THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502170223
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Councilman John Moss can string words together and spit them out in machine-gun fashion.
Often as not the intended target is riddled with telling logic.
This tends to tick off those on the receiving end, like eager beaver bureaucrats or political foes.
And often as not those targets have something to do with spending tax money.
``It's nothing personal,'' Moss says. ``I'm an issue person. I don't do personalities.''
It's the way he does business, either as a civil service manpower expert with the Navy or as a council member, Moss will tell you.
A tall, angular man with busy, inquisitive eyes and neatly parted, close-cropped hair, he is the annoying ``class brain.'' He's the guy who waggles his arms for permission to ask question after question, pick at nits, bulldoze peers and city finance gurus along sometimes tortuous paths to sometimes practical conclusions.
None of it is a waste of time, in Moss' mind, because the questions and the bulldozing are the result of hours of preparation. The questions find themselves as he pores over dry municipal budget documents, memos and studies - sifting the ``fluff'' from the essentials.
Things like the Tourism Growth Investment Fund, the proposed amphitheater, storm-water management fees, frivolous school spending, the proposed light rail system between Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and residential development tend to occupy a great deal of Moss' council discussions.
Basically, he's opposed to them.
``We need to keep government as small as possible,'' he said, repeating a pet political philosophy. ``We need to challenge conventional thinking and get people to think about priorities. We have to make hard choices. We can't always raise taxes or create new fees.''
These sentiments probably won't be heard that much from the council table after March 15 - at least in the volume Moss can generate. On that date, Moss steps down from the council to move to Memphis, Tenn., where the Navy has moved his job.
It's not likely that he'll become involved in politics there, he said. He already had decided to serve out his present term on the Virginia Beach council and devote his time and energies to helping his wife, Kathy, raise their three children, ages 12 years, 4 years and 1 month.
He thinks he will stick to that decision once in Memphis.
After serving on council seven of the past nine years to nag public works engineers and city assessors and second guess the city manager and the municipal budget director, Moss is calling it quits to be with his kids.
This leaves his council coalition - consisting of Robert K. Dean, Nancy K. Parker and often Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and Barbara M. Henley - in a considerably weakened condition.
It could suffer badly on crucial votes, including the upcoming one that will decide who succeeds Moss once he leaves office.
Moss insists he is not campaigning for anyone and vows not to, but he does have his preference.
Heading the list is former councilmember Reba McClanan, whose no-frills and pro-education leanings roughly parallel Moss' own.
What kind of person should take his place?
``It should be someone who is independent, has a reputation for doing their homework, someone willing to stand alone occasionally and who has a record of community service,'' he said. ``And Reba McClanan would be an excellent choice.''
That may well be, but there are dozens of candidates waiting in the wings to serve out Moss' unexpired term. And, to earn that slot, they will have to field at least six votes among longstanding Moss foes, such as Linwood Branch, Vice Mayor William D. Sessoms, John Baum and William W. Harrison Jr.
Moss says he can't, by law, participate in the process and doesn't care to. He just wants to be replaced by someone who isn't afraid to resist the prevailing political winds and ask questions, questions, questions. ILLUSTRATION: John Moss will step down from City Council on March 15 to move
to Memphis, Tenn., where the Navy has moved his job.
by CNB