THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230339
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Decision '96
Part 2: The Issues - Norfolk
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 509 lines
Like an angry chant that never quite fades away, the argument of downtown vs. neighborhood development has fueled passion and acrimony among citizens here for decades.
It's an argument in which both sides can find data to support claims that they have been shortchanged. It's again a central issue in the May 7 council races for Superwards 6 and 7.
What these arguments come down to is different theories and plans over the best way to grow a city, so that its future is secure and its citizens prosperous, healthy and happy.
None of the candidates says the city should ignore neighborhoods. But they vary in the strength with which they support downtown investments and how they believe neighborhood spending should be organized.
The proposed MacArthur Center mall is one touchstone. The city is investing roughly $100 million in the project, mostly in the form of loans to be repaid out of expected tax and lease payments from the mall.
The new center, with a planned 1.2 million square feet of space and a Nordstrom department store, is expected to become the regional shopping center of Hampton Roads, drawing customers from around the area into downtown Norfolk.
In Ward 6, candidates E. Toles Summers and Charles D. Grant flatly oppose city investment in the MacArthur Center. Fred G. Bashara supports it, with qualifications. Councilman Mason C. Andrews endorses it wholeheartedly.
In Ward 7, candidates Horace T. ``Tommy'' White, Algie T. Howell Jr. and Daniel E. Montague oppose city spending on the MacArthur Center. William E. ``Wes'' Swindell and Daun S. Hester, with qualifications, both support it.
It would take considerable effort by a newly elected council to stop the mall project, but it is possible. The city is scheduled to turn the site over to private contractors on June 15. Newly elected council members will take office July 1.
The current council has unanimously backed the project.
Much of the argument over downtown vs. neighborhood investment, however, appears to be a shorthand for more complex concerns.
Compared with many center cities in the North and Southeast, Norfolk is in reasonably good shape. Its bond rating is AA, Standard & Poor's second-highest. Crime declined by more than 30 percent in 1995.
But the city's population is bleeding away, and many residents believe the city is ignoring basic services that will make it a good place to live, as well as work. Its libraries, once the best in the region, are now arguably the worst, according to state statistics. Amenities that might make urban living more attractive, such as bike paths, are virtually absent.
Bashara in Ward 6 says the city should encourage prosperity by making the city an attractive place to live, which in turn will draw businesses.
``We have got to adopt a policy, an attitude and a focus that leads us to do things that draw people to live in Norfolk,'' Bashara said.
Candidates Howell and White in Ward 7 say the city's development department needs to nurture home-grown businesses.
``All the focus has been on downtown projects,'' White said. ``Bob Smithwick (the city's development director) says this is the goose that lays the golden eggs. I haven't seen any eggs.''
Howell, who owns a barbershop, believes: ``The money we are wasting in downtown on MacArthur Center, we should spend giving tax breaks to small businesses. Small businesses employ people who live in Park Place or the projects.''
Swindell, in Ward 7, supports cutting the school budget to make more money available to neighborhoods.
``We need to put money into neighborhoods, maybe through programs that will help children, but not necessarily through the school budget,'' Swindell said.
Hester supports downtown spending but says there have to be limits. She proposes putting money back into basics, such as new streets and curbs, and into projects, such as helping neighborhoods plant flowers in median strips.
``Right now, we are investing in the MacArthur Center,'' Hester said. ``There's already talk about funding a stadium. It's not going to wash with the citizens.''
Looking at downtown vs. neighborhood spending also means looking at some of the common assumptions about them. Conventionally, downtown investments are considered long-term and neighborhood spending as something that pays off immediately. But this is not always the case.
The MacArthur Center, if successful, is expected to start generating $6.5 million annually in new tax revenues in its first year. That would more than compensate for the $5 million the city is spending the first year on debt payments for the mall, scheduled to open in 1998.
On the other hand, the city is preparing to spend $4 million annually to support the $60 million redevelopment of East Ocean View. The project, even under optimistic assumptions, is not expected to pay for itself until 2023, city staff say.
Sometimes, downtown projects tie in with efforts to improve the city as a whole. Low- and moderate-income residents from throughout the city are meant to have a chance at more than 3,000 jobs at the planned MacArthur Center, using a downtown training center supported by state funds.
Backers of downtown spending also point out that the tax contribution of downtown is overwhelmingly positive, and supports neighborhood services.
Councilman Andrews, a longtime backer of downtown projects, likes to tell the story of business leaders who predicted around 1980 that no new office buildings would be constructed downtown.
Tax revenues generated by downtown grew from $5.4 million in 1981 to $15.1 million in 1994, Andrews says. With the MacArthur center, he predicts they will rise to $25 million in 1998.
An analysis by The Virginian-Pilot showed that downtown produced a $7.4 million annual surplus in tax revenues, after subtracting the city's direct expenditures into the area.
But neighborhood proponents say that while downtown is an overall money maker, that does not validate every downtown investment the city makes.
The $50 million Nauticus, for example, opened after the office-building boom of the 1980s peaked. It drew 280,000 visitors last year, less than the 450,000 in its first year, which was less than the 800,000 predicted by city consultants.
The $1 million annual subsidy the center now requires is money that could be going to roads, schools and street repairs. The Nauticus subsidy is effectively even larger, because all tax revenues from the attraction are now going toward its debt.
Waterside, built to help revive the waterfront, required roughly a $500,000 subsidy this fiscal year.
The city classifies $6.5 million of its capital budget this year as going toward neighborhood projects. But most of this money is earmarked for redevelopment efforts, which means buying property, tearing down homes and then constructing parks or new homes. Among the areas being redeveloped this year are: East Ocean View; Brambleton; Lamberts Point; Berkley; and Park Place.
Ironically, the redevelopment efforts can hasten the population decline of the city, something many residents see as an unwelcome trend.
Most candidates said they support tapping into regional resources to improve local problems and to better coordinate regional tasks, such as improved transportation through a light rail line.
Most experts endorse this approach as well.
David Rusk, in his book, ``Cities Without Suburbs,'' points out that regions with more regional governments and less inequity between suburbs and center city perform better as a whole.
But other than broad statements of support for regionalism, few concrete regional initiatives are being offered by candidates either in Norfolk or in any of its sister cities in the May 7 election. MEMO: Related article on page A8.
How to grow a city? Among cities around the country, and urban
experts, several competing and complementary theories emerge. Here are a
few.
Theory one: Give big tax breaks, loans or direct grants to attract
factories, offices and major retail centers. Spend tax dollars to build
stadiums, convention centers and other attributes of a big city.
Eventually, these organizations will pay taxes and employ people who in
turn pay taxes. And these tax revenues can be used to invest in more
services for people.
Theory two: A city's first priority should be making neighborhoods
livable and attractive. That means good sidewalks, lots of street
maintenance, plenty of police, strong code enforcement, and investment
in parks, recreation centers and community services. These things should
come before direct investments in downtown or businesses. If
neighborhoods are attractive, then people - who will pay taxes - will
want to live in the city.
Theory Three: A city's most important resource is its citizens.
Recognizing that, a city should invest first in schools, libraries and
social programs that nurture people's most fundamental strengths. These
people will become business owners, job holders and taxpayers.
Theory Four - A city's greatest strength is the social cohesion among
its citizens. Under this theory, a city's social capital is more
important than its economic capital. A city with a more diverse web of
interconnected relationships among its citizens is a stronger city. That
being the case, a city should support institutions, programs and
building patterns that build up residents' ability to cooperate and
trust one another. Eventually, the economic capital will come.
CANDIDATES' RESPONSES
NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL: THE CANDIDATES 1. How should we set the city's
agenda?
2. How do we grow a city?
SUPERWARD 6
MASON COOKE ANDREWS
Age: 76
Address: 1000 block of North Shore Road.
Occupation: physician.
I think it is a very important goal which has been addressed and
needs to be better addressed. The first step is full information. I know
it's been available, through the press, and city publications. But it
needs to be more consistently assimilated through civic leagues.
Evidence of the desire to do it better can be found in the quarterly
civic workshops. When you come around to certain times like elections,
people who could have found out now focus on it and say, why didn't you
tell me?
The second thing is to refine and develop your staff and yourselves
to find the responsible, most productive ways of listening and getting
information back. You can get diverted by the loudest voices. Others
whose voices are just as important you need to cultivate.
I think we're getting a little bit of a bum rap, but it is what
people think that counts. You have to keep on until you get the very
best feeling of involvement.
It requires a deliberate, aggressive pursuit of all sorts of economic
improvement. That includes investing in neighborhoods, new, and
established ones. Look at Middle Town Arch, Pinewell by the Bay,
Lafayette Shores. Those are adding to the tax rolls all the time.
Bright, quality people are moving in there. Look at the Commerce Park.
It caused some fuss when it was built. But it's full of taxpaying
people. Downtown seems to be something everybody talks about. It's been
a dramatic success. The convention and visitors industry is our second
biggest, I think, after the military. We need another hotel.
We need a third crossing to connect the ports, and make a fourth port
over on Craney Island. The ports' payroll is very big, and they pay
well. Then there's the matter of exploiting technology. For instance,
the oceanographic center they're talking about. It could be an incubator
for technology and jobs.
With the regional shopping center in place, there would be more
people interested in putting retail and homes nearby. And in the
training for those jobs, you're training people for self-sustaining
employment.
FRED G. BASHARA
Age: 58.
Address: 6000 block of Eastwood Terrace.
Occupation: financial adviser/insurance sales.
I want the mayor to be elected at large. I want the school board to
be elected at large. Anything that increases public debt should be a
referendum.
At least once a month, our council meetings need to be held at night
in a school in a different neighborhood. Each ward councilman needs to
involve his civic league leaders. And I don't mean just lip service
either.
I've called all the civic league leaders up and asked them what their
issues were. I could do that once a month, every month.
We have got to adopt a policy, an attitude and a focus that leads us
to do things that draw people to live in Norfolk. Until we get people to
move to Norfolk and buy homes, we can't fix the schools or do any of the
other things we want. The only way we can grow Norfolk is to draw
home-owning citizens to Norfolk. The city needs to recruit the people
who live out of town. We cannot continue as we are. The mind-set has not
been to draw people to town. Little Creek Road needs sidewalks, they
can't get them.
CHARLES D. GRANT
Age: 75.
Address: 300 block of Westmont Avenue.
Occupation: retired Norfolk police chief.
It appears that one group is making the decisions for the citizens.
What we need to do is get the citizens involved. We could do that by
referendum. Or we could do that by setting up a committee or commission
of citizens to make their needs known to council members. In reference
to MacArthur Center, I feel that we ought to know all the things that
are possible to put down there rather than just one or two things, like
a shopping mall. The council people represent the citizens, that's who
put them on the council, so they should certainly be considered.
We should strive to bring in industry that has good paying jobs. Then
that industry would be paying more taxes, and the people working there
would be paying taxes. I mean industry, like the Ford plant. A lot of
the jobs coming in now are minimum wage. We have room for K-Mart on
Military Highway. We can find room for industry.
E. TOLES SUMMERS
Age: 35.
Address: 500 block of Butterworth Street.
Occupation: surety agent/property and casualty insurance broker.
My suggestion is, if I were elected, or I would hope anyone who is
elected, would be to get input from various sources, go to the various
parts of the city to hear from people, and have an advisory panel you
would meet with every so often. Increase communication, ask them what's
coming up on their agenda, so everybody knows what's going on. It's very
difficult for one person to figure out what the wants and needs of the
whole city are. I'm thinking in terms of a kind of network. You get a
more well-rounded philosophy of things.
The way it is now, by the time citizens find out about it, things
have been rolling for a long time.
The city says, `We don't want to turn around and go in this other
direction. We've been going in this direction.' I can understand that.
It should be done in a proactive sense, seeking citizen input before the
decision.
The city can't grow geographically. It's hemmed in. So we have to
grow in other ways. If we allocate our resources toward the basic
services - schools, public safety, roads - then it will attract more
people to live here. We need to raise ourselves up to a level where we
can compete with other area cities in terms of roads, schools and
environment. We've got to put a tourniquet on the number of homes and
families we're losing. We are developing a lot of what I would call
``pink collar'' jobs, such as USAA, TWA, etc. Those aren't low paying,
they're not minimum wage. But they're a little bit lower on the scale
than we might aim for. We need to concentrate our efforts on industry or
corporations that are more high tech manufacturing.
SUPERWARD 7
HORACE THOMAS ``TOMMY'' WHITE
Age: 45.
Address: 5900 block of McGinnis Circle.
Occupation: executive aide to the Virginia Beach sheriff/commanding
officer of professional standards.
You've got to have leadership in sync with the citizens. Until you
have that, nothing will happen. The leadership has to talk with the
citizens, find out what they want. Until we do that, we will not
prosper, we will continue to decline. In the short term, the city
council has to micromanage the city govermnent, until citizens trust the
city government again. The citizens do not trust the city goverment now.
The council should be the eyes and ears of the citizens. Right now,
we have a council that is the eyes and ears of the city administration.
It needs to be reversed. People elect city council people to know what's
going on. You can talk to city council people who say they don't know
what's going on. That sends me a message that the city government is not
under control of our city council, as it should be.
The economic development office needs to refocus on small business.
All the focus has been on downtown projects. Bob Smithwick (the city's
development director) says these are the goose that lays the golden
eggs. I haven't seen any eggs. The city has to get back to making
Norfolk a quality place to live. Once they do that, businesses will want
to come to Norfolk because there will be lots of people there to buy
their products.
Where would we get the money for neighborhoods? They can charge the
airport, the port and the hospital a fee for the services the city is
providing. That would provide $1.6 million, according to city
calculations.
There are more ``For Sale'' signs than ever before. Some homes are
assessed at above their market value, and that's making them difficult
to sell. It's no accident that three months before the Nauticus bailout,
they had the assessors out there reassessing people's homes. We need to
get people moving back into the city. Right now, Norfolk residents are
the highest taxed in the region, including Richmond.
WILLIAM E. SWINDELL JR.
Age: 47.
Address: 6200 block of Alexander Street.
Occupation: Employed by STOP; former Navy officer.
I think we're seeing a change now. Mayor Paul Fraim is opening up the
doors of communication with citizens. I think we should spend as much
time trying to involve citizens as we do trying to attract businesses.
I'm an advocate of referendums. If the public votes on a big project,
then we're all working on the same page. Then if a project fails or
succeeds, then we're all in it together. And everything isn't going to
succeed. Sometimes we have to accept failure.
The uproar over the MacArthur Mall is because people don't feel
included. If people felt included, either through referendum or through
just getting full information, then all of us would be working together.
Our approach has been so bad. We come up with something, then we try to
sell it to the citizens afterward. That leaves the citizens and
sometimes councilmen saying, how did this happen?
In order to have a healthy city, we have to have healthy communities.
The basic element of a city is its neighborhoods. I think $6.5 million
is appropriated to neighborhoods. That's not enough for Norfolk. We have
old infrastructure and a lot of needs. We have to involve people in
their communities right where they live. Once people feel a part of
their neighborhoods, then it's easier for them to be involved with the
city.
Where would we get this money? The School Board has asked for a $210
million budget. I think they are asking for too much. Instead of just
putting it into the school system, we need to put money into those
neighborhoods, maybe through programs that will help children, but not
necessarily through the school budget.
I'm not against business investment. The Waterside Marriott has been
an asset to our city, and a money maker. We need some more things like
that. Government has to take chances.
DAUN SESSOMS HESTER
Age: 40.
Address: 3700 block of Wedgefield Avenue.
Occupation: assistant principal, Rosemont Middle School.
You've got to have leaders who have a vision, and who are able to
share that with other people and incorporate ideas from others. It goes
back to people, to communication.
Consider tourism. The citizens of Norfolk, many of them, don't see
this city as a tourist city. I do see this as a place for tourism, and I
think most of the members of council do. But I think the majority of
citizens do not. The citizens' priorities are crime, and education, and
taking care of their neighborhoods. But it's the job of the leadership
to think about how to bring money in.
Until we come to some kind of balance, we are going to be fighting
ourselves. The vision has to be shared. To solve it, you go and talk to
people. We need to hear what they are saying, and then show them how it
can effective or detrimental. I don't see why the council meetings
aren't televised. We're discussing public business.
Our neighborhoods are lacking. We have to make our neighborhoods look
good and inviting for other people. These are our home owners. We've got
to help them, as much as we can, help them with services and help them
help each other. There are a lot of streets and curbs that need to be
repaved, additional lighting that is needed, some beautification with
flowers.
I go back to Huntersville. They redid the sidewalk on one block, and
I can visualize that whole community redone. It shouldn't take us years
to tear down a house that is no longer livable. We have to spend on both
business and neighborhoods, but our neighborhoods and our schools should
have priority.
Right now, we are investing in the MacArthur Center. There's already
talk about funding a stadium. It's not going to wash with the citizens.
That's why Nauticus is not successful. It's not a bad place, but the
people didn't want it. Perhaps the changes now to make it more customer
friendly might turn it around. If the citizens don't want it, then it's
not going to fly. You need to have everyone included. All good ideas are
not from just people downtown.
ALGIE T. HOWELL Jr.
Age: 58.
Address: 800 block of Benwood Road.
Occupation: Barbershop owner.
In terms of my conversations with council members on board, I don't
think they are in touch with the citizens in the community. They don't
really know what the people in the community want. I talk to customers
when they are getting their hair cut.
If we want to build the community, we have to find out what the
citizens want. A few people got together and decided to build the
MacArthur Center. The town meetings are apparently not working. Most
people on council have fulltime jobs, and they don't have time to get
around in the community. It would almost be worth it to have full-time
council positions, and full-time salaries. Then they could devote all
their time to it, they could set up an office and a staff. That might
sound expensive, but we're talking about something that would benefit
the entire city. I don't think city council people should serve more
than two terms. After that let someone else come in. Otherwise, you get
tied up with special interests, and you stagnate.
We have a number of people in the inner city, in Park Place and other
areas, and the question is how to revitalize those areas. Most of the
people living in Park Place don't have jobs, and if you don't have jobs,
then you can't do much. If you put a person in a housing project who is
unemployed and lives in dilapidated housing, you cannot expect that
person to have high social morals.
The money we are wasting in downtown on MacArthur Center, we should
spend it on small businesses. We could give tax breaks to small
businesses. They could employ people who live in Park Place or the
projects. Once people have jobs, they will function better and they will
pay taxes.
In my barbershop, it works real well. I can take in an apprentice,
and many of them now have their own shops all over town.
H. MARKS RICHARD
Age: 61.
Address: 3700 block of Brennan Avenue.
Occupation: mathematics professor.
The best way is to come out with certain goals and priorities. I
would like the city to provide essential services, and make it a better
place for the people who live there. The city council is ultimately
responsible. It's also important to listen to the wishes of the citizens
and see what they want.
We spent a lot of money on consultants who told us to build Nauticus,
and that it will draw 800,000 people, and it's not doing that. That
money could have been better spent. We have a lot of city personnel who
have expertise, and we should make use of that. We should have people on
council who can independently make those decisions without having to
wait for a consultant to tell them what they should do.
We need to recirculate some of the money in the community. The city
spends a lot of money, but a lot of it is not going into the city. If
you could do that, it would create a lot more jobs. We got more jobs in
the city than we do people, but if we could find a way to give some of
the jobs in the city to people who live in Norfolk, that would help. And
if we could entice some of the people who left to come back to the city,
that would help as well.
We spend money to provide police and fire inspection for businesses,
but a lot of the payrolls don't help the city. A lot of the money the
city is spending is benefiting the region, but not benefiting the city
itself. We spend a lot of money on studies and things; we spent a
million dollars on a study, but we have people on staff who could
conduct a study. If you analyze that $435 million budget, I think 5 to
10 percent is being spent on things that are not essentials.
DANIEL EDWIN MONTAGUE
Age: 56.
Address: 4600 block of Krick Street.
Occupation: construction boilermaker.
I've always been for referendums. If the people want it, they will
vote for it, and they will pay for it. When i lived in Oregon, every
governor would try to pass a sales tax, and the people would shoot it
down like a flaming plane in World War II. People would let you raise
the sin taxes instead. We need elected school boards, but the boards
will be like the ones in Virginia Beach unless you have taxing
authority. The city passes the budget for the school, the school board
should do that. Not giving a school board taxing authority is like
taking the claws off a cat. The cat can't climb a tree to defend itself.
The main thing, this area has got to come to gether. We have to stop
building things like the Hampton Coliseum, Scope and the Pavillion.
That's a waste of resources. Instead, we should have one good size one,
so you can get a NBA team. If we don't do the things I said, then this
whole area will regress even worse than it is right now.
You've got to develop the whole region. First thing you do, you put
in a monorail, up off the ground, that would go as far as Williamsburg
and Suffolk. Everybody would ride it. If we do not have the monorail,
you won't be able to bring in industry. Then, we've got to develop the
port. We have to make that the largest tonnage port in the United
States. We have the best natural harbor in the world, and we have never
pushed it the way we should. Then we have to push the schools. They have
to stop graduating people with a 1.1 grade average.
We have to take the whole megalopolis area and start using our minds
to make it work. When I came back here 11 years ago, it was just like
entering a time warp. This area hadn't changed that much. It was still
doing the same stuff the same dumb way. Everything here operates on the
good old boy club, which I've never been a member of.
ILLUSTRATION: THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT file photo
In the ongoing development debate, neighborhoods and downtown each
have supporters. Not every investment is a guaranteed money-maker;
the $50 million Nauticus costs Norfolk $1 million a year.
Photos
All candidates for Norfolk City Council
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL RACE
PUBLIC JOURNALISM by CNB