Oberndorf misfires on Amerigroup

VIRGINIA

Beach’s mayor, for decades the city’s biggest cheerleader, this week went after one of its biggest employers in a hypocritical attack motivated entirely by shortsighted political gain.

Meyera Oberndorf called on her chief political challenger to give back his $10,000 campaign contribution from Beach-based Amerigroup Corp. because the health-care giant, she said, had pleaded guilty to fraud and blatant discrimination against poor pregnant women. She called it a “shameful admission.”

We don’t know exactly what Amerigroup did, but it hasn’t pleaded guilty or admitted any wrongdoing. We do know that in 2006, a federal jury hearing a civil lawsuit in Chicago found that the company had committed fraud against the government in Illinois by avoiding enrolling pregnant women.

Amerigroup appealed the verdict, saying it had served more poor pregnant women in Illinois than any other company. But last month it agreed to drop the appeal and settle the lawsuit for $225 million — $109 million less than the damages and penalties had totaled.

By linking her main competitor, former Vice Mayor Will Sessoms, with an industry everyone loves to hate, Oberndorf attempted to turn Sessoms’ strength — his campaign chest — into a liability. And it gave her a chance to show her sympathy for poor pregnant women, suggesting the $10,000 contribution to Sessoms could be given to those who could not afford health care.

It goes without saying that none of this bears on Sessoms’ fitness to serve as mayor or on any issue that’s remotely associated with running the affairs of Virginia Beach. By making the contribution a campaign issue, Oberndorf revealed more about her own judgment than that of Sessoms. She showed she’s willing to jeopardize relations with a major employer to score some points in her November re-election bid.

Oberndorf waited nearly two years to speak out against Amerigroup. In that time, she praised the company as the kind of business Virginia Beach needs. In her 2008 State of the City address, she called Amerigroup “a true success story.” Five years ago, the city, with Oberndorf’s blessing, gave Amerigroup $2 million to help build the company’s $56 million expansion. Amerigroup, which employs 1,800 people in Virginia Beach, has created more jobs than any private employer in Hampton Roads.

Although Oberndorf called on her opponent to give back his contribution, she didn’t suggest that fellow Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner give back the $2,000 Amerigroup contributed to his campaign.

As a politician, Oberndorf may have succeeded in gigging her opponent. As Virginia Beach’s leader, she did her community no favors by attacking the character of a major employer she extolled until that no longer served her purpose.