By Alex Marshall
For Port Folio Magazine
Now I’ve just cut my own throat, Mayor Paul Fraim said sheepishly.
The Norfolk leader’s fearful verdict was a good example of the dangers and contradictions associated with endorsing what might be the biggest bugaboo of local political thought: regional government.
Whatever you choose to call it, Hampton Roads, Greater Norfolk, Norfolk-Virginia Beach, what would happen if we actually had an elected regional government? Is that something we could work toward, and if so how?
When I first raised the idea with Fraim, he was firm. Nothing doing, he said. The people weren’t behind it, and “the surest way to kill an idea was to wrap it into a plan for regional government.” No way.
Having said this, he then proceeded to talk about how how the very structure of government in Tidewater hurt us, how if the area was going to compete effectively and operate efficiently, it had to act as one city, deciding where it was going in a coherent fashion.
“We have a truly regional economy, a regional work force, but inside of that region, we have real winners and losers depending on where certain tax producers are located, and where the lines are drawn,” Fraim said.
History has rendered an unfavorable verdict on the state’s policies that keep cities small, divided and humble.
“You have to ask yourself, where are the great cities in Virginia? What public policy has combined to keep cities small and regions fractured? Why wasn’t Norfolk a Baltimore? It should have been. Why wasn’t Richmond one of the great cites of the South?”
If we don’t manage to act as a region to shape important policies, we inevitably are less able to grow coherently, both physically and economically, Fraim said.
“How do you form a strategic agenda for a region that is broken down into 16 different localities? Where are we going, and who is going to take us there. You not only have a number of local governments, but they are completely independent.”
Having thus argued himself into a corner, Fraim found himself saying, “As unpleasant as it seems, consolidation might be the easiest route.” Having just heard himself endorse the very idea he said he could not 15 minutes previously, Fraim then muttered despairingly about “cutting my own throat” and pleaded that his picture not be put on the cover.
Regional government is both the Promised Land and the Vietnam of local politics. Lots and lots of people say the idea make sense. But they also agree it will never happen and avoid the subject like a land-war in Asia.
But if the idea makes sense, why not consider it? The Berlin Wall was toppled. We put a man on the moon. Ended welfare as we know it. Why not start talking about some of elected regional government.
This could take several forms. We could keep the old governments but create a new regional one that took care of some duties, like land-use and transportation. Or we could merge the existing ones, or some of them. The point is to end up a mayor and council that run the region and whom the people elect.
With this in mind, we went around and asked a variety of leaders, mostly elected, to touch this third rail of local politics. Would they support regional government in theory? If so why, and if not, why not?
BIGGER IS BETTER The strongest argument for an elected regional government was that the region needed to act more as one in investment decisions and making strategic choices: where to build roads or rail lines; how to build good universities; setting coherent regional growth policies and economic game plans.
A lot of the region’s leaders supported working toward a kind of government where these decisions could be made and the leaders held accountable.
“That’s why we don’t have a major league franchise, that’s why we don’t have the road connections to the outside world, that’s why we don’t have consensus on light rail,” Norfolk Councilman Randy Wright said. “Until we resolve our minor differerencs, we can’t see the big picture. In theory, I would support” some sort of elected regional government.
Big companies like Ford or IBM have a board of directors that sets overall policy, even as different divisions of the company work on separate projects, noted Chesapeake Councilman Gene Waters. What Hampton Roads might need is an elected board of directors that can set policy on things like road networks, or regional growth policy, Waters said.
“There is no one governing body that makes those decisions,” Waters said. “We have like 102 city councilmen in Hampton Roads, and it’s very difficult to get those to come up with a decision.”
But if it makes sense, it also was a steep slope to climb, even supporters agreed.
“I think it’s the only way, but before that happens, we’ll have to have a lot of funerals,” Norfolk councilman Herbert Collins said. “Everyone likes their own fiefdoms. We would have more clout, more to offer, we could combine some things, and cut down the duplication. But I can’t see a way to get there from here.”
“Personally, I think it’s got to come,” Portsmouth Mayor James Holley said. “It may not be in my time. But we will never experience the growth and development until we are all in lock step and acting in concert.”
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL The argument that opponents of regional government grabbed most quickly was that, no matter how it we structured, any regional governance would put government another step away from the people, and make it both bigger and more remote.
“If I’m invited to speak at a Kiwanis club now, I can do that,” said Newport News Mayor Joe Frank. “If I were mayor of Hampton Roads, I couldn’t, because there are too many Kiwanis clubs. Most people don’t think that bigger government is better government.”
Mayor Meyera Oberndorf got in a good jab when she hinted that regional government might just make it easier for the Powers That Be to run things their way — without consulting with the people. I heard echoes of Henry Howell: There’s more that goes around in the dark beside Santa Claus.
“To the people who want everything to be run in the fashion that they think is appropriate, it would probably be tidier and easier for them to run things with a regional government,” Oberndorf said.
“Local government is close to the people it serves. Once it gets further and further away, there is this feeling of isolation.”
But you couldn’t you also make a good counter argument: That a regional government would in some ways bring government closer to the people. Right now, a lot of important things are handled by a series of unelected regional bodies: The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, Tidewater Regional Transit, PENTRAN, SIPSA — the list and acronyms go on.
Right now, if I’m angry at traffic on I-244, or don’t like my bus service, it’s very difficult to find an elected leader I can vote for or against that will in any way influence those things. Bodies like TRT or The Planning District Commission tend to be governed by councils made of representatives from more than a dozen different municipalities. My one or two representatives from my city have a minute voice in the total scheme of things.
With a regional government, these bodies would presumably report to a mayor and his or her council. A regional mayor could campaign on something like ending the HOV lanes. And if he or she didn’t make it happen, we could vote him or her out.
BIGGER IS MORE EFFICIENT If Small is Beautiful, it might also be more expensive, says another line of argument in support of regional government. It costs money to have a dozen municipal repair shops, for example. Del. Bob Purkey of Virginia Beach argues that moving toward a regional government would fit the Republican philosophy of less government and more efficient government. “Each city has their own inventory of very expensive road maintenance equipment,” Purkey said. “Think of the efficiencies that could happen in sharing it, these huge pieces of equipment that must be housed and maintained.”
Purkey enters what is traditionally thought of as dangerous ground politically when he speaks of eliminating the elected constitutional offices, like sheriff, clerk of court, treasurer and commissioner of revenue, Purkey said. Just forcing the merger of treasurer and commissioner of revenue might save $10 million a year, Purkey said, enough for one more new elementary school annually.
While citizens might not jump at the thought of regional governance, they will jump at you when asked for tax increases, Purkey said. Eventually, this reluctance to raise taxes will force government to start merging services.
“I’m suggesting that we are just scratching the surface on a number of cooperative” ventures that could be done, Purkey said. “You have a lot of regional fiefdoms. It really comes down to turf protection.”
Chesapeake Councilman Waters had similar thoughts. Setting a regional growth plan not only builds a more coherent region physically, Waters said, but it would save money. Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk have had to build schools while Norfolk and Portsmouth close them down.
“You have old ones rotting away, and new ones being built,” Waters said.
Having many different cities all planning development separately doesn’t work well either, Waters said. For example, you have Virginia Beach planning commercial growth around the proposed Southeastern Expressway corridor while Chesapeake, less active in the policy, plans for residential growth.
Fraim and others buy this argument, but say efficiencies in government are really just a nice extra to the more important goal of gaining more coherent direction, identity and policy as a region.
“Where are we going, and who is going to take us there?” Fraim said. “That’s more important than economies of scale. You can save money with one police chief, but there are a lot of bigger issues that regionalism means.”
Mayor Dana Dickens of Suffolk sounded a similar note. Although as one of the smaller cities, Suffolk would be a smaller voice in a larger whole, Dickens had no qualms considering some sort of regional governance. He told the old tale about the father who instructed his sons on the merits of working together by having them try to break a bunch of sticks lashed together into one bundle. Together, the sticks could not be broken; separately, they broke easily.
“The point of the story is what I feel about the region,” Dickens said. “The more together we are, the stronger we are. If that takes us to a regional government, so be it.”
Dickens had the most concrete example of actual regional action: His city and Portsmouth are close to announcing agreement on joint construction of a library. Although it would be placed in Churchland in Portsmouth, it would also be used heavily by residents in adjacent Suffolk neighborhoods, and so Suffolk may help fund it.
CITIES VERSUS SUBURBS Look at everyone’s comments and you see some trends. Those favoring regional government said the area would be more able to meet the big challenges that determine a region’s fate. Other backers said it would be more efficient. Those opposing said it would add another layer of government and remove government from the people.
But the way the supporters and opponents lined up showed another argument going on underneath the surface, one more about money. In general, supporters of regional governments tended to come from the inner cities. Firm opponents were usually suburban.
Why is this?
Well, whatever else it would do, a regional government would almost certainly share the wealth. Right now, the suburbs get a disproportionate share of the region’s money. Their residents get most of the salaries on the jobs located in the inner cities.
In the short run, that looks like a pretty good deal for the suburbs, so why change? Even though Chesapeake and Virginia Beach have more growth problems, they also have more shopping malls, dentists and other taxpayers that help balance the books.
You can see this imbalance when you compare Virginia Beach and Norfolk. If Virginia Beach raises its real-estate tax one cent, it raises an additional $2 million. But if Norfolk raises its real-estate tax one cent, it raises a little less than $700,000. Virginia Beach has a population less than twice that of Norfolk. But it has a tax base three times as large. That explains why tax rates tend to be higher in the inner cities.
In the long run, this imbalance in wealth hurts the whole region, including Virginia Beach, say many experts. David Rusk has proved pretty conclusively in several books that areas as a whole do better when they spread the common problems and costs over a wider area. Regions that have “inelastic” boundaries and remain divided suffer.
But like a rich woman not wanting to admit that she was having second thoughts about her potential groom’s wallet, that topic went generally unmentioned.
With the exception of Councilman Louis Jones from Virginia Beach. Under my prodding, he had no qualms saying he felt no responsibility for the fate of the inner cities.
“It should not be the responsibility of the suburbs to carry the tax burdens of the inner city,” Jones said. “The inner city needs to handle its affairs in a way that they can handle their own tax burdens.”
GETTING THERE Okay, some leaders are willing to at least entertain the idea of regional governance. Is there any way to get there from here?
Here’s a fantasy scenario: Next year, a bill comes before the General Assembly in Richmond. It merges the governments of Hampton Roads into one entity, or creates a new entity that keeps the old governments but delegates some regional responsibilities to a new one. The House and the Senate pass it. The governor signs it. It’s done.
It might be that simple. Legally, we are creations of the state. Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and all the other cities exist only because Richmond says they do. Although the actions of the General Assembly are set by the constitution, it’s actually not required for the local governments to endorse the idea of a regional government. If Richmond wanted to thrust a regional government upon us, it probably could.
In Toronto a few years ago, the provincial government merged Toronto with several surrounding suburban localities. Toronto didn’t want to do it. The suburbs didn’t want to do it. But the province, whose conservative leader had campaigned on greater efficiencies in government, said We Don’t Care What You Think, and did it anyway.
For better and for worse, local governments in the United States tend to be more independent and less linked in a clear hierarchy of decision-making and policy to a state or national government.
Del. Tom Moss of Norfolk, and Speaker of The House, said the idea of a regional government has been discussed since he began in politics around 1960. There was even a commission that studied it. But he said politics make it all but impossible.
“If you had one city council, who would be on it?” Moss said. “Would they be elected at large? Who would be the chief of police? The logistics are overwhelming.”
As for sweeping action by the General Assembly, it might require a change in the constitution first, and even if not, would not happen for political reasons, Moss said. The state would not act against the wishes of the localities.
“To say you are going to have one central government is almost impossible politically,” Moss said.
Sen. Ken Stolle of Virginia Beach said there wasn’t much chance of Richmond ever imposing regional government on Hampton Roads.
“Everyone would have to agree that is where they were going,” Stolle said. The General Assembly would not impose a government on the localities.
By the same token, the state also is not hostile to the idea, Stolle said.
“I have heard the argument that the state does not want to give the localities the ability to act like a region because it threatens their authority. I couldn’t disagree more. If Norfolk and Virginia Beach got together and agreed to cooperate in some way, I would probably support it.”
Fraim of Norfolk said he could see a future where two or three governments “with common interests” might decide to consolidate. If this works well, others might clamor to join up. He thought this scenario more likely than the entire region agreeing on a plan for a regional government.
This was an intriguing idea. Imagine if Virginia Beach and Norfolk decided to merge. Think of the powerhouse of a city that would be created. Chesapeake might soon clamor to join up, and then others as well.
Around the country, most defacto regional governments happen either through annexation or by the conversion of county governments into effective city governments.
States with very liberal annexation laws, like North Carolina or Texas, end up with very large cities that swallow large amounts of land area. Houston is technically the fourth largest city because its liberal annexation laws, even though it is the 10th largest metropolitan area.
Of course, Virginia has neither liberal annexation laws, and its counties are legally separate from its cities. The latter doesn’t affect Hampton Roads much because its counties converted themselves into “cities” some time ago.
In the here and now, the best hope for regional governance is for the individual cities to keep cooperating on specific missions and services, said Jimmy Eason, president of The Hampton Roads Partnership and former mayor of Hampton.
Eason shied away like a skittish horse at the mention of actual regional government.
“The idea of consolidated government would be so negative to the majority of people,” said Eason. “There is such an inherent suspicion of big government. And there is a real fear of losing identity.”
What the partnership, which is actually working to address these issues, proposes is that the separate cities work together more on areas of common interests: this could even end up sharing services, like libraries or police. The cities already cooperate on a great number of things, Eason said. The failure of cooperation on things like light rail or the Southeastern Expressway overshadow some very real achievements.
If the merger of Pentran and TRT comes off, Eason said, this will be a real achievement. If consolidation of cities does come, it would only be after already having got most of the way there in smaller steps, he said. Eason’s scenario holds out the hope that we could perhaps get there from here. Say we consolidate libraries. Then maybe police. Then we cooperate on setting growth plans. Maybe eventually, it might not be so hard to actually form a coherent regional government, or for two cities to merge their governments.
Let’s never say never. Change really is possible. The future is unpredictable and exciting. Whether we call it Greater Norfolk or Hampton Roads, it’s pretty clear that we rise and fall together.