The front page, below the fold story in Saturday’s Virginian-Pilot is a classic example of the inside baseball that Norfolk politics has become. Here we have two ticketmates – the Democratic candidates for Commissioner of the Revenue and Treasurer – engaging in what amounts to a he said/she said argument. At the end of the day, once again, it is the voters that lose.
Go read the story and then follow me below the fold.
Back in 2005, when I ran for treasurer, one of the things that I wanted to do was to offer payment plans for taxes. The signs of the impending economic recession were all there. It just made sense to me to make it easier for the citizens to pay their taxes and for the city to collect as much money as possible. (That was also one of the reasons why I wanted to offer credit card payments – and not just in the office between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm.) It wasn’t an original idea – in fact, it was already in place in other localities. But the two people arguing about this now – along with their cronies – publicly ridiculed the idea.
“I’m a firm believer that the easier you make it for people to pay their taxes, the better off we’re going to be as a city,” she [Sharon McDonald] said. “I’d love to be able to see everyone have the option of having a payment plan.
“That’s obviously not my decision. That’s the treasurer’s decision.”
My, what a difference a few years makes. But the real kicker is that the payment plans had been going on for some time – just not for the average taxpayer. The plans are only available to the few. The rest of the folks – pay on time or pay late with a penalty.
Despite his willingness to throw McDonald under the bus, treasurer Tom Moss is not without fault here. He took office in January 2002 but according to the article, didn’t discover the payment arrangements until this past July. And even now, his office can only locate four of the supposed 20 businesses in Norfolk that have been granted special dispensation. If that’s not incompetence, then I guess I don’t know what incompetence is.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Norfolk is among the last places in Virginia where the Byrd machine is alive and well. It’s not about the citizens – it’s about the political power of a few. One has to look no further than the nomination process to see how it really works. And the Republicans are no help: they are so afraid of losing that they don’t even bother to field candidates.
So the citizens of Norfolk lose out. If we get competent leadership, it’s more of a fluke than anything else. Because along with political power comes arrogance. That old saying of “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely” is a pretty good description of the way things are done here. The only thing that changes is who has the power.
There is a glimmer of hope, though. Heck, a few years ago, this story would have never been printed. It would have remained one of those markers that got cashed in down the road for something else. The fourth estate is coming into its own here, and not just on the editorial side. What is unfortunate is that the shrinking newspaper readership is occurring at the same time. Fewer and fewer rely on the newspaper for their information, and the interest in local politics suffers as the result. Sorry, but CNN or FOX don’t care about whether Norfolk is allowing a few companies to benefit from cozy relationships with the elected folks. Thirty-second TV ads tell the time-starved citizen all that they need to know about candidates – or so they think.
We Norfolk voters need to exercise our power – by voting against those who don’t serve our interests. Take a good look at the independent candidate for Commissioner of the Revenue, Doug Knack. If you think he will serve us better, then cast your vote for him. As for treasurer – since there is no other name on the ballot, consider writing someone else’s in.
Your vote, your voice. Use it.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
That is a thoughtful, well-reasoned post. Touches on a lot of things I’ve noticed in Norfolk politics over the years (especially how people suddenly decide they aren’t running for office).
And Pilot did some grand reporting. Maybe more people will take advantage of their opportunities this November and next May and take a bit of their city back.
Thanks.
Wow, Tom Moss really threw Sharon under the bus. He was right, just because something has always been done that way doesn’t make it right, even if they do contribute to your campaign!
Vivian Paige obviously has no clue on how the Commissioner of Revenue and Treasurer’s Offices are operated. Since partial payments are allowed, there would be no way to know if the Commissioner had in fact put a particular business on a payment plan. Payment plans are a great idea, particularly in view of the present state of the economy. The plans are NOT the issue–the issue is that the Commissioner of Revenue should be directing businesses requesting payment plans to the Treasurer, who has the authority to collect taxes. The Commissioner’s responsibility is to assess, the Treasurer’s is to collect. It is becoming easier to understand why former Treasurer Joseph T. Fitzpatrick could not work with Ms. McDonald. No wonder he forbade her from coming into his office!
Um, perhaps you need to go back and re-read the part where I explained that I called for payment plans back in 2005.
And you’re telling me that after spending $2.7 million of taxpayer money on a computer system, there is no Accounts Receivable records? If that’s the case, then things are worse than I thought.
Even the smallest of businesses typically use some type of accounting program such as quickbooks/ quicken etc. which have accounts receivables and accounts payable line items to track “money coming in, money going out”. Ms McDonald worked in banking before she “retired” from that profession. Shouldn’t she have said something if this 2.7 mil system didn’t have this component? You’re right! Things are worse than we thought. Time for a change!
Moonbeam obviously has no clue on how the Commissioner of Revenue and Treasurer’s Offices operate either. The Treasurer and his staff were, in fact, aware of this practice for the last 20+ years. You know it and I know it. And what makes you think the former Treasurer would have supported Moss’ cheap shots and ridiculous antics? If you really HAD a clue, you’d know that Moss’ leadership abilities and recent hiring decisions would have infuriated him. Don’t even try and compare the two.
It is up to the Treasurer to decide who gets on a payment plan or has penalties waived etc…. JTF set up payment plans when he was in office and it was based on circumstance as oppose to political. Although he didn’t care much for McDonald, mostly because she was trying to re-invent the wheel and I think he just missed Sam. Regardless McDonald knew it and continued some of his practices when I guess Moss would not.
P. S. Not often do I get to talk about my Grandfather, so thanks.
Moonbeam, your remarks at the end really made me chuckle, thank you.
Awareness, his temper softened with age so he would be more like “annoyed”
The citizens of Norfolk are the biggest losers here. Ms. McDonald thinks she is above the law, “implied” or otherwise; and Moss, well, is just plain incompetent,an old man just drawing another government paycheck. Both must to go. Unless NO ONE votes for Moss (or writes in someone’s name) he will keep his government check and the office will continue on as it always has. Norfolk voters, however, have an opportunity to make a change in the Commissioner of the Revenue office. Ms. MacDonald has revealed, for all to see, her true colors…favoritism, vindictiveness, and a monumental lack of judgement. The “exemplary customer service”, she touts in her campaign literature, seems to apply only to her political supporters and friends.
City Council leaders, by their endorsement, have given their stamp of approval to this behavior. On Tuesday, I will cast my vote to end to this behavior. Perhaps, if more of us exercise our power and vote Ms.McDonald out, it will empower other civic minded, intelligent citizens to come forward to serve our community. And, perhaps, it will send the message to Norfolk’s “finest” that “business as usual” will not be tolerated by us any longer.
More reason why in these tough financial times for the City of Norfolk that we do NOT need a Treasurer AND Commissioner of Revenue. Combine the offices then the “confusion” can be avoided.
pointer has it right. We need to combine these offices and, better yet, stop electing people to handle tax collection. That should be done without regard to politics and its corrupting consequences. You want to help balance the budget? Change the constitution and HIRE the best people for tax collectors, clerks of court, and sheriffs. Look at clerks of court salaries and then find out how many of them also have court administrators that we pay for because the elected clerk is not capable of doing the job.
A friend of mine (now deceased) ran for treasurer back in the 1980s with the sole purpose of eliminating the office. The state code allows cities to do away with both offices and replace them with a Department of Finance. The political will to do so in Norfolk has yet to be realized.