Survey says: only one Norfolk council member gets passing grade

The Norfolk Tea Party 2 provided the results of its recent survey at Saturday morning’s meeting, according to this article by the Virginian Pilot. The group sent out 10,000 surveys (the survey form is here (doc)) and approximately 1,000 of them were returned. Seems the only person the respondents felt was doing a good job was Ward 5 councilman Randy Wright. From the article:

Approximately 35 percent of the responses came from Councilman W. Randy Wright’s ward. Wright, who helped found the Tea Party group, had an approval rating of 75 percent, officials said.

That should help explain the rating.

Two years ago, ForwardNorfolk, a political action committee, held a series of focus groups on the council members up for re-election. They then presented a “report card” which showed that those members had failing grades. The group raised similar issues to those of the NTP2:

Among concerns heard from citizens, said Kathy Reese, also of Forward Norfolk, were complaints about important decisions being made in informal work sessions that are not televised, rising real estate taxes and not enough open space.

Wright responded: “If this report card is accurate, then there will be six different people sitting up here on July 1, and I don’t think that’s going to happen. At some point you have to stop and say there are people against everything you do. All they ever want to do is criticize.’’

Hmmmmm. Sounds like those words could apply here, too.

I’d love to see the raw data on this survey. Wonder how many responses were received in each ward?

I suspect a lot of the responses also came from Ward 1, where Don Williams is the representative. Williams received the lowest positive rating. I have been hearing rumblings from folks over there who want to mount a recall drive against Williams because they believe he has been inattentive to his ward. I find that quite interesting since none of these folks were willing to step up and run against him in 2006 nor were they willing to support the challenger that he did have at that time.

I have to admit that I’m surprised at the rating for the newest council member, Theresa Whibley. First elected to council in 2006, Whibley has been a fresh voice on council. Even though I don’t always agree with her (the smoking ban comes to mind), she has not been just a rubber stamp. From what I’ve been able to gather from her constituents, she has been extremely responsive to inquiries. Don’t be surprised, though, if Dr. Whibley chooses not to run for re-election in 2010.

I’ve already expressed my thoughts on Superward council members Barclay Winn and Daun Hester. Both should have received higher ratings. As for my councilman Paul Riddick, I’ve written plenty.

Are there things that council could do better? You bet. Being more transparent, sharing the vision of the city with the citizens, holding all council meetings at a time when working people can attend, engaging in a dialogue with the citizens – well, you get the picture. We have to keep pushing them to make them do these things. But we have a responsibility, too. We can’t just complain when the real estate taxes get too high. (By the way – has anybody looked at the HRUBS bills lately? They have gone through the roof!) We have to make them accountable all the time, and not just on issues of money.

Dealing with the competing interests of all concerned makes council a tough job. And until and unless others step up, it’s not just enough to criticize.

(Graphic courtesy of The Virginian Pilot)