THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508030229
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 271 lines
IT SEEMS IRONIC that public officials must avoid the public's gaze to get something done, but annually for the past three years the council has fled the confines of City Hall to deal with the most important issues facing Virginia Beach.
Week after week, the 11 women and men who represent the residents of the state's largest city, get together to give direction to its government.
But every meeting they get caught up with solving problems, drafting budgets, changing zoning, approving projects and hearing citizens' complaints. There isn't much time left to see how all the pieces fit together.
Add to that the TV cameras, stiff chairs and uncomfortable suits, and the members of council are usually too stressed out to be creative, too preoccupied to try to understand each other.
Six months ago, several groups of citizens told The Virginian-Pilot they didn't see much vision from their City Council members. Today, as the council begins another retreat, its members feel more confident than ever that they are pursuing a common path for the city's future.
They all agree that they want to limit residential development that demands high city services and promote business growth that brings jobs. They all agree that the city needs to shore up older neighborhoods and provide adequate services for existing residents before adding benefits for new ones. And they all agree that quality of life is worth investing in, at least to some degree.
With each retreat, shepherded by consultant Lyle Sumek, the council refines its plans - getting as specific as possible to accomplish as much as possible.
Today and Saturday, the council members will try again to advance their vision for the future and to devise more ways of making that vision come to pass.
As they go off to reflect on past work and anticipate future demands, council members were asked to reflect on their accomplishments since their last annual retreat in August 1994.
Last year, the council set 19 joint priorities and each council member picked a pet project for the year.
Since then, significant progress was made on five of those projects: an amphitheater was approved; a plan to preserve agricultural land was adopted; Oceana Naval Air Station was saved from budget cutters and the Lake Gaston pipeline project received its final federal permit.
Some progress was made on almost all of the goals the members listed as top, high or moderate priorities, although the Southeastern Expressway proposal is basically dead and Virginia's first racetrack was awarded instead to New Kent County.
Most of the council members laughed when asked about their goal of providing regional leadership. The battles with Norfolk over a proposed settlement to the Lake Gaston dispute definitely put a damper on that, they admitted.
``There are some areas that probably need a little fine-tuning, to say the least,'' Nancy K. Parker said.
One of the greatest accomplishments of the last year, the council members seemed to agree, was the new spirit of cooperation, particularly since their last retreat in February.
Council meetings used to be free-for-alls, full of snide comments and petty bickering. The Beacon ran a weekly ``bickerometer'' to tally up the nastiness, and letters to the editor telling council members to grow up were frequent.
Now, when members make wisecracks, the butt of the joke usually laughs too. Not since John A. Baum, one of the most frequent banterers, made a comment about another council member being ``full of hot air'' about six months ago, has anyone left a meeting in a huff.
There was no consensus on what had made the change.
It had something to do with the regular retreats, something to do with the number of issues such as keeping Oceana open and building the Lake Gaston pipeline that all council members can agree on. Several members credited Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf with fomenting the change. Her willingness to delegate tasks, her respect for other members and high standard of behavior has worn off, they said.
New personalities elected to council last year also made a difference, as did the departure of councilman John D. Moss, who made it a policy to challenge almost everything that came before the body. Moss, who resigned to take a job in Memphis, Tenn., was replaced in February by former mayor and longtime council member Harold Heischober.
Some members miss Moss' expertise and eagle eye; others said his departure has made it easier for them to get along and to get through the endless meetings just a little faster.
But whatever the cause, the talk on the dais is more measured, the rude comments less frequent and the mutual respect much higher, most council members agreed.
``This is the best council in terms of cooperation that I've had the privilege of working with,'' said Louis R. Jones, a former mayor who has been on and off the Beach council for two decades. ``On the major issues, there seems to be a sense of compromise and a sense of cooperation that wasn't always there.''
Life on the City Council isn't perfect, for sure.
Council members still put as much as 40-50 hours a week into a job that's supposed to be part time. Members must still pore through 2- and 3-inch thick packets of information before every council session; meeting day still tests their endurance; and the public is still cynical about government.
But overall, the council members said, they feel good about the year that is ending and encouraged about what they might be able to accomplish in the next 12 months. John A. Baum
PET PROJECT: Agricultural preservation
Baum said the Agricultural Reserve Program the council approved this spring is a good first step toward farmland preservation. His biggest disappointment was the council's relationship with state legislators.
``It seems to me it's the worst I've ever seen,'' the longtime council veteran said. ``They're meddlesome in local politics without seeming to care about the effects.''
The General Assembly intervened three times in major city issues and none of them turned out the way Baum wanted. The legislators' revised plans for reapportioning City Council, approving a plan that will remove Baum's Blackwater Borough seat by 1998.
Then, the General Assembly voted to remove the tolls on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway. As Baum sees it, they took away the road's maintenance fund.
Their crowning act was to fail to reach an agreement with Gov. George F. Allen to call a special session to approve the Lake Gaston settlement, which Baum had spent months helping to craft. Linwood O. Branch III
PET PROJECT: Streamlining development review process
Thanks to a staff reorganization of the review process, development projects are now passing through City Hall at a much faster clip, Branch said.
Branch said his primary goal for the upcoming year is to revise the city's comprehensive plan, doing detailed plans for the oceanfront, the Pembroke area and the city's property in Lake Ridge.
He also wants the council to take a look at how much development should realistically be allowed. Because the council has struggled so much to get the Gaston pipeline, Branch said he never wants the city to outgrow its water supplies again. Robert K. Dean
PET PROJECT: Transferring War Memorial from Newport News to Virginia Beach
``That fell through,'' Dean said, about his hopes of building a war museum in Virginia Beach. Newport News is unwilling to give up its collection, and it's virtually impossible to start a museum from scratch, he said.
Dean said he was thrilled that the council didn't accomplish its goal of getting the Southeastern Expressway built. The road that would have connected Virginia Beach and Chesapeake ``was one of my No. 1 priorities against,'' he said. W.W. Harrison Jr.
PET PROJECT: Regional amphitheater
Harrison spent the first half of the year lobbying and negotiating to get the amphitheater built. Construction started this summer and opening night is set for April.
Harrison is also proud of a new jet ski ordinance he helped pass that forces jet skiers to have their fun a little farther offshore.
His goal for the next year is to pursue a new way to redevelop the Burton Station neighborhood near the airport. Plans for an office park in the century-old neighborhood have stalled because the council is not allowed to condemn property for private benefit and the parcels have passed down through so many generations that it's almost impossible to determine legal ownership. Barbara M. Henley
PET PROJECT: Agricultural preservation
``We're well on the way,'' Henley said, referring to the Agricultural Reserve Program the council approved this spring. The program is expected to help preserve farms by paying farmers to agree not to sell their land for development. She said the city should be ready to buy the first development rights by the end of the year.
Henley and Baum also helped create an Agricultural Advisory Commission, a group of rural interests that will review city policies to ensure they are not anti-farmer.
She is not as optimistic about the council's prospects for the upcoming year because four members and the mayor will be up for re-election. Election years are traditionally the most contentious. John D. Moss
PET PROJECT: Promoting new vocational education center in Bayside
Moss knew last fall that he would be leaving, but he doggedly pursued his interests in education and fiscal control.
His dream for a new vocational center was not approved last year, but it continues to be under consideration for long-term funding.
PET PROJECTS: Lake Gaston pipeline and horse racing track Louis R. Jones
Jones put more time into council business last year than ever before and most of his efforts ended in frustration. The pipeline is still unbuilt and Virginia Beach won't see horse racing anytime soon.
He is committed to bringing more development to the city and is extremely pleased with the new director of the Department of Economic Development. His primary focus for next year will continue to be the pipeline.
``I've been so involved in the water, that I really haven't been able to do much otherwise,'' he said. Mayor Meyer E. Oberndorf
PET PROJECT: Keeping Oceana Naval Air Station
Oberndorf lobbied heavily and successfully to keep Oceana open, though she was also kept busy with Lake Gaston. She was upset that Virginia Beach's image took such a beating while squabbling with Norfolk over the first draft of the Gaston settlement.
``I think we certainly tried'' to be regional leaders, Oberndorf said, admitting that it didn't always look that way from the outside. ``I know that we have been rebuffed and perhaps a little bloodied . . . and we're wise enough to know that in order for the region and the state to flourish, Virginia Beach's own success will be imperative.'' Nancy K. Parker
PET PROJECT: City beautification
``Still working on it,'' Parker said about her goal of last year. She said she thinks the awareness of other council members about the need for attractive development projects is much higher today than it used to be. They are asking detailed questions of developers, rather than just signing off on whatever the property owner wants, she said. W.D. Sessoms Jr.
PET PROJECT: Permanent campus for graduate studies center
Sessoms, who will not be at the retreat because he has a long-scheduled family vacation, said he quickly realized that his goal for last year was more appropriate for this year. The General Assembly, which must approve funding for a graduate studies center, only approves new budgets in even-numbered years, and so couldn't have considered his request last year.
Golf course development will be his pet project for this year, Sessoms said, adding that it's essential for the city to keep improving the quality of life for residents to help attract more job-producing businesses to town.
``I've never seen the interest in businesses wanting to relocate to our city that I'm seeing today. Never,'' he said. ``That makes me feel real good.'' Louisa M. Strayhorn
PET PROJECT: Improving Available Youth Activities
Strayhorn said the biggest accomplishment in terms of youth activities was the establishment of a youth activities council. A committee including several businesses, the Rotary Club and city employees have launched a project to help Strayhorn teach young people about the television media.
Four groups of youngsters who otherwise wouldn't be able to learn about the inner workings of a TV station will be spending several weeks learning how to put together a public service announcement about problems they share with other teens, she said.
Strayhorn said she's also proud of her monthly town meetings. They have forced her to stay educated on city issues and kept her in touch with constituent concerns, she said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos, including cover, by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
City Councilman Robert Dean whispers to fellow councilman Linwood
Branch III during an informal session on Tuesday. This group seems
to be getting along better than others.
With more broad issues that its members agree on, it is becoming a
more common sight to see the Virginia Beach City Council vote
unanimously.
1994 staff file photo by MORT FRYMAN
With each retreat, shepherded by consultant Lyle Sumek, the council
refines its plans - getting as specific as possible to accomplish as
much as possible.
John A. Baum
Linwood O. Branch III
Robert K. Dean
W.W. Harrison Jr.
Barbara M. Henley
John D. Moss
Louis R. Jones
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf
Nancy K. Parker
W.D. Sessoms Jr.
Louisa M. Strayhorn
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL by CNB