DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997                 TAG: 9704040166

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letters 

                                            LENGTH:  167 lines

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - PORTSMOUTH

I would like to apologize to all the members of the Portsmouth Democratic Committee for being the committee member who placed Robert Barclay's name in nomination as chairman of the Portsmouth Democratic Committee. I am a very active member of the committee. I have been sorely disappointed by the actions of Mr. Barclay as chairman. I was one of the members who became very vocal at the March 4 meeting. It is so disappointing to see an organization that I have worked so diligently for, being sold a bill of goods and denying loyal participants membership.

On Jan. 13, Mr. Barclay appointed himself to the 79th House District nominating committee for a seat he is interested in. Effectively, the nominee became the nominator. So, on March 5, he chose to resign that post and appoint his board secretary, Dorothy Dray, to that position, after so much heat at the meeting the night before.

At the March 4 meeting, Mr. Barclay was acting inappropriately by excluding potential members without discussion after being properly motioned and seconded. He was also wrong by not allowing the chair to be challenged in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order. He had one of his law associates, Chris Boynton, motion for adjournment, effectively shutting out any discussion or further nomination to the committee.

For the above mentioned reasons, I respectfully request that Mr. Barclay step down immediately and allow the committee as a whole to select his replacement.

I hope the people will open their eyes and not allow Mr. Barclay to manipulate the system any longer.

Thomas T. Moody

Edgewood Road

March 26, 1997 New committee needed

On March 4, I was present at the now infamous Portsmouth Democratic Committee meeting. I have been a member of this committee for years.

According to Robert's Rules of Order, if a procedural violation with regard to the nominations had taken place, they should have been challenged at the time of nomination, not a month later. Also, the chairman was out of order by not addressing the repeated challenges to the chair.

If those people had been placed on the committee as they should have, we would have not had to cancel the Third and Fourth District Democratic Caucus on March 22 due to the lack of enough prefiled delegates. On March 4, we had a room full of people who wanted to be involved in the process who were told that they did not belong and that their services were no longer required to elect good Democrats to office.

I just received my notice for the April Democratic Committee meeting, which will take place on April Fool's Day. How appropriate!

I can't wait until this December, when we will reorganize our committee with a totally new slate of officers, ones that will stand up and cry foul when the chair is wrong. I am excited that we might be able to encourage the shunned individuals to be a part of the committee and have their voice heard.

Odell McFarland

Smithfield Road

March 25, 1997 Museum was closed

At the recent 135th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Hampton Roads, my crew and I were deeply impressed by the hospitality shown to us by the citizens of Portsmouth.

Working with Mayor James W. Holley III, Carol Pratt and Gen. Hank Morris was a real joy. Portsmouth is so fortunate in having people sincerely interested in its rich and colorful history. In the future, my crew and I look forward to assisting Portsmouth to bring its history alive.

This event drew about 2,000 participants, most of whom would have liked to visit the Naval Shipyard Museum. However, the museum was not open to the public. Why would you close a museum on what would be your busiest weekend of the year? Descendants of the Monitor and Virginia crewmen traveled from as far as California to participate. A British cinematographer flew from England to film the battle re-enactment for a documentary. A journalist for Civil War News drove from Northern Virginia to report on this event. None of these people were able to get into the museum to view the relics pertaining to this historic battle.

Was this closing of the museum an oversight or was it intentional? In either case, it was an embarrassment and something that was way out of line with the spirit of cooperation shown by the citizens of Portsmouth.

Bill Whorton

Ship's Co., CSS Virginia

Norfolk

March 30, 1997 Plan for lighthouse lens

Portsmouth owns a beautiful old lighthouse lens that for many years has been stored in a building at the city compound on Frederick Boulevard.

I propose that the city of Portsmouth build a lighthouse at the foot of High Street adjacent to the new ferry landing incorporating that old fresnel lens that is now in storage. The lighthouse would be another attraction for historic Portsmouth.

John G. Saunders Jr.

Cypress Road

March 24, 1997 Stop increasing spending

I wish to voice my concerns and take issue with Portsmouth's ongoing requirement to raise our city taxes or increase user fees. User fees are taxes, regardless of what you call them.

I was under the impression that this past fiscal year was a fiscal success for Portsmouth. Didn't the tax increases that year accomplish its goals? (To put us back in the black). If so, why must we increase taxes/fees to accomplish more? Fiscal responsibility means to accomplish what you need within the budget you have. Well, finally when it seems that the city is on the right track, we just can't wait to blow it.

Some of the following issues are of concern to me:

The bulk trash program seemed to work fine. I have been very satisfied with the city's bulk trash pickup with the exception of those people who put their trash out before the required date.

Recent articles in the Currents by Ida Kay Jordan and the Hampton Roads section identify how the city intends to distribute its capital improvement funds and identify a game plan for improving all of the city's neighborhoods. All the articles that I have read, including articles about Vision 2005, address the goals for the city. Maybe I have missed something, but none of the articles that I have read address Cradock, unless there is something that I am not aware of. I believe that Cradock is the sacrificial lamb for the city of Portsmouth. As you can tell, I live in Cradock and I, for one, would like to know if this area is projected for any capital improvements in the foreseeable future or my lifetime.

Three years ago the city repaved most of the streets but not the street I live on. This street was not done because the city deemed it too damaged to be repaired. Every time I asked about repairing the street, I was always told, ``No money left this year, that will be done next fiscal year.'' Several fiscal years have passed, and this road is still not fixed. Mr. Hartman was nice enough to at least have the holes patched, but they are starting to cave in again. I was also having my driveway cemented and wanted to put in a cement apron in front of my house, at my expense. I contacted the city engineers about this and was told that in order for me to put in a cement apron, I would also have to pay to repair the damaged street. Go figure! And I thought our taxes were supposed to pay for street repairs.

I have always maintained that with an unlimited budget, you can almost get anything accomplished. As least, the appearance of it anyway. When Mr. Trumble was hired to run the school system, it was with a full knowledge and understanding of Portsmouth's financial situation. Supposedly, a good manager is one that can accomplish the goals at hand with the resources available. If he didn't think he could, maybe he shouldn't have taken the job. This same thing goes for the School Board and city manager. Why then does the School Board continue to ask for more money when enrollment sizes are down and there are two less high schools? Throwing money at the problem does not guarantee a better education. Can the School Board guarantee that it will? Also, this isn't Norfolk, and I don't think it is the government's responsibility to fund projects like hotels, etc. That's what has happened in Norfolk and now the city has to finance Nauticus completely.

We need to understand that we are a small city and that we have limitations, and we don't need to try to keep up with the Jones'!!!

Could you please explain why 911 is also used for non-emergency calls to the police station? Before 911 calls were implemented, the police had a non-emergency number to call. This seems in direct conflict with the whole intent of calling 911 and possibly a reason for costs continuously rising.

I understand that in order to receive services, taxes are a necessity. But prudent spending is a necessity. To continue to raise taxes and fees is not always the solution. Everyone is asked to do more with less, but apparently all the city council, School Board, and city manager have to do is raise taxes and fees instead of work within a budget. They say property taxes were not raised this year, but a 10 percent increase in assessment is the same thing, as far as I'm concerned. Fees continue to rise every year. You can't look at a bill without the city somehow punishing you for enjoying something by adding some type of tax or fee.

Nobody said that working for the city, School Board, etc., was an easy job. But no one went into these jobs with blinders on, either. Everyone knew the financial situation of the city when hired or appointed to these positions. It was evidently a challenge then, and it still is.

Chris Vatistas

Connor Place

March 27, 1997

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