Dear Mr. Davis: It's best to go along and get along

An open letter to Glenn Davis, newly elected member of Virginia Beach City Council:

Dear Councilman-to-be Davis,

Congratulations! That was an impressive win last week over incumbent council member Reba McClanan. Last time I checked, you got almost 79,000 votes, or nearly 53 percent of the total. You, sir, have a mandate.

You may also be just what this body needs: A leader.

Your biography tells us you're a Sorensen Fellow from the University of Virginia's political leadership program. Excellent. Yet I worry about whether the high-minded academics in Charlottesville prepared you for the rough-and-tumble life on the Virginia Beach City Council.

Not to throw the proverbial wet beach towel over your victory, but you need to think about how you're going to hold onto that coveted Rose Hall seat. We've had a number of short-timers on City Council. Does the name Don Weeks ring a bell? How about Robert Mandigo? Robert Dean?

Richard Maddox? Jim Reeve?

You don't want to join these guys. The trick to longevity on City Council is to follow a few simple rules.

First, don't be a maverick. It didn't work for John McCain and it won't work for you. This council loathes mavericks. Think for yourself and you'll soon find yourself thinking by yourself.

( McClanan was something of a maverick. I don't have to tell you what happened to her.)

Second, no surprises. The only thing this council likes less than a maverick is someone who's unpredictable. If you read Saturday's cautionary tale in The Pilot, perhaps you, too, were struck by a single chilling detail - a quote - buried deep in the prose.

"She's such a lik able person," council member Rosemary Wilson said of McClanan. "We all like her, and she's a lot of fun. But we never did know how she was going to vote."

We never did know how she was going to vote. Imagine that.

Whatever happens, don't keep your own counsel on council. Find a way to telegraph your intentions to your seatmates in advance of any vote.

That's not as easy as you think, given Virginia's pesky open-meeting laws.

Luckily, politicians around the commonwealth have figured out ways to get around rules that force public servants to conduct the public's business in public.

It's called "daisy chaining" and it's as much fun as it sounds. Politicians chat on the phone - not on conference calls, but in a chain - before a meeting. Sometimes they confer individually with city staffers in secret briefings.

Sure, good-government spoilsports grouse about these behind-the-scenes practices. Ignore them. It's perfectly legal. So what if it makes City Council meetings feel like mere formalities? This way, no one - except the public - can ever be surprised by one of your votes.

Well, that's all I have for you. Congratulations again. Here's hoping you secure a seat in the middle of the council. Those on the periphery often find themselves out of television range.

P.S.: One more thing. Choose your Halloween costumes with care. As we learned on local TV news this week, everyone has a camera phone. And there's the rub. If you don't believe me, ask Councilman Bill DeSteph.

Kerry Dougherty, (757) 446-2306, kerry.dougherty@cox.net