04/26/13: Leaders in reverse

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

IN THREE MINUTES, Alton Robinson summed up much of what passes for representative government in Norfolk.

“What’s the purpose of having a public hearing,” he asked, “when you already know what the people want, because they’ve been asking for it for years?”

We were more than three-quarters of the way through the two-hour budget hearing Wednesday evening when he offered his remarks. Speaker after speaker — Robinson was 38th of 43 — took to the microphone to implore those sitting mute on the stage above to fund their requests.

Many of the speakers asked for full funding for the schools — the proposed budget underfunds the School Board’s request by more than $4 million.

Some took umbrage at the city manager’s proposal that the school system save money by outsourcing janitorial services. Others asked for more library funding, the protection of funding for the Endependence Center and money for neighborhoods.

One man asked for a mere $30,700 to pay for fitness equipment at one recreation center, while another requested $1.5 million for expansion of a boxing center at another recreation center.

A popular request was that funds in the proposed budget for other projects be redirected to pay for the items the speaker supported. Often mentioned was the $1 million included for Scope renovations, the $580,000 for a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery and the $4 million for the government center plaza.

A number of the speakers pointed to the hotel-conference center as the latest in a long line of investments the city has made that the people did not support.

In his comments, Robinson took a different tack.

“I’m not going to ask that you fund the public school system; I’m going to ask that you don’t do it. I’m not going to ask that you give raises to the city workers ; I’m going to ask that you don’t do that. I’m not going to ask that you give money for infrastructure in the neighborhoods; I’m going to ask that you don’t do that. Because those are the things that the people came and asked you to do, and that’s what you didn’t do. The things that they asked you not to do, those are the things that you did do.”

The 11 people on the stage — the seven City Council members, the mayor, plus the city manager, city attorney and council clerk — remained expressionless, while those in attendance erupted in applause. Robinson listed a few of the projects that the citizens had opposed, punctuating each with “you did it.”

“So I’m not going to ask you to do anything that anybody came here and asked you to do tonight,” Robinson said. “And being that I didn’t ask you to do it, I look for it to be done.”

Just before the hearing started, I overheard a part of a conversation. Looking around the half-empty auditorium, a man said he was surprised it wasn’t overflowing. My first thought was that he must be new here. Longtime observers of our council have learned that it’s pretty difficult to get them to act as we want them to.

No doubt that man heard that loud and clear when Robinson began to speak.

We’ll find out soon enough if reverse psychology works.