Perusing the Norfolk Compass Sunday, I ran across a four-page supplement about the budget. What caught my eye was a proposal to have a Budget Advisory Group.
It is proposed that the City appoint an advisory group (membership to be drawn from residents, business employees and management) to review City business practices related to:
- Outreach and communication
- Identify potential cost savings and cost avoidance
- Approaches for increasing service performance levels
- Study Time Period – July to December
My initial thought was wow! Norfolk is going to have input from citizens? Great! Then I saw Monday morning’s paper. In it, reporter Harry Minium expands on the idea, saying that this is something City Manager Regina Williams has wanted for a while.
Williams, however, said she’s talked about creating a budget advisory group since 2000, shortly after she became city manager. Then, her idea was nixed by the council.
No surprises there. What has changed? Could it be that Virginia Beach has instituted something similar and the sky didn’t fall?
There is one thing that I hope Norfolk does differently than the Beach apparently did: appoint folks to the group that are not on the recycled “leaders” list. Y’all know what I’m talking about. There is a list of people in this town who are always appointed to the various boards and commissions. This would be a great opportunity to expand that list and bring in some fresh faces, with fresh ideas. The article says the Beach group was “led by former Beach Councilman Linwood Branch and included Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, and state Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach.” While it is certainly important to have people in the group with experience in budgeting at all levels, I would hope that Norfolk reaches beyond the norm.
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Speaking of the budget, there are two hearings coming up that you may be interested in. The public hearing on the real estate rate will be held May 7 at 6pm at Granby High School, with a 5pm briefing/Q&A on the assessment process with the City Assessor. The public hearing on the budget will be the following night, May 8, at 6pm, also at Granby.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Vivian, VB has a “talent bank application” anyone can fill out. The City Clerk’s office processes them. Submit it and you’re name is on the consideration list. I don’t know if Norfolk has such a process.
Yes, we have an application (I thought it was on the website but I can’t find it). The question is what happens to the applications 😦
sorry to say everyone knows the deal, election year talk, can we trust the city council with this processes, sorry to say no do not get your hopes folks.