DATE: Friday, March 7, 1997                 TAG: 9703070674

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   97 lines

EFFORTS AT REGIONALISM DO NOT DIE WITH RHINOS

That herd of Hampton Roads Rhinos stampeding out of town last month seems to have trampled over some state lawmakers' hopes for a little regional cooperation.

But the injuries were not fatal. Legislators in Richmond plan to appoint a subcommittee in the next few weeks to study ways the local governments in Hampton Roads can - or should - work together.

The topics it is expected to tackle: trash and wastewater disposal, drinking water, transportation and growth management. Local lawmakers will spend about a year debating how the cities in Tidewater might share those responsibilities, then make a report to the General Assembly in early 1998.

But while the pro-regionalism crowd is enthused, the study will be a mere shell of what might have been.

Some Hampton Roads legislators, spurred by the collective welcome the cities were offering a prospective professional hockey franchise, pushed this year for a special regionalism task force. With a $50,000 budget, the panel would have pondered some form of regional authority, maybe even one with decision-making sway over the mayors and city councils.

But when the would-be NHL Rhinos went bust, so did the legislators' push for more regional governing. The General Assembly first cut the study's budget to $6,600, then dropped the idea.

The reason, according to advocates of the plan: There wasn't a significant outpouring of area-wide support. And without that, nobody wanted to spend the money.

``It's the same old problem we've been having for years and years,'' said Chesapeake Sen. Frederick M. Quayle, sponsor of one plan to study formation of a regional government agency in Tidewater.

``There will be a study. Something will be done. But with all those competing interests, it's the people in the communities who are going to have to force these things to really move.''

Elected officials could help a little more, though. The legislature approved Norfolk Sen. Stanley C. Walker's study of cooperative education in Hampton Roads this year, but only because all of the local school systems seemed to want it.

People in local government have been talking about some kind of shared regional responsibility since the Colonies got rid of the king, it seems.

But suburbanites don't want urban responsibilities, and they especially don't want to pay for them. That's why they made suburbs to begin with.

Legislators from Chesapeake and Portsmouth figured they'd have the General Assembly consider regionalism this year.

Their plans were cautious - almost to the point of insignificance, some argued. Nothing binding, just a study. With 14, maybe 15 people from Hampton Roads cities exploring ways to share responsibilities like trash removal, public transportation and planning growth.

There would be no radical regionalism, like area-wide taxes or some all-powerful regional supervisor.

And the General Assembly could pull the plug on the study at any time. Its budget could be withdrawn; Legislators would approve the report before it went forward.

It was too much.

The Senate passed Quayle's proposal after slashing its funding, but the House Rules Committee killed it 10-0.

Another proposal, sponsored by Portsmouth Del. Kenneth R. Melvin, never even passed its first step in the House of Delegates.

Lawmakers will instead appoint a group of Hampton Roads legislators to study regionalism and make a report to the General Assembly. If the idea prospers the result likely would be more bills calling for further, more formal study.

``The problem, as I see it, is that so many of these localities are guarding their own interest, their own little fiefdoms,'' said Norfolk Del. George Heilig, a co-sponsor of one bill who voted against the other in committee.

``The mayors can meet all they want, but they have their own constituents and their own responsibilities.

``But I think some form of regional government is appropriate. The idea has merit. The Hampton Roads Rhinos was a good example of that.''

Rather than spend state money on a new effort in Hampton Roads, though, Heilig and other state lawmakers have set their sights on a regional government effort underway in Richmond.

The capital city and surrounding counties of Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover have pondered cooperative projects for water use, waste disposal and other civic undertakings for two years.

It, too, faced obstacles.

Creation of the study committee was the legislative equivalent to giving birth.

``No one wanted to spend the money,'' said Richmond Sen. Joseph Benedetti. ``It wasn't anything but the money. They didn't mind studying something.''

A joint public transportation proposal, designed to give inner-city residents access to outer-city jobs, is the first thing Richmond-area localities will consider. A complete report is due next year.

The overall cost of the study, so far: $160,000.

Has it been worth it?

Benedetti laughed.

``I don't know,'' he said. ``These things have been studied and studied over again, and if something comes of it it will have been a good idea.

``If nothing ever comes of it, well, we've wasted some money.'' KEYWORDS: HAMPTON ROADS ADMIRALS

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