Cronyism Still Kicking In Virginia Beach
We’ve seen the short list. And it’s alarming.
One of the five finalists to fill the Beach seat on City Council until November’s special election is former Virginia Beach Councilman John Uhrin.
A guy who wasted 12 years on city council obediently serving as a bucket boy for developers.
It was clear last November that the voters had enough of council’s carbuncle. In a field of four candidates Uhrin couldn’t get a plurality of the vote. Yet he’s now begging his former colleagues to appoint him to the office he couldn’t win.
Uhrin’s a finalist because some politicians - the cronies - supported this retread in a closed-door session.
The old guard clearly hasn’t absorbed the meaning of the 2018 election when three candidates supported by the Beach political machine went down in flames despite overflowing campaign coffers and dark, misleading attack ads aired on their behalf.
Only one of those losers was an incumbent: John Uhrin.
The new members get it, though. On his Facebook page, Councilman Aaron Rouse made it clear he wasn’t supporting Uhrin:
“This past November, the people of the Virginia Beach voted for a new voice on city council to represent the Beach District. I have and will continue to vote the will of the people. My vote for a new beach district representative reflects just that, a NEW Beach district representative.”
Excellent.
If throngs of voters arrive at the public hearing also demanding a fresh face, even the most shameless political lapdogs may be forced to rethink their loyalty to the smug guy who seemed so confident of re-election that he barely campaigned.
Fact is, anyone watching city council meetings has noticed a welcome change recently. For the first time in years Beach officials seem engaged. They’re paying attention instead of fiddling with their phones or napping.
Give some credit to Mayor Bobby Dyer. He pledged to open government and promised to listen to the people. Answering criticism that the appointment process is being rushed, Dyer said it’s important to fill the vacancies quickly.
“Right now I have about 130,000 people without representation on council,” he told me yesterday, noting that each district has roughly 65,000 residents and that the Beach and Rose Hall seats are vacant. “Not filling those seats before we vote on an almost $2 billion budget would be bureaucratic malpractice.”
Maybe so. But no one’s truly disenfranchised in a city where all council members are elected at-large. The politicians can take their time finding a replacement.
After all, that vacant Beach seat was occupied for a dozen years by an empty suit.
