Posts tagged Virginia Beach

Fix Hampton Roads – Part 2

A few days ago, I wrote about a site that I had discovered that allows you to pinpoint issues and the site reports tham to the public departments that are watching for the issues. While I cannot comment on  Chesapeake, I must commend both Newport News and Hampton’s departments for taking the site seriously. I see multiple issues from Public Works or Traffic Engineering, etc. where they have actually investigated and, in most cases, fixed the problems. Norfolk residents have not reported nearly as many issues as those on the Peninsula (mainly because the Daily Press has the map on their site – good job by the way) but those that have been reported have gotten attention. Virginia Beach seems to take the site seriously as well. VDOT, on the other hand, not so much. All of the VDOT problems recieved a standard answer:

If you would like to report a roadway problem on a state maintained interstate or county road, please contact VDOT by visiting our website. Copy and paste the website address www.VirginiaDOT.org in your browser. Click the “Travel Center” link and then “Report a Road Problem.” You can also report roadway issues by calling 1-800-367-ROAD (7623).

If you would like to report a roadway issue on a city road, please contact your local city office.

Thank you.

Lauren Hansen
VDOT Public Affairs
Hampton Roads District

Perhaps, if Ms. Hanson had spent the same amount of time recording the issues instead of blowing them off, VDOT would be viewed as a friendlier organization. Ms. Hanson (and VDOT), this site is an excellent tool for public departments such as yours to connect to the public without forcing them to navigate the complex world of a government-maintained website. SeeClickFix.com is a place where Virginia residents (VDOT’s ‘customers’) are posting their problems. If there are so many issues being reported on SeeClickFix versus VDOT’s own website, that should send the message that one is friendlier and more effective on the user end. I know that with as much as I do and with as much as I contact government organizations to ask for results, I did not even know VDOT had a report form. I assure you that the vast majority of Virginians do not know either. Please stop making things more difficult for yourselves. Just let residents know that you hear their problems and are working to fix them.

Virginia Beach: A Form-Based Oceanfront

The Virginian-Pilot is reporting today that the Beach is planning on implementing form-based zoning code at the Oceanfront in an effort to make in more pedestrian friendly. While I have written on this topic before and I think that it is an excellent idea and direction for Virginia Beach, I would like to head off the comments already brewing on PilotOnline.com from Beach suburbanites. The City of Virginia Beach is frequently referenced as an example in urban planning books. Not as a model, but as a worst-case scenario of failed planning. The residents of VB, however, have grown accustomed to this distinctly suburban, gridlocked community. Lets look at a few of the comments already:

jfr says:

Build something then make it impossible for locals to use it because they can’t drive down there and park. WAKE UP TAXPAYERS!!

This comment in and of itself demonstrates perfectly the failure of the current system. This is an admission that without a car, the Oceanfront is currently inaccessible, which is of course, all the more reason that it should be changed. I love the last part though. “Wake up taxpayers!” Really? The city is not spending tax dollars to build their own buildings or tear up parking lots. The city is simply making it easier for developers to build more urban-oriented, pedestrian-friendly projects. In the long run, even if you can’t get to it without a car, the property values will increase and revenue from sales will increase. Both of these increase the city’s tax-base. This said, I agree: Wake up taxpayers! To finish that statement, I would also add: Virginia Beach is going to make more money without raising taxes! Isn’t that what the residents want to happen? Ok, next comment.

William Bailey says:

At the oceanfront parking is always in short supply. Now it seems we want to create or allow less right from the begining (sic). It is not the city’s responciblity (sic) to dumb down the reguklations (sic) to put more money in the builder’s pocket. Stop the catering to these folks and hold them to the same standards that have made this city a wonderful place to live.

Frankly it seems that the city council comes closer and closer everyday to looking like they have been hired as employees of the developers in the city. The Planning Commission members are already builders so where is the checks & balance on city council?

This one is good too. Once again, typical suburbanite. Lets clarify: ”At the oceanfront [next-to-the-door]  parking is always in short supply.” I bet if these people had their way, every store would be a drive-through. The next part is good too: “Stop the catering to these folks and hold them to the same standards that have made this city a wonderful place to live.” I think Mr. Bailey needs to be reminded that ‘these folks’ are the same ones that built Virginia Beach. Unless, of course, he and his neighbors built their own houses with their bare hands…. Yeah, I didn’t think so either. Furthermore, the ’same standards’ that built Virginia Beach have let it to be the most traffic-filled, congested city in South Hampton Roads. Every time someone complains about the VB traffic, they should be reminded that the traffic is entirely attributable to the segregated zoning codes of the past.  If you lived within walking distance to the stores that you need to visit on a daily basis, there would be no traffic.

These people that complain about these new codes are ignorant of the nature of the way zoning works. The purpose of this code is to bring mixed-use development to the Oceanfront. The people living there would not need to drive around down there. They could walk. Good job Virginia Beach for moving out of the realm of 1950s-style zoning code. I cannot wait to see the rest of these comments as the day progresses.

Cities Without Suburbs – A Book Review

Cities Without Suburbs - By: David Rusk

I recently finished reading a book by David Rusk called “Cities without Suburbs.” I highly recommend this book to everyone. The book argues in support of regional cooperation and/or consolidation of suburbs with their historically central cities. Going beyond your typical benefits of regional cooperation, this book explains, with evidence, that there are many benefits for regional consolidation of services. He thoroughly identifies the problems facing inner cities today including, increasing poverty rates, decreasing tax revenues, and the inherent problems with solving complicated social, transportation, housing, economic, and budgetary problems when cooperating with a number of municipalities. Using census data, he explains why cities that have expanded their boundaries to encompass their own suburbs have historically done much better than cities that are unable to expand their boundaries.These locked-in cities lose revenue, resources, and opportunities in the long run to their independent suburbs. This same reason is also why suburbanites fight consolidation/annexation. They believe that their suburbs are doing well and that they don’t want to take on the inner city’s problems. There are a couple of problems with this philosophy, however. First, history and statistics have shown that suburbs that are independent from their central city do not grow as fast as suburbs that are connected to their city. In fact, the average income for the entire region is lower for regions that are segmented versus those that are not. Second, when connected to their suburbs, central cities have fewer problems and the region as a whole has a lower crime rate and a better quality of life.

While I have always felt that a regional Hampton Roads would be a good thing, this book got me thinking that it should go further than that. It is certainly a step in a positive direction to have regional organizations. Certainly don’t get me wrong. Our current institutions such as HRT, SPSA, HRPDC, HRTPO etc all have their problems but when it comes down to it, they make certain things simpler for our area. Imagine if each city had to run its own bus service. You would have to transfer to another bus every time you crossed a city boundary. What if each city had to compete individually for transportation money from the state and federal government? You think we get shorted our share now? Despite current and planned or possible future regional entities, we still need to go further.

Let’s look at one thing that our region does. It may seem minor but think about it. Tourism. Our region has many great tourist attractions. From the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and Ocean Breeze to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens/Water Country and everything in between such as Nauticus and the Wisconsin, Hampton Roads has a lot to offer. Each city spends millions a year in tourism advertising money to attempt to attract visitors to patronize their respective city. While places like Virginia Beach and Williamsburg spend money to directly advertise their attractions, other places such as Chesapeake advertise to attract visitors to stay in their hotels, hoping to capture tourists’ shopping dollars at Greenbrier, etc. The reason this has to be done is because otherwise, Chesapeake makes no money off of Virginia Beach’s tourists. If our cities were one jurisdiction, however, things would be much different. We could combine our money to advertise for our regional attractions and the whole area would benefit. The area of Chesapeake would benefit just as much from tourists that came to Greenbrier as from those that never shopped west of Lynnhaven.

The same goes for transportation. Think of our major projects. The HRBT is a good example. As it stands, Hampton and Newport News want an expanded HRBT. Norfolk, however, is against it because the outcome on our side of the water would be destroyed properties. If we were one city, though, we would be much more likely to support it. An expanded HRBT would almost certainly be a catalyst for a better business climate on the Peninsula. Norfolk doesn’t really care about that. Hampton voters can’t vote for Norfolk’s City Council. As one city, the Peninsula’s economic climate would be Norfolk’s economic climate meaning that the expanded HRBT would benefit the city. Same goes for the Dominion Blvd. project. Peninsula, Norfolk and VB leaders can see how it is important to Chesapeake and the region overall. Secretly, though, they also know that Chesapeake residents are not their constituency. They can support Chesapeake’s project but at the same time they are obligated to do what is best for their constituency.

We can look at social issues. Public housing for example. First, current housing projects were built in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and Hampton simply because the cities were there. Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk and the counties of Hampton Roads did not have the capacity to support large scale housing projects at the time. Current housing policy no longer supports concentrated ‘projects.’ Studies have shown that everyone does better when the poor are dispersed throughout the middle class housing areas. This dispersion keeps the poor from feeling hopeless about their situation. Their income rates increase as does the pass rate for their school children. College attendance and graduation rates increase. Despite the objections by some middle class areas, the property values do not decrease and crime does not increase. In cities that are serious about this policy, overall crime rates tend to decrease and overall income averages go up. In our area, however, due to our segmented cities and therefore our segmented housing authorities, the residents of the current projects cannot be transferred to other cities using funds from their home city to pay the rent. This condition severely limits the ability of our housing authorities to successfully assist the poor residents of the housing projects. As one city, the authority could move residents freely around the region to make sure that they have the best opportunity to advance their situations.

I think that this can be accomplished with the right amount of public support. This will not be easy, however, and will take careful consideration to make a thorough proposal to the General Assembly (required for consolidation in Virginia). This will require public education and public input to make sure that all issues are addressed. I know that not everyone will support this but that is typical of any major proposal. I also know that if we could consolidate our area so that the central cities encompasses 60-75 % of our regional population that we would be a force to be reckoned with at the state, federal, and economic levels.

HRT’s Missing Money: Board’s Fault, Not Townes’s

There has been much talk recently about the performance of HRT President & CEO Michael Townes. While I do think that he should share responsibility for the Tide-related cost overruns, I do not believe that he should be held responsible for not informing the board about the $80,000 allegedly stolen from the fare boxes over a six-month period in 2009. The missing money was uncovered during an independent audit of HRT. This audit was paid for and authorized by the board. In other words, the auditors worked for the board, not for Mr. Townes. If the auditors failed to inform the board of the missing money during their presentation, it is the fault of the auditor for failing to make a complete report and it is the failure of the board to make sure that the auditor gave a complete report. Mr. Townes does not fit into that equation. After Mr. Townes was made aware and an investigation was complete, the responsible employees were terminated. No charges were filed because the HRT lawyer did not think that there was sufficient evidence. No civil suit was filed because the associated costs outweighed the benefits. This means that HRT, after learning of the issue, fixed the problem and decided not to waste more money than they would have recovered (i.e. responsibility).

I believe that no matter what, you should always give credit where credit is due. The cities of Hampton Roads should change their board representation if they have failed to properly oversee HRT. They want to fire Mr. Townes because he failed to give timely notification of cost overruns. Now, fire the board for failing to take responsibility for their share of the problems. The board is not just there for sh*ts and giggles. They have a purpose. They have a duty to the residents of their respective cities to make sure that money is spent wisely.

HRT Mismanagement – A Day Late, A Dollar Short

I didn’t actually think that I would be writing an article such as this. While I assumed that HRT was just as mismanaged as every other government-run organization in the region, state, or country, I also assumed that HRT would at least step up their game for this project. The HRT President and CEO, Michael Townes is a nice guy with good ideas. Unfortunately, whether his direct fault or not, he is the President and CEO, therefore making him ultimately responsible for the inner workings of HRT. This problem is deeper than Mr. Townes. If we ever want to have a strong, regional transit company, we need to get to the root of the problem. In my opinion, the root of this particular issue stems from poor project management. That is not Mr. Townes’s direct responsibility. The Tide has a project manager and a third-party consultant whose stated job is project management. All of this management should be held immediately accountable. First off, the consulting company is over budget. How in the world can we allow a company tasked with keeping costs under control  to go over budget? I consider that a failure. According to a story by WVEC, “Factors cited by HRT include unexpected conditions in the field, requests for design changes, underground utility relocation, consultant issues, and management problems.” I will go with the first three. Sh*t happens. but the final two are unacceptable. If HRT themselves can point out that consultant issues and management problems are the cause for part of our problems, why are these people still employed. It is my personal belief that when a person is hired for a job, they are to do that job. If they fail to do that job, they should be terminated. This applies to head executives as well as 7-Eleven employees. You are paid to do a job. Your employment agreement is a contract between you and your employer. A breach of contract should result in termination unless some rare circumstance exists. Fire the consultants and sue for the money back. As far as I am concerned, if your job is to keep an eye on the money and you instead rob us blind, you should be held accountable. Additionally, there are others that should be docked pay at a minimum. Take the Senior Vice President for Development, Jayne Whitney. Her HRT bio states that she is “currently responsible for the planning, engineering, design and construction and funding of major capital projects in the organization, including New Starts projects such as the Norfolk Light Rail project.” (By the way, Ms. Whitney, if you ever read this, could you please remind your webmaster that stating that you “began [your] professional career with VDOT and performed highway planning and public transportation planning,” just screams inept to this part of the state?)  Or look at Jim Price, Vice President of Rail Operations. What does he do right now? There are no “rail operations.” This means that either he sits on his hind parts all day (and we should lay him off) or he is actively involved in the management of this project (and should be held accountable).

Hampton Roads needs this to succeed. We cannot continue to allow waste and incompetence to drive our regional organizations. Bone fide mistakes do happen. I understand that.Especially when you work Downtown, you never know what is lurking underground. When you work in an office, however, and are tasked to not drop the ball, you should either do it or get out. SPSA, HRT, VDOT, each individual city council, the CTB, the General Assembly, etc. all seem to just maintain the status quo. In Hampton Roads this appears to be, “screw the taxpayers.” Light rail can and will work here. So will HRT. As citizens, however, we need to strongly voice our opinion that we want competent staff members before we want expensive ones with lofty resumes.