DATE: Thursday, May 1, 1997                 TAG: 9705010010

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:  110 lines

LETTERS TO EDITOR -- THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

VIRGINIA BEACH

City's taxpayers might

welcome ``meddling''

Some members of Virginia Beach City Council have accused me of meddling in local affairs by telling them not to raise taxes. The Pilot goes a giant step further and says I am ``way out of line'' - that my business is in Richmond, not Virginia Beach.

Well, folks, somebody needs to speak out for the taxpayers of Virginia Beach and tell city officials that enough is enough.

I am a Virginia Beach taxpayer and a state legislator who represents approximately 68,000 Virginia Beach residents. Since 1987, these residents have been hit with a ``double whammy'' on property taxes. The tax rate has been increased 53 percent by City Council, and tax assessments have been increased to maintain 100 percent of appraised value.

Here's an example of the tax impact. A home appraised for $70,000 in 1987 had a tax bill of $560. The appraised value of that same home increased to $90,000 by 1997, and it now has a tax bill of $1,098. That's a tax increase of 96 percent. Little wonder that Virginia Beach taxpayers are incensed.

Some members of City Council and The Pilot may not like my message. But the state Constitution and state law support my right to deliver it. So I'll let Virginia Beach taxpayers decide if I'm either meddling or way out of line when I tell these council members, ``Don't raise taxes.''

Leo Wardrup

Delegate, 83rd District

Virginia Beach, April 29, 1997

CRIME FIGHT

FBI is the target

of unjust negativism

Ron Kessler, in his article ``Freeh Fall'' (Commentary, April 27), would like you to believe that the director of the FBI, Louis J. Freeh, has created a situation that has ``demoralized'' the FBI personnel and ``suddenly the Federal Bureau of Investigation seems to be self-destructing.'' The negativism that Mr. Kessler is trying to feed us is self-destructing .

This is the other side of the story: Agents and support staff will always respond to duty, whenever called. Agents have died in the line of duty and will continue to risk their lives to uphold their oath. The Bureau investigates thousands of cases daily - saving lives; apprehending fugitives, bank robbers, kidnappers, drug kingpins, domestic terrorists, spies and other criminals; and they do it regardless of morale.

I met Director Freeh when he visited the Norfolk office of the FBI, and it was evident that the president has made a wise selection. Although the director is under fire, I believe his intentions were good, motivated by a desire to serve the public. I urge him not to succumb to political pressures and to remain in office.

Martin F. Houlihan

Special agent, FBI (retired, 1995)

Virginia Beach, April 27, 1997

TOBACCO

Message to Gilmore: Take

nicotine out of campaign

If Virginia Attorney General Gilmore is genuinely sincere about continuing ``to stand up for the working families of Virginia,'' as quoted in the April 26 Virginian-Pilot, he ought to:

Attend a smoking-cessation class or two, and see firsthand how terribly addictive tobacco is.

Attend a class or two at the American Cancer Society for those who have lost their vocal chords to cigarette-induced cancer.

View an operation to remove a cancerous lung from an addicted cigarette smoker.

Visit with a person who has had half his face removed due to mouth cancer caused by smokeless tobacco.

These are the working families whose lives are being ravaged by the effects of tobacco. These are the working families who, in many cases, do not have sufficient (if, indeed, they have any) health insurance to cover treatment of tobacco-related health problems. These are the Virginia citizens who need help.

C'mon, Mr. Gilmore, return your nicotine-tainted campaign donations; accept the fact that tobacco is not only a drug-delivery system, it is a nuisance; and start upholding the rights and interests of the majority of Virginia citizens.

Melvin E. Miller

Virginia Beach, April 26, 1997

NATURE

Moved by account

of mateless osprey

I was deeply moved by Guy Friddell's story of the proud osprey who sits on her nest outside the Walnut Island Restaurant, staring in the direction where she last saw her missing mate after a fight with two eagles (``A long, lonely vigil for a lost mate,'' April 12). Mr. Friddell is right in saying that ospreys are not only clever birds and skillful navigators, but when they pair up, they do so for life, always remaining faithful to their partners.

Every fall I listen for that familiar honking sound that marks the flight of the geese, and count the birds as they migrate over our city and waterways. Geese, too, mate for life and are devoted to their partners.

There was a story on the radio once about a goose whose partner was blinded and who walked everywhere with her, leaning against her to push her gently in the right direction. Even when people or, once, a dog, came close, the gander would stay put, hissing and flapping to scare them away from his mate.

Whenever I notice an uneven number of birds, I am always reminded that people slaughter these birds for fun, and I wonder how many hunters, especially young hunters, realize what heartbreak they bring to the one who got away.

Mindy Gregg

Norfolk, April 22, 1997

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