THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605030017
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SERIES: DECISION 96
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Suffolk can see a tidal wave of population growth coming, the sort that has swamped Virginia Beach and is threatening to inundate Chesapeake. There's still time to manage it in Suffolk and that's the central issue in the races for both City Council and School Board.
How can Suffolk keep pace with population growth without losing its character or going broke? How can it grow a tax base to provide needed services to more and more people? How can it afford schooling whose quality will lure business, not scare it away?
Those are not easy problems to solve. Suffolk is lucky to have several incumbents who have made a good start toward finding solutions and who can be expected to continue performing well if re-elected. In City Council races, Marion ``Bea'' Rogers deserves an unqualified vote of confidence, and Richard R. Harris has matured in office and ought to be entrusted with a second term.
As the member of council for Sleepy Hole Borough, Rogers has proved to be an exemplary public servant. She has worked hard and knows the job. She's offended some constituents by making decisions she thought right for all of Suffolk even though they weren't to her advantage politically. That merits respect.
Rogers has been forthright and articulate on a range of issues. She's criticized VDOT for road construction that lags far behind need. She favors the use of public monies for promotion, to troll for badly needed new businesses, and for a deal-closing fund to reel in prospects when their attention has been caught. She favors a referendum mechanism to decide some questions and would like to remove a business-district tax that she regards as a business disincentive.
Richard Harris is a populist in power. He regards himself as serving the average man and is perhaps inordinately suspicious of ``bureaucrats'' in city governmnt. He's occasionally been too dogmatic and abrasive for his own good or that of Suffolk. But he's learned in office that cooperation and consensus building are essential. And his heart is in the right place.
Harris has been a prudent steward of public funds and a stalwart supporter of quality schools as a lure to economic development. He's also willing to invest in the infrastructure needed to attract new businesses. Nansemond Borough voters would be wise to rehire Harris.
For School Board, there's no question Arthur D. Smith should be re-elected from Nansemond Borough. The TCC administrator and present board chairman is an invaluable asset. By training and experience, he's well-qualified for the job and carries the relevant facts and figures at his fingertips.
Smith has served well for the last four years, two as chairman. He's energetic and forward-looking. He knows Suffolk schools will ill-serve students if they don't continue to improve. It will cost money to keep up with growth, but falling behind isn't a viable option. He argues well and convincingly for full funding of the proposed school budget.
In the Sleepy Hole Borough race, it's a close call between Robert M. Brooks Jr., an assistant special agent for the Department of Alcohol Control and TCC manager James Perkinson Jr. We believe Brooks should get the nod. His academic credentials aren't as strong as Perkinson's, but there's something to be said for a non-academic, parent's perspective on the board.
Brooks has children in the system and appears to be fully committed to improving schools. He might be somewhat more inclined to take tough actions. For instance, he favors periodic testing of teachers and merit pay for them. He would insist that the schools prepare students for the world of work and supports more increased funding for a range of needs including textbooks, AP classes and an improved teacher/student ratio.
Suffolk voters should be pleased to have candidates of the caliber of Rogers, Harris, Smith and Brooks. They should support them on May 7.
KEYWORDS: ENDORSEMENT SUFFOLK SCHOOL BOARD RACE SUFFOLK CITY COUNCIL by CNB