Sen. Lucas hurts self while hurting Portsmouth

If there's anything nice at all that can be said about state Sen. Louise Lucas' $97.7 million lawsuit against the city of Portsmouth - and, more to the point, the city's taxpayers - it's this: At least she stopped short of asking for a full $100 million.

Ordinarily, bullies don't pull their punches that way.

Bullying is exactly what Lucas, who heads two companies seeking to build a hotel and conference center at Victory Village, is up to in her recent court action. The suit mentions a long list of people who have crossed her by not supporting her repeated bids for government help in funding the $67 million project.

There's a significant amount of gall in this. The state senator is still seeking support from the very people she is now threatening in court.

The suit targets, among others, three City Council members who cast decisive votes in July against her request for access to up to $38 million in tax-exempt and taxable state and federal bonds for the development.

In the suit, the companies headed by Lucas allege that the council members and others unlawfully conspired to block financing for her project, because it would compete against the city-subsidized Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center.

The Renaissance project certainly was a factor in the vote, with council members asking reasonable questions about whether it would be wise to use taxpayer money - even in the form of tax-free bonds - for a new hotel and conference center when Renaissance has yet to break even.

Lucas' companies also contend in their suit that the council's rejection was racially motivated; the shareholders in the conference center project are primarily local African Americans.

The charge of racial discrimination is specious, irresponsible and incendiary. The problem with this project isn't the color of the investors' skin, or their belief that the project is needed to serve the black community and would advance economic development among African Americans. The fundamental flaw, from the very beginning, has been the propriety of a state lawmaker seeking government assistance, in any form, for her own development.

In an earlier incarnation of her plan, Lucas and fellow investors sought $13.5 million in cash and tax breaks from the city. The bond request is less offensive but still inappropriate.

As chairwoman of the Senate's Local Government Committee and a member of its Finance, Courts of Justice and health and education committees, Lucas holds considerable sway over municipal issues. Under these circumstances, it is simply impossible for the council to cast an impartial vote on a project of this magnitude involving Lucas or any other public official.

By filing suit against the city, Lucas may have further undermined any potential for impartiality. As The Virginian-Pilot's Meghan Hoyer recently reported, attorneys for the city are now looking into whether all council members would be barred from voting under the state's Conflict of Interests Act when Lucas' latest request for bonds is expected to come up for a vote in January. And the city has had to hire private attorneys because City Attorney Tim Oksman is named as a defendant.

Regardless of what the attorneys determine, the entire council should abstain from voting. They can cite more than 97 million reasons for doing so.

If Lucas wants to resign her seat in the Senate and apply for government financing, that's fine - though it's still no guarantee she'd win approval. If she wants to remove herself from the project and let the investors apply, that's fine, too. And, of course, there's always the option of Lucas and her partners pursuing this project without any government help.

But Lucas doesn't appear to be interested in ending this sad, embarrassing and destructive spectacle.

By filing suit against the very people she represents, Lucas has rendered herself useless in the state Senate, at least when it comes to representing Portsmouth. If she and her companies press forward with the legal action, they'll inflict tremendous financial damage on a city that is already struggling to educate its children, pay its law enforcement officers a competitive wage and provide other basic services.

Portsmouth deserves a state senator who will look out for the city's best interests.