City manager urges Virginia Beach not to slow development

Are you kidding me? Virginia Beach is so over-developed. Look at the South Independence Blvd area!. It is like development upon development and the traffic is UGLY!

I'd love to see Mayor Oberndorf and five of her fellow council members grasp hold of the manager and send him packing into retirement. Firing Spore would be a great local VB “November Surprise” that would show the leadership that exists on the current city council. And John Moss and the VBTA wouldn't know what to do either...

Personally I believe we are witnesses to Jim Spore's latest method of embarrassing the city council and the Mayor in order to anger the voters. I see him trying to help his supported candidates and his business friends in the community. I don't believe for a second that Spore would be sad to see the incumbent council members defeated in November...especially Mayor Oberndorf.

Vote Oberndorf in November!

The current composition of City Council has been the worst since the inception of Virginia Beach. Mr. Spore should be fired or resign. The citizens of Virginia Beach should not reelect any incumbents. The current Council's interest is self interest just like yours.

His is the connected

http://www.runnymedecorp.com/profile.html

The city of Virginia Beach spending this kind of money is akin to teaching the children that it is okay to spend money that you do not have; which we all know is never okay. The upcoming election is very important; John Moss is the only proven fiscal conservative running for mayor. Folks you all know, politics begin at home. Read about all the candidates come to a forum, there is a Mayoral Candidate Debate tonight Friday, Oct. 17, at Virginia Wesleyan College from 7 to 9 p.m., in the Hofheimer Theatre on campus. Check out the affiliations and previous voting records of the candidates and make an informed decision. When you vote, vote for who you know is going to help you keep your money, not spend it. John Moss for Mayor of Virginia Beach.

Hey Mike Barrett, you are the only thumbs-up contributor to the beach big spending of money, which it does not have. EVERY other comment says NO MORE SPENDING OUR MONEY. Do you get the point? The people have spoken. When are you going to stop hiding behind your computer and come out to debate personally at the VBTA? You have been invited at least three times, but nary a showing, could it be because when speaking with those who know the facts and truth your convenience talk does not work.

Who is this clown?

The Auditor of Public Accounts has issued a report about SPSA which highlights the need for continued reform in planning, policy and strategy, and Governance. While many reforms have been recently implemented, the effects of the past policies and practices are not easily reversed. The City Council of Virginia Beach has always urged its representatives to stress fiscal accountability, operational efficiency, and quality service to the members. However, the City has had only one vote on a board comprised of eight members, and for many years the Board pursued borrowing practices which are now recognized as having created fiscal stress. Recently those past practices have been supplanted by more enlightened practices, but the effects remain. I have urged the SPSA Board to study the recommendations and to continue to implement reforms that will restore the agency to the status of an effective and efficient service provider. Should the participating members, or some combination of members desire to continue to participate in a regional authority for solid waste disposal post 2018, then SPSA’s current assets, which are very valuable, will be the foundation for continued service, and t

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/state-audit-blasts-spsa-mismanagement-lax-oversight

Once again Reba and Mrs. Henley show their wisdom and intelligence in weighing in on matters of importance! Man, I wish I had the time to make all of the posts on here like some do (I wonder who I am referring to...hehe). Keep fighting the good fight ladies, we appreciate it AND you!!

Should you have a few hours or a sleepless night, here's a link to view the city council sessions.

http://www.vbgov.com/video.aspx

You'll see how they interact with each other.

Reviewing these discounts a lot of the half-truths and misleading statements we read.

Well of course, that is not what is done at all. But targeted investment in infrastructure that causes high value commercial development is simply smart and valuable to the taxpayers of Virginia Beach. And frankly, given the nature of your present and past posts, you never understand nor believe the empirical data anyway, so why bother? But those who rationally study the fiscal impacts of these projects like 31st Street, Town Center, the V.B. Amphitheater, the Sandler Center, and the Hampton Roads Soccer Complex know and appreciate that the city has not only protected the taxpayer, but has received a significant return on the investment in public infrastructure. The City Manager has gotten it exactly right, and it is during challenging times that seeing forward to the investments that will continue to bear fruit in good times and challenging times is most important.

not one point about PPV can be proven by empirical data....ya just gotta "believe" it to be true.....like socialist dogma. If there's a real need in the marketplace, capitalism will fill it. I'll admit that giving taxpayer money to developers so they can return it in campaign contributions is a great scam......

Is there anyway to get this tool Spore out of his job which he does so poorly? VB should have knocked off "expanding" years ago, as not one of these new "developments" has provided or made the developers pay for infrastructure. No wonder the roads around here are so clogged.

We need to elect John Moss as Mayor to create sanity in this City more than ever!
What ever happened to the notion of letting the open market take over funding after allowing massive taxpayer dollars to jump start projects. Projects that have very little do with reducing the overhead of the tax burdened resident and small business owner. More importantly, these are venues that have very little to do with the revitalization and well being of the City primary tax payer and major economic engine. The 987 aging neighborhoods! These are the folks who put up $0.87 cents of every real estate tax dollar collected. Not only does the residential community and its 138,000 homeowners shell out $0.87 out of ever tax dollar, but they also provide the real estate assets that support $0.87 cent of every single dollar of City debt. Homeowners have watched their homes soar from $16.8 billion to $48.5 billion since 2000. Now the administrator wants to continue to siphoned off massive tax dollars to continue the special interest subsidy without registering any concern about the plight of the tax burdened homeowner and the 29,000 or so businesses that have to fend for themselves. Since 2000, Mr S

And after every square inch is developed??? Then what? Decline, stagnation? What? When Virginia Beach resembles Delhi. what? Mass Transit, right.

Well actually, no. To the degree that the city stimulates quality commercial growth and development, that contributes to the tax base and helps to cushion the effect of less support from the federal and state government. Local investment in roads, schools, utility systems, and commercial sites ensures that we are competitive for economic development propsects. City Council long ago understood that we could no longer depend upon the federal nor state government, and we must take prosperity into our own hands. Frankly, that strategy has worked, as the extra revenue from PPV's and the commercial growth they have helped create have increased our tax base and allowed up to have the lowest real estate tax rate in the region. Follow the advice of the boo birds and real estate tax rates will soar.

VB faces huge cuts in state money, the area already has too many houses to support an area that has LOST population, elementary school enrollment is down(no elementary class had more than 27 pupils per class in 2007), there is a possibility of a carrier being relocated to Florida, and Spore advises more density? More multi-milliondollar expenditures? Dig the hole we're in deeper when difficult times are coming? Unbelievable!

Spore will force us into a situation where VB will be unable to meet its obligations. The compression pay problems council/Spore allowed will only get worse. Every multimillion dollar pedestrian bridge, light rail, & subsidized building drains liquidity when we need it. Vote Moss!

Well actually, that is exactly what we do. Our new office building, Towne Pavilion Center II, will initially provide an estimated $120,000 more per year in annual real estate taxes than the previous use. So a new commercial project that requires no new services will increase the commercial tax base and reduce the pressure on residential real estate taxes. Spore has simply advised what just about every city in the nation knows; if the tax base continues to increase, the city and its citizens will prosper. If the tax base is stagnant, and growth and development cease, a spiral of decline is the inevitable result, and residential real estate taxes go through the roof. If these boo birds would simply deal with the reality of the matter, and not the ideology, they would be the strongest supporters of the advice rendered to Council by the City Manager.

Straight from a true spore sanctioning developer. Just imaging how developers like Barrett will pave over the rest of the city if the team of spore and sessoms are running the show. Taxpayer be darned, we have to have more public money funding developer projects.

Perfect developer rhetoric. The heck with the taxpayer we need to build. Well Mike, why not use your own money to build? Why do you need taxpayer funds?

Fiscal responsibility. Taxpayer voice in city hall, not a developer controlled council. Vote MOSS.

When the special interests are represented and the politicians run the federal, state, and city economies into the ground and then have the nerve to steal more money, people start paying attention.

They pay attention because that's about all we can afford!

Not surprised you put your $.02 in. You don’t meet the definition of “special interest”, do ya mike?

Wow, the boo birds were certainly paying attention this morning whne the Pilot arrived. Jim Spore comments on the existing policy of reducing dependence on declining state and federal sources of revenue and these folks make their predictable anti growth and development comments. Spore is absolutely correct that we should continue to exercise prudent fiscal policies and create the conditions for quality growth and development. The Beach has a positive track record to build upon, yet these critics who clearly have no understanding of financial principles, continue with their policies of gloom and doom, policies which if implemented, would cause serious economic consequences. One of Moss's advisors advised firing every city blue collar worker to be replaced with contractors. That would increase the unemployment rate, devestate the housing market, and lower the quality of services. Spore has it right, and I hope council has the wisdom to listen to him.

It's not about letting them move forward. With out our money the projects are dead.

Lowwage - It's unlikely that you will see telcom biotech and hi-tech companies in the region because they tend to like to be around each other. So Raleigh and Northern Virginia will most likely reign supreme. If anything, Hampton Roads has a much weaker than normal business datacom infrastructure, and there are rumors that it's weakly connected to outside regions. It's amazing that someone would be for spending when the country faces a great depression II, but this seems to be the case with many of the so-called leaders. As long as city money isn't involved let the developers move forward. Much of the new development is going to end up sold at fire sale prices and developers out of business anyways.

Apparently the city has another big bag of money laying around that they haven't told us about. Perhaps Mr. Spore will reduce his largely over inflated salary and bonus features to set an example of fiscal restraint to allow for this outrageous spending plan.

Are the City Mgr and Council members blind to the fact that we don't need another hotel, another set of high end of shoppes (which no one but a handful of stuffy people can afford), or another 1000 apartments/condos. There are houses up for sale all over. For example, there were supposed to be scores of homes built at Sajo Farms and now the developer has only built about 25% of the planned amount. Acres of trees were cleared needlessly and now the land lies barren. GOOD JOB CITY MGR & COUNCIL. I'd vote you all off the island!

With everything that is going on with the economy, the city of Va Beach supporting these projects with tax payer money is complete lunacy. I agree, if the developers want to continue without tax payer money, let them. Otherwise, let's focus the effort for expansion with higher paying year round jobs. Most of the jobs these projects will create seasonal minimum wage jobs...it's time for a change in Va Beach government!!

You are using that term loosely!

residents are tired of getting stuck paying for the development , if a city council is going to continue with development make the developers pay ,they want to do business make them pay for it , make them pay for road improvements , schools , fire and rescue , stop sticking the taxpayers with the burden of improvements ,

Spore could care less about what is good for VB or the status of the economy. All he is concerned with is to ensure the developers he is in bed with are building, paving, and cementing over what is left of open space in VB. Who works for who? It appears the VB council does whatever Spore dictates. They need to go. Spore needs to go.

We need a mayor who will ensure fiscal responsibility in government and ensure the average taxpayer is not constantly overburdened with funding of developer projects. John Moss will bring responsibility and credibility back to city hall. Vote developers and developer control out of city government. Vote Moss.