THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230337
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Decision '96
Part 2: The Issues - Norfolk Mayor and City Council
SOURCE: By TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
How do you include taxpayers in a 20-year-old redevelopment plan that they're helping to pay for? How do you consult a city's residents about what that city is going to look like?
In the ongoing City Council campaign, Nauticus and MacArthur Center are the rallying cries for people who feel left out of Norfolk's decision-making. The underlying issue, however, is who sets the city's priorities and how.
Norfolk's long-term redevelopment effort has seeded downtown with more than $100 million and has produced hotels, office buildings and tourist attractions. But whose redevelopment is it?
``It's easy to spend someone else's money, isn't it?'' Charles Grant, a former police chief seeking to unseat Councilman Mason Andrews in Superward 6, said in Bayview recently. ``I want to bring the City Council back to the people. It's been away too long.''
``I think we should spend as much time trying to involve citizens, as we do trying to attract businesses,'' said William E. ``Wes'' Swindell Jr., a candidate in Superward 7.
That is not unusual language from challengers. Incumbents are often portrayed as being aloof from ``the people.''
In Norfolk, however, it taps into a specific resentment: that the ideas and vision of a blue-collar homeowner along Little Creek Road, for example, are less likely to be taken into account than those of an executive or a lawyer in the NationsBank building, or in West Ghent, or from one of the nonprofit corporations that are part of the think tank of redevelopment.
There are practical problems: a 20-year or 30-year redevelopment plan can't change course with every election without asking for trouble; and it's impossible to negotiate publicly with a company like Nordstrom, the most important anchor for the downtown mall.
Mayor Paul Fraim said: ``It's a clumsy process, for sure. We have to be able to work closely with the private sector without revealing confidences. But at the same time, you need at some point in time to explain to the public and seek their advice.
``It doesn't always work very well. Somebody usually gets left behind.''
Andrews, a 22-year veteran of the council and a key player in redevelopment, agreed.
``It's a very important goal which has been addressed and needs to be better addressed,'' he said. He considers it a two-step process: providing the public with the best information possible, and learning how to listen to what the public says.
The city's critics propose several solutions: citywide referendums on all major projects that spend taxpayer money; large committees of citizens or civic league leaders to give city officials their views; televising council meetings; and, of course, electing the critics to office.
``I'm an advocate of referendums,'' Swindell said. ``If the public votes on a big project, then we're all working on the same page. Then if a project fails or succeeds, we're all in it together.''
Harvey Lindsay Jr., a major real estate broker, sees better communication as the key. He thinks the city's priorities are in the right place, but says it doesn't help if citizens don't feel involved.
``I really don't have any quarrel with how they go about planning,'' he said. ``At some point, someone has got to make a decision. My quarrel would be with how they get the citizens' input.''
Lindsay pointed to the business districts of 21st Street and Colley Avenue as examples of the city working well with residents and small businesses. It needs to be replicated elsewhere, particularly in Wards Corner, he said.
``Wards Corner is a great asset to the city and has long been overlooked,'' he said. ``Something needs to be done there. The city has to wake up to that.''
Rick Salzberg, a businessman who has often been willing to point out where the city is falling short, said that while city officials may make mistakes, it doesn't remove responsibility from residents' shoulders.
``These are the people who are accessible,'' he said. ``This is not like Clinton or Warner. You can rub elbows with your City Council candidates or council members. You can have a cup of coffee with them.
``This is about community as much as politics.''
Salzberg is unwilling to set up a system in which a referendum is held on every major project, and state courts have considered that a bad idea.
``If the leadership denies the will of the people, then those committees and everything else are meaningless,'' he said. ``I think it goes back to the basics of electing the best people for the office and having faith in them.
``When that trust is violated, that's when you have that gap in credibility.''
Daun Hester, a candidate for the Superward 7 seat, said everyone needs to understand the tensions involved.
``Consider tourism,'' she said. ``Many citizens don't see this city as a tourist city. I do see this as a place for the tourism industry, and I think most of the members of council do.
``But I think the majority of citizens do not. Their priorities are crime, and education, and taking care of their neighborhoods. But it's the job of the leadership to think about how to bring money in.
``Until we come to some kind of balance, we are going to be fighting ourselves.'' MEMO: Main article on page A1.
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL RACE
PUBLIC JOURNALISM by CNB