THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606070179
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: 72 lines
So far, so good.
The compromise plan to slow traffic in Waterview rather than stop it altogether seems to be working. It also seems to be acceptable to most residents of neighborhood, where speeding and reckless vehicles caused residents to ask to have their streets closed off.
Months ago, the city was somewhat committed to closing the Caroline Street causeway, and that would have bottled up traffic in Waterview. Many residents felt this was the one and only way to eliminate the hazards of reckless traffic.
However, guided by then-new City Manager Ron Massie, the city's traffic department conducted further studies and offered the compromise decision.
It makes sense.
Unfortunately, as often happens in neighborhood squabbles, two extreme sides emerged in this struggle. One group wanted to do nothing. The other wanted to block off Waterview on the High Street side and tear up the causeway to discourage anyone except residents from coming into Waterview. Neither, of course, was totally right.
The compromise keeps the streets open. Four-way-stop corners were set up at major intersections, and no-truck signs were posted off High Street and King Street.
Some people still are discontented; however, a majority of residents both in and out of the neighborhood that I've heard from seem pleased that the compromise plan is working.
Compromise is a word that almost has fallen out of the language. In today's climate of extremes, it sometimes is treated like a dirty word. Yet, compromise is what makes government work the best.
Some people want everything their way. They are unwilling to give and take to reach a solution that works.
The Waterview solution is a good example of how things should work. Action should be based on studies that produce information, and this action was. Solutions should be based on the good of the entire city, not just one street or even one neighborhood, and this solution met that criteria. Solutions should try to do the most good for the most people for the least amount of money possible. This certainly is a mark of the Waterview solution.
Some people believe that compromise is bad because people have to give a little on all sides. Well, giving a little isn't really bad.
There are very few situations in which there is no gray area. In fact, who ever heard of an argument that had just one side? And if there are two or more sides, there has to be some middle ground among them.
Of course, many people are not willing to see that their way might not be the only way. That attitude certainly has gotten this nation into a mess.
The country functions best when both the Democratic and Republican parties are controlled by middle-of-the-road members of the parties who are able to work together toward reasonable solutions.
That's not to say that extremists in all directions aren't OK. We need them to make us think and to make us look at all sides. But we don't need to have them controlling anything - not national or state politics, not neighborhood decisions or anything else.
We need to let the extremists know they can't control us. We need to let City Council - and all other levels of government - know that we expect them to stand up against those who would have it their way or no way.
The Waterview compromise is an excellent example of how compromise works to everybody's advantage.
The compromise appeared to be the work of Massie, who often seems to try for compromise and reconciliation among citizens. Certainly, it's the only intelligent way to go.
And we should be pleased to have a city manager who's willing to try to work toward compromises even if he knows a certain number of people on both extremes will be unhappy with him. ILLUSTRATION: Don Massie
City manager by CNB