THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 8, 1994 TAG: 9407070181
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JEFF HOOTEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 265 lines
ONE IS A pediatrician with an 11-page resume who has won the Governor's Award for his work with abused children.
The other is a financial planner and Dale Carnegie instructor who at one point considered a career as a minister.
Together, they are Chesapeake's newest City Council members.
John M. de Triquet, 45, and W. Joe Newman, 46, were swept into office May 3 as part of the Republican-backed ``Leadership Team.'' Both men campaigned on a platform of controlled growth and fiscal responsibility, and both place educational improvement high on their list of priorities.
De Triquet is a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters and an associate professor of pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School. His busy schedule includes teaching residents and interns, seeing patients, delivering lectures, writing articles, speaking at public forums and providing expert testimony as a court-appointed advocate.
Newman is a financial planner who went into business for himself in 1992. A lifelong Southern Baptist, he says he will bring ``moral structure'' to the council. He credits his Dale Carnegie training with giving him the confidence to run for office.
De Triquet chooses his words carefully, yet the passion in his voice becomes evident when a topic hits close to home, such as low voter participation.
``The most precious gift we have as citizens we take for granted,'' he says.
Newman's speech betrays his Alabama heritage, as he often interjects phrases like ``It takes a heap of licks to drive a nail in the dark'' to describe what happens when people can't see their goals clearly.
De Triquet vows to step aside when his four-year term is over.
Newman says he would be glad to serve on the council for 40 years.
Both men have avoided the spotlight since the election. They have preferred to sit quietly in the audience at council meetings, note pads in hand and council agendas on their laps, watching their future peers set the course of the city. But once on the dais, they say, things will be different.
W. JOE NEWMAN was born and raised in Phenix City, Ala. - just across the state line from Columbus, Ga.
Newman's father was a farmer until 1940, when he gave up his farm and came to Phenix City to take a $15-a-week job at a cotton mill in Columbus.
Neither of his parents finished high school, but Newman said they both taught him the value of hard work at an early age. He began ``throwing papers'' while in fourth grade, a job he kept for nearly seven years.
By his junior year of high school, Newman had traded his paper route for a six-year stint waiting tables at a catfish restaurant. It was also in high school that Newman was first exposed to politics, albeit in a small way. He served as student council president during his senior year.
``It was my first taste of the recognition that comes from being the mayor - and that's what I was,'' he said. ``I controlled the meetings and got to go on trips.''
Though he entered college with the goal of becoming a teacher, Newman later decided that a business degree would be more useful. He graduated from Troy State University in Troy, Ala., in 1970 with a double major - business administration and marketing - and a minor in history.
Newman moved to Virginia in 1971, and over the next several years he worked as a salesman for several different companies throughout the state, eventually arriving in Norfolk in 1979 to take a job as branch manager of an insurance company.
Newman had married in 1971, and together he and his wife had planned for him to begin attending seminary when she graduated from college.
A few months shy of her scheduled graduation, however, the marriage soured. In 1976, it ended, along with Newman's dream of becoming a Baptist minister.
``It was devastating,'' he said. ``Quite honestly, I probably would be in the ministry today had it not been for that.''
Newman said he swore off marriage, but a woman named Jackie changed his mind when they met at a 1982 church-league softball game. Two years later, Newman's bachelor days ended, and his days as a citizen of Chesapeake began.
The couple live in southern Great Bridge with their two daughters, 7-year-old Sara and 6-year-old Susan. Having children, Newman said, rekindled his desire for community involvement.
``My girls are the light of my life,'' he said. ``My girls are what made me run for City Council and what will make me a good council member.''
Newman's first campaign for City Council was in 1990, when he ran - and lost - as an independent.
``I ran unaffiliated, but everywhere I went, I got endorsed,'' he said. ``Yet the endorsements didn't mean anything if I couldn't get elected.''
Four years later, he took the opposite approach.
``In 1994, I decided to run with the Republican Party, where my heart really is. I didn't seek any endorsements, and I didn't get any. But I'd much rather not get the endorsements and win.''
In between the two campaigns, Newman decided to start his own financial planning business, W. Joe Newman and Associates. As a board member of Sales & Marketing Executives of Tidewater, Newman said he wants to bring a business approach to the council. He said he will push hard for making road improvements, attracting new industry to Chesapeake and improving the quality of the city's schools.
During the campaign, Newman often quoted the phrase, ``If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got,'' as a call for change on the council.
``I think the citizens of Chesapeake indicated that they wanted not a radical departure but they wanted a mild adjustment to City Council,'' he said. ``My mild-mannered personality will let me be that mild adjustment.''
One of the mild adjustments Newman hopes to make is to keep government from impairing the ability of individuals to succeed. Too often, he said, government aids the poor by taxing people that are successful.
``We need to make sure that business people are not criticized just because they happen to make a dollar, anymore than we should criticize a teacher that happens to produce good students,'' Newman said. ``As a matter of fact, we reward that result, but sometimes we criticize business leaders because they do well.''
Though he earns a living in the world of business, Newman satisfies his urge to educate by teaching a Dale Carnegie course about once a week and by leading a college-age Sunday School class at Great Bridge Baptist Church. He is also a deacon at his church and a member of the Chesapeake East Gideons, yet he denies having a particular religious agenda.
``I'm here to hopefully let people see an example, but I'm not here to force my religion (on them) at all,'' he said.
For now, Newman said, his only agenda is to become better acquainted with the people of Chesapeake.
``I'm looking forward to the citizens giving me a honeymoon period,'' he said, ``and I hope that honeymoon period will last about 10 terms.''
JOHN M. de TRIQUET was born in Newark, N.J., the second of five children. His father was an engineer who worked for the Navy in Brooklyn; his mother stayed home and cared for his two brothers and two sisters.
While de Triquet credits his mother with teaching him the value of family and helping others, he needed no encouragement when it came to academics.
``I loved school,'' de Triquet said. ``I loved to study. I loved to read.''
``There was no pressure to do or be anything - doctor, lawyer - that was immaterial to my parents,'' he said. ``They wanted me to be happy.''
After high school, de Triquet entered the all-male St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., intent on a career in the basic sciences. It wasn't until halfway through college that he felt the urge to continue on to medical school.
``It became a real distinction for me - pure science vs. applied science,'' he said. ``Medicine is an applied science; it deals with real problems and real people in the real world. That's what I do.''
``And that's what you do when you're a public servant; you deal with real problems and real people in the real world. It's not theoretical; it's practical.''
De Triquet met his wife, Carole, on their second day of college during a joint mixer with St. Vincent's sister school, the all-female Seton Hill College. He graduated summa cum laude from St. Vincent's in 1970 with a degree in biology and entered medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia.
He joined the Navy right out of medical school and completed his residency at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Portsmouth. ``I have always felt that one of the obligations that every person has - I don't care whether you're a doctor or whatever - is service to their country,'' de Triquet said.
During his residency, he and Carole rented an apartment in Western Branch and ``fell in love'' with that part of Chesapeake. After a two-year stretch at a naval hospital in Keflavik, Iceland, de Triquet returned to the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, and the couple bought their first house in Western Branch.
``I am committed to Western Branch as being a model for what's good about Chesapeake,'' de Triquet said.
``A good council person represents the best interests of the city - and I would never want to do anything other than that. But I can tell you that when it comes to issues surrounding development and other changes, what's good for Western Branch is good for Chesapeake.''
De Triquet served eight years in the Navy before becoming an attending pediatrician at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in early 1986. In addition to winning the 1990 Governor's Award for his work in the field of child abuse and neglect, de Triquet also serves as director of the hospital's social work department, Lead Diagnostic and Treatment Service, and the Outpatient and Diagnostic Unit.
Despite his busy schedule, de Triquet said that one reason he ran for City Council was that he felt he finally had enough time to devote to public service. He said he also consulted Carole and their two children - Christine, 15, and John, 10 - before beginning the time-consuming campaign.
``You can call me a workaholic, but I know when it's not productive for me - it's when I don't enjoy it,'' de Triquet said. ``And I enjoy this.''
``I felt that I had done my share of complaining about what was going on with the city and it was time to see if I could give some voice to myself and my fellow citizens.''
Like his fellow Republicans on the council, de Triquet said he wants to control growth, improve education and increase the efficiency of city government. But beyond that, he says his primary goal as a council member will be to educate residents about how government works so they can more effectively participate. His key words: ``citizen empowerment.''
To accomplish this, de Triquet said he favors holding regular community forums to tell citizens about ``what's going on in municipal government.''
``One of the roles that we have as elected officials is to de-mystify the process of government,'' he said. ``A lot of folks don't know how the city works. And how would they know? You can't expect the citizens to go to city hall and read through the city code.''
Another issue that de Triquet has strong feelings about, and one the City Council will be addressing soon, is the future of at-large elections in Chesapeake. The U.S. Justice Department recently denied the city's request for at-large school board elections, citing a pattern of ``racial polarization.''
De Triquet says they got it all wrong.
``They're putting Chesapeake into a formula that fosters conflict between blacks and white,'' he said. ``We don't have that in Chesapeake. I don't care what they can squeeze and finagle out of data, we don't have it.''
``We work together - black and white - in Chesapeake, because we all own this city.''
When it comes to the next four years, de Triquet has no illusions. This was his first bid for political office, and he freely acknowledges his lack of governing experience. What he doesn't lack is enthusiasm.
``If I can do this as just a plain old citizen, if I can seek office and have my fellow citizens put some confidence and trust in me . . .,'' he said before pausing and lowering his voice to a whisper, ``anybody can do it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo by BAXTER C. JOHNSTON
On the Cover: W. Joe Newman, left, and John de Triquet are
Chesapeake's new city councilmen.
Photo by C. BAXTER JOHNSON
John M. de Triquet, left, and W. Joe Newman prefer to sit quietly at
city council meetings, note pads in hand and agendas on their laps.
JOE NEWMAN'S VIEWS
ON ELECTED OFFICIALS: ``In our society, we think that our elected
officials should always be the butt of jokes. While the jokes may be
funny, we've reached the point where there are some very good people
who won't even offer themselves for the denigration that goes into
serving.''
ON CHESAPEAKE: ``There are some good people in Chesapeake -
people who care about our society and our community. They understand
that development is necessary. They understand that change is
necessary.''
ON TAXES: ``One way that our society can progress is by letting
people make a living . . . as opposed to taxing everybody so
violently just because they're successful, just to help out somebody
that's poor.''
ON RUNNING AGAIN AFTER LOSING IN 1990: ``If a person tries
something once and quits, they really haven't figured out what life
is all about.''
ON GROWTH: ``I'm pro-growth when it comes to business
development. I don't think Chesapeake has a problem with not having
enough housing.''
ON THE NEXT FOUR YEARS: ``I have no idea what will be the major
issues two or three years from now. What I want to do is make sure
that we have the forward thinking ability at all times.''
JOHN DE TRIQUET'S VIEWS
ON ELECTED OFFICIALS: ``You want to have confidence that the
individual at least thinks somewhat logically about issues and isn't
committed to any special interest group. And I'm not beholden to any
special interest group.''
ON GROWTH: ``We cannot ask our citizens, for the sake of growth,
to suffer under drastic changes in the style of their civic life -
traffic, school congestion, decreased quality of services. That's
inevitable if it's not controlled.''
ON POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS: ``The primary decision must always be
qualifications, not affiliations.''
ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY: ``I adhere to the traditional Republican
position that government should service the citizenry and not
develop constraints on citizen freedoms. Good government is less
government.''
ON POLITICS: ``There are the trappings of power that people love,
and there's the work of service that people shy away from. I don't
need any trappings of power. I don't need a councilman's parking
space.''
ON PUBLIC SERVICE: ``You gotta give something back. I could have
thought of a thousand and one ways of filling my days other than
City Council, but none of them would have that same high degree of
public service.''
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL PROFILE
by CNB