Little-known board has major clout at Oceanfront

VIRGINIA BEACH

Eleven people, crowded around a conference table, waited on by city staff, asking questions and getting answers that will help paint the face of Oceanfront development here for the next half-century.

No, they're not City Council members. Those guys listen to these guys.

It's the Virginia Beach Development Authority.

And for at least the next few months, this relatively unknown board will be leading the work to redevelop the Dome site into an entertainment compound and to bring a headquarters hotel to the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

Both projects could cost millions in public contributions, and authority members will be the ones to start talks on just how much.

"An average Joe Citizen doesn't know what the Development Authority is," said Don Jellig, the board's chairman. "But what it's evolved to today in Virginia Beach is a key liaison."

Over the next year, authority members will shepherd both projects through the research stage. Along with staff from the city's economic development office and consultants and others, they will help vet developers, analyze financial statements and recommend who has the best idea.

It's not the first time the board has studied big plans.

The authority is the city's corporate arm and was heavily involved in the development of the Oceanfront Hilton on 31st Street and Town Center.

The authority buys land, issues debt and gives out grants to businesses that move to or expand in Virginia Beach. The commission meets once a month on the 10th floor in an office overlooking Town Center. Members work with prospective businesses and can advise when the city makes major hires. Jellig said members get paid $50 for each monthly meeting they attend.

The board has some autonomous power but serves mostly as an arm of the City Council.

Council members are elected. They appoint the authority's members.

Page Lea, the authority's vice chairman, said he doesn't feel obligated to do what council members want. He said board members are smart enough to push for what's best, not what's popular among council members. Still, Lea was involved in one of the last contentious votes for the authority.

Lea was appointed to the authority in 2002, after a failed run for the City Council. His vote broke a tie that had stalled the Oceanfront Hilton project.

"I go in with the idea that they put us on the committee because they respect our judg ment and they want to hear what we think," said Lea, president of Capes Capital Management Inc. in Norfolk. " I'm going to tell them what I think... they don't have to accept our recommendation."

Steve Herbert, the city's chief development officer, emphasized that while final decisions rest with the council, the authority is a resource of business acumen.

"This is a pretty heavy-hitting board," Herbert said. "You look around at the credentials of this group, it's pretty impressive."

At the head of the table sits Jellig, a former executive with Sentara Healthcare. To his left, Lea. To his right, Warren Harris, the city's economic development director but not an authority board member.

Picking names off the rest of the roster is a who's who of people and industries.

There's Doug Ellis, a prominent developer, and Prescott Sherrod, who founded an engineering and management firm in Virginia Beach.

Jerry Miller is president of Earl Industries Inc., a Portsmouth shipyard, and Teresa Carrington is with Bank @LANTEC.

There's John Richardson, a lawyer with Kaufman & Canoles, Norfolk; and Elizabeth Twohy, president of a Norfolk concrete company.

C. Max Bartholomew Jr. is a manager with Dominion Virginia Power, and Dan Brockwell is retired from an architectural and engineering firm.

"We know that the questions and the decisions have a long-term effect on our community," said Paul Michels, who heads a multimedia publishing company with offices in Europe and India. "We take it very seriously. We're energized by it."

Michels added the authority has the "freedom to think, the freedom to take a look at this thing without the influences."

Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson, a liaison to the authority, agreed that "a business perspective and not a political perspective" is beneficial.

"We have to look at big picture," she said. "They can look at small picture."

Without major decisions like the ones coming up to talk about, Jellig wonders what motivation some authority members would have.

"If we weren't doing things... that were fun," he said, "I think our guys would get bored and not volunteer anymore."

Richard Quinn, (757) 222-5119, richard.quinn@pilotonline.com