In the Big Game of Finance Virginia Beach Taxpayers, Educators, and Public School Students Hold no Trump Cards







At the beginning of the month, February 2012, Virginia Beach School Superintendant Dr. James Merrill launched the latest salvo in an ongoing war with the City Council of Virginia Beach. The good Doctor’s blatant public presentation was delivered with an amount of shock and awe that would make General Norman Schwarzkopf rise and take notice. Having its desired effects, Merrill’s budget cuts which would stop transportation to academy classes, discontinue junior varsity sports, halt organized middle school sport programs, terminate teaching and support positions, and suspend summer school programs; (an announcement that in my day of public school attendance would have been cause for celebration), but in this millennium would impede students from moving forward in their chosen programs, put Council on the defensive in a high stakes game of public opinion blame.

            The relationship between the school system and those honorable men and women of our city council has proven at best to be rocky. Vice Mayor Louis Jones’s  recent proclamation last January that the School Board was saturated with tax funds tucked into various accounts in an attempt to avoid the eyes of council audits can in no way be conceived as a love tap or even an invitation to have coffee. Later that year, more fireworks erupted when the city appropriated an $8 million dollar surplus from the school system to build a new animal shelter along Birdneck Road and a recreation center in the Bayside area. The issue presently at hand is a long standing revenue sharing program between council and the schools which grants the school system a 51.3% share of seven revenue streams while leaving the remaining 48.7% for the coffers of the city. The proposed budget for the school year 2012-2013 will leave our school programs in the neighborhood of $39 million short on expenses. In retrospect, the appropriation of around $41 million in school budget surpluses by the city over the past three years has proven to be extremely unwise. The major question at hand here is does a branch of government have the right to bank a budget surplus or should that money be returned to the income stream?

            In the coming months, the city will finalize its budget plans for the 2012-2013 year. In these days of declining municipal revenue streams and overtaxed matrixes, our council will need to refrain from capital projects that are glamorous and simply concentrate on what they were elected to do; which is providing basic services to its constituency. Much like the proverbial drunken sailor which every saloon owner covets but each bartender secretly loathes, the city has overextended itself by spending tax revenues on partnerships on the 31^st street corridor, studies on a convention center style facility at 19^th street, and right-of-way on Norfolk Southern railroad tracks to further the cause of light rail just to name a few. The Council cannot allow unbridled spending to deprive the future of the city to receive substandard school experiences. Simply stated, education is a product that each city sells.  If, as a Municipality, we wish to attract the kind of growth that will propel us into an economic powerhouse, the product of education that we offer our citizens must exceed any experience that we provide tourists, a quality trip for future light rail riders, or cyclists who wish to traverse scenic Shore Drive. So as a certain property tax increase will thwack the citizenry to “solve” our present crises our representatives should rethink the high stakes game of bravado and blame. If bluffing and gambling on education in the resort city is to be a standard way of doing business in Virginia Beach, perhaps council should champion the cause of gaming at the oceanfront in order to pay for our elected official’s appetite for remaking the city.

It Aint Heavy...It's My Lightrail?



Norfolk & Southern



     In the spring of 1898, the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Southern Railroad, which operated the rail transit from Norfolk to the oceanfront, completed work on a new Currituck Division extending through the lesser end of Princess Anne County.  Within two years, the parent line was reorganized as part of the Norfolk and Southern and the branch came to be branded as the Munden Point Line. Munden Point Park over in the middle of Creeds is as distant as a city park can be, however the scenic stretch of land off Princess Anne Road along the North Landing River was once a lively diminutive railroad center.  In April of 1927, gracious living debuted in the city when what is now known locally as the “Old Cavalier” opened its doors. Approximately 13 months prior Mayor Tyler of Norfolk, who gained fame as being the first American to congratulate Charles Lindbergh for his transcontinental flight, spoke at the ground breaking of the hotel, later as Al Jolson and Soppie Tucker sent congratulatory telegrams to the property on its opening. The Norfolk & Western Railroad’s new gasoline powered train named, "The Cavalier”, commenced its maiden passage from Cleveland Ohio to Norfolk Virginia; its aphorism was, “The Cavalier to The Cavalier”. In no time at all, even more guests arrived to Virginia Beach from the Midwest in June of that year when a Norfolk & Western Pullman coach visualized nonstop travel from Chicago to the Cavalier’s private railroad station.  The world’s largest resort city, much like the rhythm portion of a Johnny Cash recording session, is no stranger to the cadence of a rail road locomotive.

            Over the last two decades we in the Tidewater area have faced new economic constraints. These regional restrictions have appeared in the guise of a needed third crossing to the Peninsula, aging passages through the Elizabeth River, congested interstate ramps, as well as the ever increasing gallon of gas and have led us to review the burden of our commuting Northern Virginia brethren as well as our love affair with independent personal transportation. Light rail transit (LRT) is a form of urban rail transportation; the term is typically used to refer to rail systems with rapid – transit style features that usually use electric cars operating mostly in private rights of way separated from other traffic but sometimes, if necessary, mixed with other traffic. After much study and discourse, the voters of the city of Virginia Beach rejected a referendum in November of 1999 that would connect downtown Norfolk to the oceanfront. Furthermore, the Virginia Beach City Council approved at the time a 10 year declaration disavowing furthering the cause of LRT within the city limits. Years march on, as years tend to do, and in the 12 ½ since, a “town center”, which is nowhere near the center of town has emerged, populations have increased, and an ever escalating amount of traffic seems to clog our roads. In addition, since the expiration of their declaration, the learned City Council unanimously voted to purchase the right-of-way on more or less 18 miles of track extending from the east side of Newtown Road to somewhere around the intersection of Birdneck Road and Norfolk Avenue, with the proviso that the cause of LRT be advanced. This purchase was funded with $10 million from tax payer money and an additional $30 million in matching funds. Make no mistake about it; The Tide will roll into the City of Virginia Beach. At this point, it is simply a matter of when and in what form that it will do so. With the limited parking in the resort and town center areas, the benefits to the city will be realized in higher tax revenues from increased retail and restaurant sales along future routes due to amplified pedestrian traffic as well as reduced vehicular traffic on city thoroughfares.

            In August of 2011 LRT began operating in Norfolk 1 year late and about $100 million over budget. Michael Townes, then HRT director, was asked to step down from the position while receiving a full severance package and his replacement was hired at a mere $40,000 per month, a deal that I would not dare attempt to negotiate with my employer, with a mandate to restore financial integrity to the system. In addition to delays and financial over runs, many businesses in the city of Norfolk were forced to close during the lengthy construction of the infrastructure for The Tide. As we at the beach move forward with the inevitable, it is expected to anticipate such delays and cost over runs. A quick search of any city in America which has instituted such a transit system will show that these cities have experienced setbacks and extra expenditures. It is with these thoughts in mind that our elected officials need to go about their work on this matter. Bringing LRT down existing tracks should not pose much of a logistical challenge for city planners. What will be of issue will be the final entry point of LRT into the resort area and what streets will have stops to allow for loading and off loading of riders. When contemplating these final questions the city, in order to observe propriety, will have the unfavorable task of determining where these stops will be, in front of whose businesses these riders will assemble, and furthermore which if any businesses will be forced to close during construction and for how long. Our Council and City Manager will do well to learn from the recklessness of our illustrious neighbors to the west. In the end we will all just have to remember; “it ain’t heavy…it’s my lightrail.”







When Captain America Shows up with a Keg of Beer



The first Saturday of each February, arriving at work hours earlier than my routine generally allows for in anticipation of wondrous events is actually standard procedure. As I rounded the turn from Fifth Street to Atlantic Avenue, the eagerness of what my immediate future would hold was intensifying. After unlocking the doors, turning on the lights, and reviewing scheduled employees my gaze turned toward the door and as perceived earlier the vision before my eyes was no apparition. It was indeed Captain America with a keg of beer. Being in the hospitality industry the question, “how can I help you”, exited my lips without hesitation. The keg asked, “Do you mind if we come in?”, (right away from its brogue, I could tell that it was a domestic infusion; yet of the finest sort), Captain America then spoke, “You see we need a place to leave our stuff while we run the 5k and we do plan on spending the day in your restaurant until we jump in the ocean… soon all of our cohorts will be here.”  Obliging the Captain, not wishing to disturb the ferment of the brew and realizing the temperature of the ocean, I invited them in for some warmth and refreshment. In 2012, the City of Virginia Beach witnessed its 20^th Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Virginia. Some early accounts have placed the funds raised for this cause at over $1.12 million this year making two consecutive years with over $1 million in donations. With great vision the event has grown over the last few years to a full weekend adding a 5k run as well as a Friday and Saturday tented nightly ocean side celebrations to further this noble cause and support Special Olympics Virginia.

            The City of Virginia Beach needs to realize what an opportunity it has in this event to create a festival week in February. Elected officials from the city who can visualize a purchase of rail road track rights to further the cause of light rail without consent of the constituency, demolishing buildings on the corner of 17^th street and Pacific Avenue, and remaking the 31^st street corridor (all tales for another time), could certainly imagine a week-long winter festival to jump start the ocean front economy at the beginning of February highlighted by a parade, a high school boys and girls regional basketball invitational tournament to be played at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, a restaurant culinary and bartending competition, a fishing tournament and a punctuating black tie event on the final night of the week.  Potential benefits would be realized from increased taxes raised on improved room nights, restaurant and shop revenues. By further partnering with Special Olympics Virginia to attract more corporate sponsors, Virginia Beach can reap additional revenue, help ocean front businesses increase sales during a time of the year when they are so desperately needed, and further assist Special Olympics Virginia by creating a week long Mid-Atlantic event.