THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507250091
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
In support of Teich
After reading the letter written by L.R. Pierce in the July 6 Compass in support of Councilman Randy Wright, candidate for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Norfolk, I cannot help but wonder how a list of positions that Mr. Wright holds or has held can possibly qualify him for the position of Clerk of the Circuit Court. Being on a committee does not begin to prepare one for the many facets of the clerk's position.
Mr. Pierce stated that his candidate ``is the only candidate to run a business and understands competition and how to work within a budget.'' If Mr. Pierce was better acquainted with Al Teich - the ``chief opponent'' mentioned in Mr. Pierce's letter - he would know that Al Teich not only has run the business of a law practice but also was one of the founders of the Old Dominion University Credit Union, was its president for 25 years and aided its growth from zero assets to assets in the seven figures.
The credit union was one of the first state-chartered credit unions in Virginia to obtain depositors' insurance. He has also managed estates with assets in the millions of dollars.
Mr. Pierce's candidate has openly stated that the does not know anything about the operation of the clerk's office.
Al Teich has worked with and in the clerk's office for 38 years. He probably knows more about the operation of that office than anyone, other than past and present employees.
Would you hire someone who admittedly knows nothing about a job and be willing to pay him over $90,000 a year? Certainly not. You would hire the person with the best qualifications (education, experience and knowledge of the job), one who will work full time, not one who will use the position as a basis for furthering other ambitions.
Al Teich's ambition is to use his many years of training and experience to become a full-time Clerk of the Circuit Court.
Mary Williams
Wells Parkway
I have read several letters to the editor over the last few weeks concerning the race for Clerk of the Circuit Court for Norfolk. Many issues have been discussed but there is only one issue in this race: experience.
Al Teich is the only candidate qualified for the position of the Clerk of the Circuit Court. During his 38 years of practicing, teaching and writing about the law, Mr. Teich has gained firsthand knowledge of the Circuit Court system and the duties of the clerk's Office.
But his experience extends beyond the courthouse. Mr. Teich was the co-founder and president of the Old Dominion Credit Union for 26 years. During this time, he took the ODU credit union from zero assets to seven figures and supervised a full-time staff. He is the only candidate that has a record of proven experience to invest and properly administer the millions of dollars handled each year by the Clerk's Office.
Randy Wright has publicly pledged to turn the Clerk's Office into his very own political machine like we had in ``the good ol' days'' to further his political career at the expense of the citizens of Norfolk. He has admitted he will have to learn the job as clerk. As a taxpayer, I do not want to pay someone roughly $90,000 to learn a job. He does not have the experience to serve the people of Norfolk as clerk and his appointments to various boards show his political connections more than any experience related to the job of Clerk of the Circuit Court.
I will be voting for Al Teich, because he has the experience to get the job done right, from his very first day on the job.
S. Catron
East Ocean View Avenue
Fed up with foul language
It seems wherever my husband, my two young children and I go in Norfolk we are always having to put up with the worst foul language imaginable. Whether it is Northside Park, the beach, restaurants or any other public place we go to we have to put up with this. I am not talking a word here or there. I mean every other word is a horrible obscenity.
These people do not care if they don't know me, they don't care that my children are only 2 1/2 and 5. Do people who use this language constantly without any concern for other people really believe this falls under freedom of speech?
We are trying to raise our children to speak proper English, to be kind and considerate of other people. What is happening to people? Are they really brought up to believe that they do not have to show any consideration for others, that they can say and do what they want in public?
We went to a restaurant in Norfolk a few months ago and we were seated next to a group of people who could not speak a sentence without swearing. We politely asked them to to watch their language and they told us that was how they talked and have always talked that way and if we did not want our children to hear that kind of language that we should stay home. The restaurant did nothing. We were the ones to leave and have never been back.
If restaurants can post signs saying ``shoes and shirt required,'' then why can't restaurants, department stores and other public places also post signs saying ``foul language will not be tolerated and you will be asked to leave if you use foul language.''
I do not want to be held prisoner in my home because of insensitive, uneducated (and educated), rude and thoughtless people. Is it more prevalent in Norfolk or is this just the ``normal'' behavior of most people today? Surely there are many people out there like us who are trying to raise their children to be kind, considerate and responsible people and are sick of having to deal with the foul language.
Unfortunately, the people who cannot speak a sentence without cursing are talking that way at home in front of their children. Therefore, they think they can do it in front of mine. How they can do this I will never understand. Then their children grow up believing it is OK to speak like that whenever or wherever they choose. Their children are going to talk that way at school where my children are.
I am livid about this. I think it is time for the city to do something about foul language in public places. Does Norfolk have a profanity ordinance?
Signs should be posted saying people using foul language of any kind will have to leave the premises and will be fined. Busch Gardens does this. If you can fine people for littering, then you can fine them for using foul language. Is this language acceptable in their churches? In their parents' homes? Where they work? While their language may be acceptable in their homes, it is not (yet, at least) in the mainstream of America, at least in professional businesses and the courts.
If people want to talk this way in their home, then it is their business. When they talk like that in front of us and our children, then it becomes our business. Unfortunately, you cannot ask people to please watch their language anymore because you never know when they are going to pull their concealed weapon and shoot you for asking them to act and talk appropriately.
Marian Newton
Crane Avenue
A parking garage trap
My wife and I have a complaint for City Manager James B. Oliver Jr.
Something needs to be done to change the way fees are collected at the Waterside parking garage on festival weekends.
On July 4, we entered the parking garage at 3:56 p.m. After the fireworks, we were at our vehicle, ready to leave at 9:50 p.m., parked on the next to upper deck. We did not get out of the garage until 11:04 p.m.
At the exit, we found the booths collecting money from each car as it exited. We were not only unhappy with the long wait, but we were charged extra money for being trapped.
Portsmouth charges a flat fee on festival weekends, paid as the person enters the garage. This way, traffic moves very quickly exiting. Norfolk should adopt this system, in order to eliminate the miserable backup in the garage we experienced on July 4. That was the first time I had parked there on a festival weekend, and it will be the last.
Richard S. McLellon
Kimberly Lane by CNB