THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220254
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
When business leaders and politicians from across Hampton Roads met to discuss regionalism Tuesday, they mostly sounded like a family that couldn't agree on the best way to get out of a burning house.
Yes, they all said, the cities must cooperate to attract jobs and tourists. They applauded the regional efforts that have succeeded.
But when it got down to brass tacks, self-interest ruled.
We need help with our poverty, Norfolk said. You keep holding us hostage to water, Virginia Beach replied. At times, they didn't sound much like cities willing to work together.
``Do we need mediation here?'' asked Joel Rubin, moderator of ``Talk of the Town,'' sponsored by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
``I'll tell you one thing, I don't think you can horse-trade your way to regionalism,'' said Wolfgang Pindur, an urban studies professor at Old Dominion University.
``This reminds me of trying to drive down one of our roads by looking in the rearview mirror all the time rather than out the windshield,'' he said.
It was a popular view. Many of the 100-plus people present seemed impatient with the inability of politicians to move beyond their differences.
``I have been shocked at the amount of backbiting and criticism leveled between cities,'' said Gerald Divaris, a Virginia Beach real estate developer.
The question under debate was: How can Hampton Roads put aside its differences and pool its common resources to propel the region to greater national prominence?
Rubin noted, ``We kind of envy Charlotte, N.C., for what it has been able to do. Yet Charlotte is smaller than us. And it kind of grates on people that Jacksonville is getting a professional sports team and we're not.''
Everyone had their own explanation.
Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said several times that Virginia needs to allow localities to more creatively manage their tax base. He suggested that the cities need some type of tax-sharing or revenue-sharing program.
``We have an expensive society, more expensive than the societies in our neighboring cities, and we need help resolving those problems,'' Fraim said.
Divaris said that regional efforts need to be more inclusive. He said the Chamber of Commerce's own Plan 2007 ``missed the mark terribly.'' Divaris said that the plan should have included more young people and entrepreneurs in its development.
Pindur said there should be a whole new local political structure and that each city should be willing to give up some of its political power to join.
But Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf zeroed in on the chief obstacle: ``The reality of Virginia Beach is that she's willing and ready to cooperate with any of the cities. But we don't want to lose our identity as a city, nor do we want any of the cities to give up their historical and emotional identities.''
The evening's debate underscored that the sometimes-rocky relationship between Norfolk and Virginia Beach is critical to regionalism. Within 30 minutes, tensions flared between Fraim and Oberndorf over water, poverty and tourism. Although they ended on cordial terms, the exchange, one onlooker noted, sounded like ``a family feud.''
The issue will be revisited soon. The Urban Partnership, a collection of Virginia cities seeking answers to common inner-city problems, will hold a summit in Norfolk in June. by CNB