NORFOLK
Longtime City Council critic Dan Montague beat Mayor Paul Fraim to the punch on Monday, announcing he will challenge Fraim in the May election.
Fraim had planned to announce today that he will run for re-election.
Montague, 70, a Portsmouth native and retired shipyard worker, challenged Fraim four years ago, gathering 22 percent of the vote.
If elected, he said he will shake up the establishment.
"When I'm elected mayor, all of the meetings will be at night and will be on live television," Montague said.
He said he was unable to campaign full time four years ago because his wife, Rita, was battling cancer. She died two months after the election.
"My heart was not really in it because she was so sick," he said. "But my heart and soul are in it now."
Although Montague said he personally admires Fraim, he said the council "just keeps doing dumb stuff over and over."
"How many times does the Hague have to flood before they fix it? They don't do much of anything right," he said.
Montague said he will wage a grass roots campaign and won't accept any campaign contributions.
Fraim, mayor since 1994 and on the council since 1986, will announce he is running for re-election today at 11 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. Dave Iwans of DIA, the Norfolk public relations firm that will help Fraim with his campaign, called the announcement a "campaign rally" that he expects will draw more than 500 supporters.
For more details, return to PilotOnline.com later and read tomorrow's Virginian-Pilot.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Dan Montague, you need a
Dan Montague, you need a website. Can't find your page on the first page of google results. You need to be on twitter and facebook. Maybe some LinkedIn, forget about Plaxo.
I do usually have some
I do usually have some solutions, when I bring an issue up to the Mayor and Council, and he does listen to me.
I don't complain much, but
I don't complain much, but Mayor Fraim knows when I do complain.
I am on a couple of boards and do get things done. It's a very difficult job. The person who said that it's the council is correct, partly. But some of them really do get the job done.
Watch What You Wish For
It's easy to whine about the city when you have no solutions. Mayor Fraim probably does a better job than any of the board dorks who complain about everthing. I would rather have him in office than any of the incompetents on here.
I bet you sat
right next to the teacher all through school, didn't you?
He is the problem
I cannot even imagine voting for Paul Fraim in the coming election. His image is one of Elmer Fudd and he has done more damage with his visions than most would imagine. He wants to strip the power if our citizens to question their inept decisions by increasing petitions for referendum to 8,000 signatures making it virtually impossible for us to challenge their wayward decisions. The citizens of Norfolk are hardly well served by Mayor Fraim. They have cost the city millions that we can hardly spare and if you are a citizen of the city the burden is carried on your shoulders. I will vote for whoever runs against Fraim and just about the same goes for the other incumbent council members. I'm sick of all the mismanagement that abounds in city hall.
It's not Mayor Fraim but the idiots on the
council. Remember, they take a vote on issues and if the vote goes against the Mayors vote then he can't do anything about it. Oddly enough, these council members keep getting voted back in. It's no different than Ran Nagin in New Orleans. He left all of those buses under water instead of using them for evacuations. Then it's Bush's fault and they vote the idiot back in!!
nice picture
why didn't you photoshop we hate this man on his forehead while you were at it. nice job of objective journalism there.
Haha yea they give Dan's
Haha yea they give Dan's age, but only mention how long Fraim has been in office.
Mayor Election
We don't have term limits, thanks to the politicians! This is the time to enforce time limits....VOTE THE BUMS OUT. I don't know if anyone can do a better job than Fraim, but it's time for him to move out.
You've got to be kidding
Everyone wants to "throw the bums out" but you better be ready for what happens if that ever occurs. Do you really think Dan Montague is Mayor material? Is there ANYONE on the horizon in Norfolk that could come close to the presence that Paul Fraim brings to the table. Look at Portsmouth folk's. The embarassment that their mayor has brought to that fine city will take years to overcome. Get out from behind your computers and enjoy some of the wondful things we have here in Norfolk. We need to stop living in the moment and think about those that inherit this city after we are gone. We should be thankful for the vision of Paul Fraim and what he has done for the City of Norfolk and the region!
Hmmmm
Praise for Paul, by a guy with a screen name of Paul......We'll call it coincidence.
btw, As a relatively new resident, I can assure you that Norfolk, while having it's own charms, is hardly a cultural or entertainment mecca. The shenanigans of City Council, with secret meetings, arbitrary and subjective decisions on business closings, and a seemingly indifferent attitude towards it's citizens is shameful, not to mention EXTREMELY suspect.
I'll be voting for any challenger (Within Reason)to the current Mayor just for a change
The writer is correct in citing Portsmouth as an example of what could happen with the "wrong" guy in office. Portsmouth makes Norfolk look like Nirvana.
paul1990, your last name
isn't Fraim, is it?
With all due respect
I think it is time Mr. Fraim stepped aside and let someone else take the reins. He's acting more like 'King Fraim' now instead of being a mayor. That's what happens when someone has been in office this long. Norfolk needs a change of leadership.
unflattering pic...
the mayor appears to be wearing his 'pouty' look. Perhaps the Pilot has a better picture??
TERM LIMITS
The best thing that could happen to Norfolk is Mayor Fraim being defeated in the next election. That's one of the major problems in this country. Political office wasn't meant to be a lifetime position. Nothing personal against the Mayor; it's just time for new leadership.
The Village Idiots are in trouble----
Norfolk is trying to vote theirs out and Portsmouth is looking at a recall election for theirs.
good luck getting him out
Because you know he has a huge voter base. The persons living in their subsidized housing have their plus side when it comes to where their vote goes. You will need a very determined & totally dedicated group to overcome those voters. Look @ P-Towns last Mayoral election. Holley won because he carried the one block of voters that always vote for him. That election shouldn't even have been close. If it had been about the issues it wouldn't have been, but we all know whom carried the day for him. You're facing the same long odds, but it can be done. I sure hope it is.
Don't know if!
Don't know if Dan Montague is a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Socialist, Communist, Jew, Gentile, Arab, Muslim, Christian, Atheist or what and don't care. Fraim must go. We need to change these politicians like we change our underwear until they get the message that we are tired of the crap they keep shoveling down our throats.
Council change
Its time for change in the current leadership. The council/manager needs to realize its development efforts have placed the residents in deep bond debt. A new mayor would be a start.