THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510140124
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
If there were a single-wide mobile home propped up on cinder blocks in every field and vacant lot in Chesapeake, would the people who sit in the state legislature care?
Councilman John M. de Triquet has begun to suspect that they wouldn't.
His remarks at Tuesday night's City Council meeting expressed not only his personal frustration as a council member but the frustrations of citizens as well.
Dr. de Triquet noted that a recent report in The Virginian-Pilot showed that a political action committee representing the mobile home industry recent passed out gifts of $36,325 each to incumbent legislators as a way of ``thanking them'' for passing legislation forbidding cities from barring single-wide mobile homes on land zoned for agricultural use. The new law is expected to boost the sale of trailers by 10 percent over the next five years.
Unfortunately there's no political action committee representing those of us who will have to live with the fallout from the legislative fiat.
Would the folks in Richmond take a greater interest in Chesapeake's concerns if there were a PAC who could match the mobile home industry's $36,325 gift and raise it a few thousand as a way of ``thanking them'' for giving us the ability to control our own destiny? There are good reasons to believe that it might.
Dr. de Triquet understands that the relationship between PAC contributions and legislative actions, especially when those actions prevent the city from shoring up its deteriorating quality of life, contributes to the ``growing sentiment of distrust'' among citizens toward politicians.
Now the state has insisted that the city reduce the taxes it collects on trucks. Never mind that Chesapeake is losing its struggle to provide basic services to its citizens even at current revenue levels. Never mind that any money that is returned to truckers will have to be replaced by other sources of revenue. Never mind that the trucking industry has a big stake in seeing the city's out-of-control growth remain out of control.
The legislature has spoken, and the city is expected to shut up and do as it is told. The council has deferred any action on the matter for 30 days to get more information about the types of trucks involved and how much it will cost and to seek advice from the attorney general about its options. But, in the end, everybody understands that the will or the lawmakers in Richmond will prevail. Another round of ``thank you'' gifts will surely be in order.
It's bad that the folks in Richmond do so little to help the us cope with the serious problems we face as a result of growth. It's worse that they actively work against us.
KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCES by CNB