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EDITORIAL: Beach Overreaching on Lobbyists

Posted on: Friday, 13 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Jan. 13--Hampton Roads needs better representation in Washington. From Homeland Security money, to highway funds, to fighting for our military facilities, the region and the state's lawmakers don't bring home the area's fair share of attention or tax dollars.

Even at a time of Washington's biggest lobbying scandal, that means hiring somebody to watch the region's back at the Capitol. Sadly, with Congress as fractured and fractious as it is, lobbyists are a necessary part of getting anything done.

Hampton Roads cities all have a stake in D.C.'s decisions, so you'd think that a unified regional approach -- representing the million-plus people here -- would move us up a weight class in Washington's boxing ring. It would, that is, if the region's heavyweight could be counted on.

But Virginia Beach, as it does so many times when the region's welfare is at stake, appears ready to go it alone, even as it prepares to join a regional effort.

According to a story by The Pilot's Jon Glass, Virginia Beach is considering spending $360,000 a year on a Washington lobbyist to protect Oceana Naval Air Station and other military facilities. The Beach would also contribute to a regional effort, at a price of $170,000 a year, to do pretty much the same exact thing.

Virginia Beach has the money to hire vast herds of lobbyists if it wants, so the cost isn't necessarily the issue here. The coherence of the message, however, is.

After it got outmanuevered by Florida's lobbyists, and then got spanked by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission, Virginia Beach is understandably interested in avoiding another slapdown at the hands of politicians. Still, though Oceana is wholly within Virginia Beach, BRAC's threat had an impact that goes far beyond the city's borders, and its coffers.

The leaders of other cities understand that. "As we sat back and looked at Florida, it became apparent that we had no one person in the region speaking on behalf of Hampton Roads for the military and federal dollars," said Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim.

But where Fraim and other leaders see the need for a regional approach to protect regional interests, Virginia Beach sees the need to protect itself first, despite the fact that a regional approach would protect both Virginia Beach and everyone else in the bargain.

That municipal myopia is a shame. It's hard to argue that two lobbyists are better than one, especially if they're not necessarily singing off the same page. And, regardless of how it is designed, the two lobbying efforts will be perceived to have disharmonious missions, one representing Virginia Beach, and the other representing the rest of Hampton Roads.

Given what happened in the last BRAC round, that's something Hampton Roads just can't afford. This region needs to speak with one voice on regional issues. Because while what's good for the region is demonstrably good for Virginia Beach, the reverse isn't necessarily true.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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