THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609180138
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letters
LENGTH: 56 lines
HOLD THE FORT
Reading about the exciting discovery of the original colonial fort at Jamestown, I couldn't help but feel grateful that something of this historical magnitude was not unearthed in Great Bridge.
Our illustrious City Council would have simply plowed it under to make way for another bank.
Pamela Hammer
Stonegate Way
DONE DEAL
The era of the done deal has begun in Chesapeake. The monument marking the start of the era will be known as the Chesapeake Conference Center.
Just as the day and date of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor were burned into the brains of Americans living at the time, so will Sept. 10, 1996, remain vivid in the memories of present-day resident taxpayers of this city.
The deal, as is now known, was in the making for many months. Armada-Hoffler will build the conference center and lease the completed facility to the city under a lease-purchase arrangement.
As the council becomes more skilled at thwarting the participation of its citizens, it will more resemble the city council of Norfolk, which has long denied taxpayers any but minimal right to participate in important public decisions.
Mayor William E. Ward enjoyed his new role, as he engaged the city attorney in repartee having to do with notices of record. He was dealing with a complaint by Gene Waters on the lack of public notice concerning the conference center project. Responding to Mr. Waters' complaint, Mayor Ward snidely noted the ``distinguished civic leader's'' lack of information. The mayor asked Mr. Ron Hallman if the city had abided by all legal requirements. Mr. Waters learned just how obscure such notices can be and still be legal.
The vice mayor must also be rolling about in ecstasy. For more times than I can count he has sought to increase the tax burden of citizens by invoking his favorite straw men, ``the tourists.'' Mr. Butt complains that ``the tourists'' eat our food, sleep in our beds, wear out our streets and roads, and, as a matter of principle, deserve punishment for their transgressions. Mr. Butt has spared them only the blame for fouling our water supply.
If there was a surprise to the recent City Council proceeding, it was the apostasy of Dalton S. Edge. Mr. Edge has hailed himself as a staunch conservative in matters moral, social and fiscal. He's also a defender of the right of private enterprise to go it alone when it comes to government interference. He happily made an exception in this case, and I wonder how often he will find easy the compromise between his principles and the deal.
No surprise was Donald Z. Goldberg's exuberant description of the conference center as ``gorgeous.'' I'm sure that close participation with the general contractor in charge resulted in just such an office for the director. Now they will have a nice place from which to formulate other bid proposals.
Ernest F. Brede
Gibson Drive by CNB