Continue progress, re-elect Fraim

Paul Fraim has been mayor of Norfolk since 1994. Since then, the city has undergone the kind of renaissance that has made it the envy of cities all over America.

Shortly after Fraim became the city's first popularly elected mayor in 2006, economic headwinds began making progress harder and even threatened to reverse advances. But Norfolk's relative health through tough times argues conclusively that the city is tacking in the right direction.

For that alone, Fraim deserves another term as the city's leader.

From Ocean View to Town Point Park, Hampton Boulevard to The Tide's terminus at Newtown Road, the progress in Norfolk has been unmistakable. Granby Street, in just 10 years, went from a ghost town to being the region's nightlife destination. Ocean View is slowly being transformed from one of the city's roughest areas to one of its most promising.

Progress hasn't been universal. Some neighborhoods have waited too long for attention, including Wards Corner. Flooding will continue to be a problem at Spartan Village and in too many other low-lying neighborhoods.

But it's unlikely that anyone is better equipped to shift the city's focus to those needs.

Some of the issues facing Norfolk today - growing frustration with the city's schools, the financial disaster at The Tide - will need leadership. Fraim remains among the most widely respected leaders in Hampton Roads and a force for regional cooperation.

His main opponent in next week's election - longtime Councilwoman Daun Hester - is running to bring transparency to government. We cheer whenever a candidate embraces openness. And Norfolk could do better, starting with televising every time City Council gathers.

More to the point, though: Hester has for many years been part of the city government she says is opaque. If city government needs more transparency, Hester has had ample opportunity to bring it.

An endorsement of Fraim requires no comparisons to his opponents. But it is telling that Fraim can easily run on his record, while Hester must essentially run against her own.

The crowded race in Ward 1 offers voters four choices to succeed Don Williams, who is retiring. Among the candidates, attorney Andy Protogyrou has made the best case for the seat. He understands and cheers the progress made in downtown Norfolk and has a long record of involvement in everything from civic leagues to youth basketball.

His focus on Wards Corner has earned him endorsements from businesses and residents but also created the expectation that he will bring progress where others have failed.

More than his opponents, who seem fixed more narrowly on specific troubles in Norfolk, Protogyrou sees the large realm of possibilities for the city.

In Ward 2, Councilwoman Theresa Whibley is unopposed. In Ward 3, things are much more complicated.

Councilman Anthony Burfoot, the vice mayor, has become the city's deputy treasurer since his last election. He also has been targeted by an anonymous Internet campaign alleging that he abused his position. Last week, he allowed the city attorney to sue to silence the website, uncomfortably emphasizing the point.

Burfoot is challenged by Mamie Johnson, president of the Historic Broad Creek Civic League; Donna Smith, organizer of the Afr'Am Festival; and businessman Billy Mann. Mann once worked for Norfolk in economic development and was tapped by Bruce Smith to be general manager of the local arena football team.

Like Hester, Burfoot's challengers argue that city government is unresponsive. And, like Hester, they are short on details that go beyond their individual frustrations.

In the past four years, Burfoot has been no friend to his own political career. For all the good he has done as an advocate for the kind of smart development too rare in urban areas, he has undermined his stature with decisions that invite voters to question his motives. We cannot endorse his return to office, but we don't see a better alternative.

There is no question that Ward 4 Councilman Paul Riddick deserves removal. Riddick has been so consistently a divisive figure on the City Council - from his charges of racism against others, to his own blaring insensitivities - that he would deserve replacement even if he hadn't been one of the city's two representatives to the Hampton Roads Transit board.

The agency is building Norfolk's light rail system, a project now $100 million over budget. Riddick's response to the second $50 million overrun was to come to the defense of the man who hid it from him.

His opponent, School Board member Billy Cook, has been uncomfortably sanguine about the difficulties in the Norfolk Public Schools. That argues that he is part of the problem. Nevertheless, we are persuaded by Cook's good sense on other issues - including The Tide's overruns - that he will make a better member of the City Council than his opponent.

Finally, in Ward 5, voters will have to make a similar decision and should make a similar change.

Councilman W. Randy Wright deserves credit for bringing The Tide to Norfolk, so he must also accept blame for the lack of oversight from HRT's board, on which he is vice chairman and light rail's advocate-in-chief.

Wright helped work out the ouster of HRT's president, but the fact that it was necessary at all argues that Wright and Riddick let their attention lapse on Norfolk's investment and the region's most critical transportation project.

In Wright's place, the voters of Ward 5 have good alternatives: Tommy Smigiel, a vice principal at Granby High School and former teacher of the year, and Matthew Hales, an efficiency expert who co-owns GVI Inc., a military contractor.

Smigiel, who grew up in Norfolk, makes the case that no one can help solve the issues in the city's schools like an educator who knows them intimately. Hales, who moved to Norfolk five years ago, argues that he'll bring business savvy to the position.

Both men could ably replace Wright, but our nod goes to Smigiel, based on his longevity in Norfolk and his passion for public education, which could certainly use it.