THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507010005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Sen. Hunter B. Andrews' letter (June 29) represents a transparent effort to cover up the following fact: The Democrat leadership of the General Assembly deliberately used a procedural ploy to obstruct a special legislative session on the Lake Gaston settlement from taking place. What is most disappointing about this obstructionism is that the three most senior leaders in the General Assembly - House Speaker Tom Moss, Senate President Pro Tem Stanley Walker and Senate Majority Leader Andrews - are all from Hampton Roads and should have put this region's water needs ahead of petty partisanship.
Fortunately, through the efforts of Governor Allen and Virginia Beach negotiators, an out-of-court settlement is still possible that could clear the way for construction of the pipeline.
Senator Andrews' letter, and the public pronouncements of House Speaker Moss, conveniently ignore several salient facts:
First, the governor wrote to those three gentlemen on April 27 - more than 60 days ago - stating his eagerness to call a special session to ratify the Lake Gaston agreement. In his letter, he set forth two very reasonable, and common-sense requests: that any special session be limited by advance agreement to the Lake Gaston issue and also be limited to a fixed amount of time.
After consulting with Virginia Beach leaders, both Del. Glenn Croshaw, a Democrat, and I wrote to Governor Allen on May 15 endorsing these requests as both reasonable and necessary.
Over the next two months and despite repeated efforts by the governor, his staff and other legislators to obtain a response, neither Senators Andrews nor Walker nor Speaker Moss ever voiced any objection whatsoever to the governor's requirement. Only on the very eve of the special session, after the governor had announced he was ready to convene the session, did the Democrat leadership suddenly raise a disagreement with the governor's terms. It is obvious that their last-second objection was just a ploy to derail the session.
Why did Governor Allen insist on limiting a special session to the Lake Gaston topic and to a limited time period? For two very important reasons: (1) to protect the citizens of Virginia Beach from legislative extortion and (2) to ensure that the General Assembly acted before the Lake Gaston agreement between Virginia Beach and North Carolina expired, rendering the whole effort meaningless.
The governor and Virginia Beach officials knew full well that a session not limited to the subject of the Lake Gaston settlement would likely become a free-for-all in which legislators from other parts of the state would attempt to demand a pound of flesh from Beach citizens in return for their votes for the pipeline. The governor and Virginia Beach also knew that a session not limited in duration to the deadline contained in the agreement between the Beach and North Carolina would be nothing more than an excuse to kill the pipeline by parliamentary delaying tactics.
In fact, the city of Virginia Beach issued a public statement on the morning of June 28 asking its legislators to oppose attempts to extend any special session on the matter to a later date (than June 30). Despite this urgent request from Virginia Beach, later that same day Speaker Moss and Senator Walker convened a meeting of the General Assembly's Joint Rules Committee and refused to limit the special session to the time frame necessary to ratify the Lake Gaston agreement.
Governor Allen was acting in full cooperation with the city of Virginia Beach when he insisted on a limited time for the special session. Indeed, in a statement released on June 29, the city stated: (Virginia Beach) wishes to reiterate that it fully supported Governor Allen's insistence on a date-certain for completion of the General Assembly's work.'' The Virginia Beach statement went on to say that, ``The City of Virginia Beach appreciates the support that Governor Allen has provided for the pipeline project, and for the proposed settlement with the state of North Carolina. It particularly appreciates the governor's continuing efforts to see that a settlement is obtained. . . .''
Governor Allen acted properly and in the best interests of the citizens of Hampton Roads. And the senior Democrat leadership in Hampton Roads engaged in the worst sort of procedural obstructionism to prevent a legislative session devoted to one of the most critically important issues facing this region: the Lake Gaston pipeline. The people of Virginia Beach, and all of Hampton Roads, deserved far better from these Democrats, even in an election year.
KEN STOLLE
Virginia Beach, June 30, 1995 MEMO: Senator Stolle, a Republican, represents Virginia Beach. by CNB