether to fire the city manager.
``I feel that the numerous newspaper articles in the Virginian-Pilot are causing a lack of harmony on the Chesapeake City Council,'' Dwyer wrote, ``and that the continuing publicity of this matter is not in the best interests of the City of Chesapeake or the effective representation by the Council as a whole of the citizens.''
Dwyer, a planner in the welding shop at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, could not be reached for further comment.
It is the second time in five years that a high-ranking Republican in the city has resigned under fire. In 1990, then-Mayor David I. Wynne resigned a day after a felony fraud conviction, which was later overturned.
Mayor William E. Ward, who took the leadership after Wynne's departure, said he hoped Dwyer's resignation would be the beginning of a healing period for the city.
``While I accept his resignation with regret,'' Ward said, ``I am sure he realized that the dark cloud this episode has cast over Chesapeake was not in the city's best interests. I applaud him for putting the city first and making the decision to resign.''
Dwyer has maintained his innocence in the face of charges leveled at him by the woman, Sandra R. Lewis.
``At no time have I ever committed any improper act or made any deal to help somebody in return for favors of any nature,'' Dwyer said in Friday's letter.
Lewis secretly recorded telephone conversations between her and Dwyer in February and March.
In those conversations and in a series of messages left by Dwyer, he begged to see Lewis and tried to start a romantic relationship as he negotiated with top city officials for a $65,000 health insurance policy for the Lewis family.
It was the first time the city had granted the benefits to a fired employee. Former Sgt. Ed Lewis, a 24-year veteran of the Chesapeake Police Department, was terminated for lying about a domestic dispute.
And in long, rambling segments of the phone calls, Dwyer shared with Lewis secrets about the inner-workings of city politics, bragged about close ties to a developer's agent, and derided his colleagues on the council.
Lewis said she was pleasantly surprised at the vice mayor's resignation.
``It's probably the first thing he's done for a long time that is really for the betterment of the city,'' Lewis said.
Lewis, who addressed the council on Tuesday and painted Dwyer as a relentless pursuer who followed her to her father's funeral, said she plans to seek more money from Dwyer and from the city.
Lewis originally was seeking $650,000 from Chesapeake to keep the tapes from the public.
Now, Lewis said, she wants compensation for the physical and emotional stress she says she has suffered because of the publicity.
Ward was the first council member to formally question Dwyer's actions after Lewis played part of the tapes to him on Feb. 26. A week later, Ward met with local agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to review the tapes. The FBI did not open an investigation, saying it didn't find any jurisdictional basis.
Councilman Robert T. Nance said he talked to Dwyer at 9 a.m. Friday about the personal and political toll the accusations were taking on the council and on residents.
Later in the afternoon, Nance said, Dwyer called him with his decision.
Nance, who condemned Lewis as a vindictive liar in a special council meeting on Monday, said Friday that the state police should continue its investigation.
``I think Arthur kind of shifted from his personal situation,'' Nance said, ``to what it was doing to the city, and to some members of the council who felt very strongly about maintaining the business of the city.''
Among the harshest of Dwyer's critics was a colleague from his own party, Councilman John M. de Triquet.
De Triquet said he had been talking with Dwyer since Sunday about the vice mayor's actions and their consequences for public confidence in city leaders.
``There was no other option available to him,'' said de Triquet, who on Sunday called Dwyer's behavior unethical. ``There should be no option available to any public officials who jeopardize the public trust.''
Councilman Alan P. Krasnoff cautioned that the city cannot move forward until its leaders recognize whatever errors were made.
``This whole thing has highlighted shortcomings in the city's performance that I hope we can repair,'' Krasnoff said.
Dwyer first came to public notice in 1989, when he succeeded in negotiating for more concessions from a developer to satisfy angry residents in Western Branch.
He ran for the City Council in 1990 as a member of the GOP's ``Clean Sweep'' ticket, beating out another Western Branch resident and incumbent councilman, Gary W. Markham.
Dwyer almost immediately became a thorn in the side of the council's Democratic majority.
He railed against closed-door sessions for council appointments, suggested deeper spending cuts in the budget and lobbied unsuccessfully to give voters new power to initiate legislation and to recall council members.
In 1994, Dwyer was re-elected to the council by just 47 votes. Although he could have vied to retain his own four-year seat, he chose instead a special two-year term, prompting speculation that he would try to unseat Ward for the mayor's seat in 1996.
The 1994 election also swept four new Republicans to the council; for the first time in decades, Republicans had the power to set the agenda for the fastest growing city in the state.
Days after their swearing-in, Republicans selected Dwyer as the new vice mayor.
Many of those who make up that Republican majority said the allegations surrounding a leading Republican had affected all of them, and that his resignation would create a turning point for them to come back together.
``When you blast one member of that team, you blast everyone,'' said Councilman Peter P. Duda Jr. ``Now we as a council must pull together and continue to do the city business.'' MEMO: Related story about filling vacancy on page A5.
LETTER
April 14, 1995
Mayor William Ward and
Members of Chesapeake City Council
City of Chesapeake, Virginia
Dear Mayor Ward and Fellow Councilmen:
After long and careful deliberation, I am resigning as Vice Mayor and
a member of Chesapeake City Council effective immediately. The personal
attacks against me and my family by Sandy Lewis, although I have done
nothing legally improper, have caused great personal anxiety and
distress to me.
At no time have I ever committed any improper act or made any deal to
help somebody in return for favors of any nature. I feel that the
numerous newspaper articles in the Virginian-Pilot are causing a lack of
harmony on the Chesapeake City Council, and that the continuing
publicity of this matter is not in the best interests of the City of
Chesapeake or the effective representation by the Council as a whole of
the citizens.
The numerous tape recordings which have been published in the
Virginian-Pilot against me were procured without my knowledge or
consent. Since I did not know that I was ever being taped, I thought
that any matters I said were confidential, and I would be afforded the
same privacy as any other person.
I wish all of the Chesapeake City Council members and the citizens of
Chesapeake the very best in the continuing progress of the City of
Chesapeake.
Sincerely,
Arthur Dwyer
Vice Mayor
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Dwyer
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL RESIGNATION MISCONDUCT by CNB