THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 15, 1996 TAG: 9607130003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 45 lines
Cape Charles is a town that has been living on dreams for years. Once a booming railroad, fishing and ferry center, this little town at the southern tip of the Eastern Shore has been struggling with poverty and unemployment since the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was built and the local rail and ferry businesses became obsolete.
In the past decade, out-of-town developers have tantalized the locals with pie-in-the-sky plans for everything from a large upscale retirement community to a 500-slip marina with shops and luxury beachfront developments.
None of these plans have come fully to fruition.
Cape Charles' best economic bet now rests with plans for a more-modest industrial park which seems likely to be built.
But now Cape Charles is plagued with something even more deadly than lost enterprises and broken promises: allegations of corrupt local government.
Cape Charles' population is about 1,300. Three officals there were indicted this week on charges of obtaining money under false pretenses. They include the former police chief, charged with four counts and the former town clerk and the town treasurer, who were charged with one count each.
It must be mighty quiet in Cape Charles Town Hall, where nearly every public officeholder has been fired or has quit in recent months. The town manager left recently and a temporary manager is taking his place. The police chief was fired in November. The town clerk left. The town treasurer, Ella Stratton, is still at her desk - under the cloud of an indictment.
And the investigation isn't over yet.
The town council is untouched by the scandal but must exercise due diligence in overseeing town officials in the future. Northampton County prosecutors allege that the officials made false reports to the town and were paid on the basis of those false reports.
In addition, they charge that former Police Chief Bill Lewis diverted thousands of dollars from a $40,000 grant given to the Cape Charles Police Department to fight drugs. If those accusations prove true, it is shameful.
It is a tricky proposition to attract investment to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. That job is made more difficult when town government is viewed as corrupt.
Until Cape Charles cleans up town hall, it is doomed to be a place where dreams are spun, but rarely realized. by CNB