THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Long : 147 lines
Former Gov. Linwood Holton entered the lion's den Tuesday. He attempted to persuade the Virginia Beach City Council that Virginia should reward localities that cooperate with each other - that act like united economic regions rather than squabbling cities and counties - with state money.
Holton is chief lobbyist for the Urban Partnership, a regionalism-promoting organization of 18 cities and counties and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Holton said a partnership-backed bill, the Regional Competitiveness Act, will pass this legislative session. It sets up a mechanism for determining which localities have voluntarily cooperated regionally and thus deserve state incentive money. The Urban Partnership would prefer to begin with an annual incentive fund of $50 million, starting July 1997. Given the tightness of state money, the partnership likely will have to settle for far less.
Still, the bill is a strong start in the right direction, using the carrot approach to encourage regionalism without suffocating localities under more state mandates.
At a work session of the Virginia Beach City Council, Holton was accorded the respect he deserves as an elder statesman of the commonwealth. When he asked for questions, however, few easy pitches were lobbed.
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf asked why the question of sharing natural resources like water was absent from the Urban Partnership list of actions for which localities get points leading to state incentive money. She expressed astonishment that such an important item could have been overlooked. Later in the meeting she added, ``Many of the people structuring this agreement have also been dedicated resisters to seeing that we have the water to survive.''
Holton noted that number 11 on the 15-item list of rewardable actions was ``water and sewer services.'' Oberndorf countered that cooperating on water only garnered a locality four points, compared with 10 points for regional revenue sharing or regional education efforts. She said four points were too few. Holton said the point list could be modified.
Councilman Robert K. Dean said Virginia Beach, incorporated in 1963, is young and healthy, while its neighbors are 300 years old, with deteriorating infrastructures. Also, he said, Virginia Beach does not have the inherent inner-city problems of its neighbors. Other than the furtherance of brotherly love, he asked, ``what is the advantage to Virginia Beach to buy into this program with our tax dollars so they can flow out into another city?''
Holton responded that suburbs cannot isolate themselves from inner-city deterioration, that it flows outward into suburbs. It's the old story: An apple with a rotten core is doomed. Holton said for probably the 900th time in the past few months, ``This is not a poverty program.'' It is, he said, also for probably the 900th time, a regional economic-development program.
``It's still a matter of transference of wealth,'' Dean said. ``We will never recoup what we are putting out.''
And so the meeting went.
Holton stressed repeatedly that localities could choose whether to form partnerships and with which other localities. They also could choose which problems to solve together and which to solve individually. The program, he said, is voluntary.
He emphasized that Virginia's urban areas have fallen behind powerhouse regions in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee in economic development. Growth is slower here, he said, and jobs pay less. No one disagreed.
Holton cited three regional efforts that have worked, including the Virginia Port Authority, which is highly successful in managing three Hampton Roads ports. Those ports, he said, struggled when they were owned by individual cities.
What's in it for Virginia Beach, Holton said, is an expanding economic pie so everyone gets a bigger piece.
Obviously the Beach council is right to look out for its taxpayers' interest first.
But it also seems obvious that united urban regions elsewhere will continue to outpace politically fractured Hampton Roads - unless this area acts like a region.
If the incentive fund is set up to reward regional cooperation, state taxes collected from Virginia Beach will go into the fund. Virginia Beach can choose to join with other localities and receive incentive money as a reward or to go it alone and get none. The first choice is better.
Former Gov. Linwood Holton entered the lion's den Tuesday. He attempted to persuade the Virginia Beach City Council that Virginia should reward localities that cooperate with each other - that act like united economic regions rather than squabbling cities and counties - with state money.
Holton is chief lobbyist for the Urban Partnership, a regionalism-promoting organization of 18 cities and counties and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Holton said a partnership-backed bill, the Regional Competitiveness Act, will pass this legislative session. It sets up a mechanism for determining which localities have voluntarily cooperated regionally and thus deserve state incentive money. The Urban Partnership would prefer to begin with an annual incentive fund of $50 million, starting July 1997. Given the tightness of state money, the partnership likely will have to settle for far less.
Still, the bill is a strong start in the right direction, using the carrot approach to encourage regionalism without suffocating localities under more state mandates.
At a work session of the Virginia Beach City Council, Holton was accorded the respect he deserves as an elder statesman of the commonwealth. When he asked for questions, however, few easy pitches were lobbed.
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf asked why the question of sharing natural resources like water was absent from the Urban Partnership list of actions for which localities get points leading to state incentive money. She expressed astonishment that such an important item could have been overlooked. Later in the meeting she added, ``Many of the people structuring this agreement have also been dedicated resisters to seeing that we have the water to survive.''
Holton noted that number 11 on the 15-item list of rewardable actions was ``water and sewer services.'' Oberndorf countered that cooperating on water only garnered a locality four points, compared with 10 points for regional revenue sharing or regional education efforts. She said four points were too few. Holton said the point list could be modified.
Councilman Robert K. Dean said Virginia Beach, incorporated in 1963, is young and healthy, while its neighbors are 300 years old, with deteriorating infrastructures. Also, he said, Virginia Beach does not have the inherent inner-city problems of its neighbors. Other than the furtherance of brotherly love, he asked, ``what is the advantage to Virginia Beach to buy into this program with our tax dollars so they can flow out into another city?''
Holton responded that suburbs cannot isolate themselves from inner-city deterioration, that it flows outward. It's the old story: An apple with a rotten core is doomed. Holton said for probably the 900th time in the past few months, ``This is not a poverty program.'' It is, he said, also for probably the 900th time, a regional economic-development program.
``It's still a matter of transference of wealth,'' Dean said. ``We will never recoup what we are putting out.''
And so the meeting went.
Holton stressed repeatedly that localities could choose whether to form partnerships and with which other localities. They also could choose which problems to solve together and which to solve individually. The program, he said, is voluntary.
He emphasized that Virginia's urban areas have fallen behind powerhouse regions in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee in economic development. Growth is slower here, he said, and jobs pay less. No one disagreed.
Holton cited three regional efforts that have worked, including the Virginia Port Authority, which is highly successful in managing three Hampton Roads ports. Those ports, he said, struggled when they were owned by individual cities.
What's in it for Virginia Beach, Holton said, is an expanding economic pie so everyone gets a bigger piece.
Obviously the Beach council is right to look out for its taxpayers' interest first.
But it also seems obvious that united urban regions elsewhere will continue to outpace politically fractured Hampton Roads - unless this area acts like a region.
If the incentive fund is set up to reward regional cooperation, state taxes collected from Virginia Beach will go into the fund. Virginia Beach can choose to join with other localities and receive incentive money as a reward or to go it alone and get none. The first choice is better. by CNB