Norfolk colleague laments silence on Riddick's unpaid taxes

NORFOLK

At least one councilman wants to consider censuring Paul R. Riddick in the wake of a federal lawsuit in which the IRS says Riddick owes $246,000 in taxes, some of which date to 1998.

But Councilman Tommy Smigiel's request probably will die from a lack of support.

In a recent letter to his council colleagues, Smigiel wrote that when sworn in, council members promise to "support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia."

"Paying taxes is part of obeying the law, part of upholding our oath of office," Smigiel said in an interview.

He said he was disappointed that no one mentioned Riddick's problems at last week's five-hour council meeting. Riddick's tax woes were first revealed in The Virginian-Pilot days before that meeting.

"As a new member to council, I attended yesterday's meeting hoping for guidance from seasoned leaders," he wrote. "What I experienced was an awkward silence, as not a word was said."

According to the lawsuit, federal officials seek to foreclose on Riddick Funeral Service, located on Norview Avenue near the Five Points area of Norview. The business was founded by Riddick's father.

Between 2002 and 2011, Riddick failed to pay $196,000 in income, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and between 1998 and 2009, he did not pay $27,000 in unemployment taxes, the lawsuit states. The IRS has added $23,000 in penalties and said that Riddick will also owe interest.

The lawsuit also alleges that Riddick transferred ownership of the funeral home in 2005 to a limited-liability company to evade taxes. The transfer was fraudulent, the lawsuit contends.

Under Norfolk's city code, council members can censure one another only for misconduct during meetings. However, City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said the council is free to adopt a resolution on any issue it wishes, including one that expresses no confidence in another member.

In 2009, the Portsmouth City Council censured and fined then-Mayor James Holley $2,500 for improperly ordering an assistant to perform personal tasks, including setting up hair appointments and canceling his Playboy magazine subscription. Pishko said Portsmouth exercised the authority to do so under state code, because Holley's conduct involved city business.

Mayor Paul Fraim, who has advised council members that the city charter does not give them the authority to censure one another, declined comment on Smigiel's letter but said any action against Riddick is "a decision best left to the voters. None of us are responsible for another council member."

Of the five other council members - Councilwoman Theresa Whibley is out of town until next week - only Barclay C. Winn expressed frustration. Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot and council members Angelia Williams and, Andy Protogyrou either declined to comment or to criticize Riddick.

"I'm not going to put my ethical or moral beliefs on somebody I sit next to," Protogyrou said. "That's a decision he's got to make."

Winn said Riddick's latest problems are part of a recurring pattern of poor behavior.

Riddick was convicted of assault for tossing a pound of sliced ham at a store clerk in 1996 and has been late paying taxes many times. In 1998, state officials charged him with 10 criminal counts for failure to pay taxes. He eventually pleaded guilty to one count and paid his tax bill.

Court records indicate that he has since been sued repeatedly by the state for delinquent taxes, including a 2009 filing in Norfolk Circuit Court in which the state received a judgment against Riddick for $28,863.

Shenette Felton, Norfolk's acting director of finance, said via email last week that city officials garnished Riddick's wages as recently as 2002 for delinquent real estate taxes. She declined to comment when asked whether the state or city have garnished his wages since then for other taxes, such as income or personal property. State law does not allow her to reveal that information, Felton said.

Riddick owed $34,000 in delinquent real estate taxes to the city that he paid shortly before being re-elected in 1994. In 1998, city and court records indicate that Riddick was behind $42,000 in city, state and federal taxes.

A spokesman for Commissioner of Revenue Sharon McDonald told The Virginian-Pilot last week that Riddick is $4,810 behind in business and personal property taxes. Treasurer Thomas W. Moss Jr. wrote in an email that Riddick is current on his real estate taxes.

"It's embarrassing to the council," Winn said. "It tends to paint us all with the same brush. It pop ups every three years or so and it's always disappointing." But when asked about censuring Riddick, Winn said: "I'm not sure what that would accomplish."

Riddick, 63, a Norfolk native who graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and attended Norfolk State University, didn't return several phone calls. He has handily been re-elected five times in Ward 4, which covers most of the southern and eastern portions of the city, since first being elected to council in 1992.

He has been an outspoken and consistent voice for the city's lower-income residents and has at times been critical of the police and the city's political establishment.

Riddick said two weeks ago that he got into financial problems in part because of the poor economy and because he helps provide funerals for families that cannot afford to pay the full cost of their bills.

Kenneth L. Holley, a Park Place resident, said he could not afford to pay for his wife's funeral in 1995, when she died of cancer. He had recently been laid off from a local shipyard and had no life insurance. Other funeral homes wanted money up front.

"If it wasn't for Paul Riddick, I don't know what we would have done," he said. "I don't want to make any excuses for the problems Mr. Riddick is having now, but he helped me when no one else would."

Harry Jones, a civic leader in the River Forrest Shores, Wayside Manor and Easton Place neighborhoods, said he has never supported Riddick. "It looks like the rich, famous and people in office can get away with anything," he said. "He changed the name of the corporation that owns the funeral home to avoid paying taxes and that's wrong."

But as for whether Riddick should step down Jones said: "I can't say that. He was elected by the voters."

Cuthrell Brockington, who heads the Middle Towne Arch at Broad Creek Civic League, said Riddick needs to pay more attention to his business but is "a good councilman."

If Riddick runs for re-election in 2014, he will again win handily, said Roscoe Callaway, who heads the Campostella Civic League. "Paul Riddick has done a lot for our community," he said.

"The people here love him. The feeling I get is that people still support him."

Harry Minium, 757-446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com