Norfolk Mayoral Candidates

On May 2, Norfolk citizens will have an opportunity to elect our mayor for the first time since 1916. This opportunity was a long time coming. Back in 1997, council first decided to study the issue and appointed a commission to do so. In the fall of 2000, an advisory referendum was held, in which Norfolk voters overwhelmingly supported the idea of electing our mayor. A public hearing was held on the matter in 2002, which prompted me to write this letter to the editor. In September 2004, council decided to go ahead with elections and presented two plans, one calling for a reduction in wards from 7 to 6 (the so-called “4-2-1” plan) and the other calling for simply adding the mayor to the existing 7-member council (the “5-2-1” plan). It was this plan that council approved and got the charter changed to accommodate. Approval from the Justice Department was received in 2005.

The candidates for mayor are Paul D. Fraim and Daniel E. Montague.

Paul D. Fraim
Paul Fraim is the current mayor of Norfolk, having served as mayor since 1994. His complete bio can be found here. Last week, the Compass, the Norfolk insert of the Pilot, printed answers to certain questions from the candidates in contested races. Fraim’s canswers to the questions can be found here.

I had the opportunity to hear Fraim speak a few weeks ago and he said that had Norfolk not chosen to have an elected mayor, he would not be running again. Reasons for such a statement were not given, although I have heard that it has been difficult for him to juggle representing the city at large while trying to serve the needs of his ward.

One of the concerns that Fraim has addressed head on is that he will be sensitive to the fact that the (presumed) 5-3 white majority council will have will not result in a rollback of the power-sharing that currently exists:

“The willingness to represent the minority community at all levels must be a priority” for the new mayor

Of course, the big question is how this will play out when boards and commissions are appointed. It has been policy to appoint all boards and commissions with the same racial makeup as council. If this process continues, will we see 5-3 white majorities on them?

As mayor, Fraim has presided over a number of significant ecomomic events in the city, such as MacArthur Mall, East Beach and Broad Creek. He has been on the forefront of such issues as bringing professional sports teams to the area. Fraim obviously has a vision for the city, although it is not easy trying to figure out what that vision is. I hope that Fraim figures out how to share that vision with the citizens of Norfolk, how to get us – as stakeholders – to buy into what he believes is best. The Bay Oaks referendum and the Lafayette Park stadium are two examples of the citizens and the council being on different pages. I believe communication is the key and hope that Fraim considers this in the future.

Daniel E. Montague
Dan Montague is a frequent visitor to council. His answers to the Pilot questions can be found here. A retired shipyard worker, he is running a low-budget campaign, doing no advertising. He previously ran for council in 1996, losing in the Superward 7 race to current Vice Mayor Daun Hester. His candidacy was announced in this article in February. Montague supports Bay Oaks, wants council to hold all meetings in the evening (instead of the current one) and would like council to televise both the informal and formal meetings. Montague is active in the local Democratic party.

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This is your classic David versus Goliath race. Montague himself doesn’t believe he can win. Did Fraim’s $200,000+ war chest scare off potential rivals?