THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507150174
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
DEMOCRAT OFFERS `MORE BALANCED AND OBJECTIVE VIEW' OF THE GASTON `FIASCO'
In light of Editorial Page Editor Beth Barber's incredibly partisan analysis of the Lake Gaston fiasco ``Waterproof or watershed election?'' (Beacon, July 9), I thought I would offer a more balanced and objective view.
The key things to remember are as follows:
(1) Gaston is dominated by regional politics, not partisan politics. Every member of the Virginia Beach delegation, regardless of his partisan affiliation, did his best to make the settlement final. Clancy Holland had the votes in the Senate if the governor would have just called the session. Republicans and Democrats alike, led by Republicans' State Chair Pat MacSweeney, from the Southside fought this proposal bitterly. No honest person can term this fight in strictly partisan terms when one considers the material contributions made to pass the agreement by Democrats Clancy Holland and Glenn Croshaw. One cannot overlook the untiring efforts of Congressman Owen Pickett and Sen. Chuck Robb.
(2) This situation represents a failure of government and there is plenty of blame to go around. Certainly the leadership of the Assembly could and should have acted faster to put a special session together. But the governor could and should have done more to make it happen, too. He plainly insisted on certain terms that could not be met (such as his artificially imposed June 30 cutoff) in hopes that the legislature would not be able to act. Then he and his buddies could negotiate a deal for an executive order and claim all the credit. The only problem with that plan was that North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt (D) has a better grasp of the Virginia Constitution than our own governor and wouldn't go along. Governor Allen display his commitment to the project and call a session right now and challenge the Assembly to act responsibly and Carolina to respond ac-cord-ing-ly.
(3) It's troubling to me that the editor of this page reveals planks of the campaign platform of either party and endorses them before they are debated. I refer specifically to Ms. Barber's passionate exhortation to ignore all other matters and, by voting Republican this fall, endorse the Republican strategy to resolve this issue.
(4) Speaking of which, the Republican plan - a regional or even statewide water authority - sounds awfully (Dare I say it?) liberal. Aren't these the guys telling us that government is already too big? Yet, when presented with a real problem, they advocate the creation of another agency with its attendant bureaucracy. How very McGovernish! And how shall we pay for all these new bureaucrats? A tax increase? Perhaps they'll just cut funding for unimportant programs, to them, such as education, law enforcement and assistance to the elderly, just a little more than they already propose cutting them.
(5) Virginia Beach is going to get its water. It's a shame that short-sighted decisions reached by our neighbors in Norfolk and our so-called leaders in Richmond will slow down the process. But that's all they'll do, slow it down. In the long run, the losers will be Norfolk and the people of the Roanoke River Valley Basin because this was their best shot to get a deal which took care of their needs as well as our own.
A little more perspective and a little less partisan cheerleading on this page would be a service to the community.
Kenneth V. Geroe
Virginia Beach MEMO: Kenneth V. Geroe is vice chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party. by CNB