For Wilder and media, show is over

And now, a moment of silence by the local media corps.

L. Douglas Wilder's departure from the mayor's suite in Richmond City Hall should leave local news gatherers in a state of mourning. Wilder's headline-seeking antics were the gift that kept on giving. Our new minister-mayor, Dwight Clinton Jones, reserves his fiery pronouncements for the pulpit. Jones the politician is as taciturn as Wilder is flamboyant.

But since a mayor is not judged by entertainment value alone, the merits of Wilder's term as mayor will be the subject of lingering debate. What also lingers is the same sour taste and trail of ambivalence as when Wilder left the governor's office in January 1994.

I spent part of that final day with Wilder back then, and later wrote the following:

"The good will and optimism of four years ago long since had been exhausted. Some blamed Wilder for that. Others blamed racism. But perhaps that much hope and pride and joy weren't meant to endure for any stretch. They seldom do."

Wilder, a man of considerable charm, exhausts good will like few people can.

His election as governor, slender in margin but huge in history, won him a lasting place in the national narrative and the privilege of steering Virginia through lean economic times. But his award-winning stewardship of the state's finances was often overshadowed by petty feuding with such figures as former Sen. Charles S. Robb.

Four years ago, Wilder was the pick of 80 percent of the voters in becoming Richmond's first popularly elected mayor in more than a half-century. But even with that huge mandate, he managed to overreach -- the most glaring examples being his after-hours eviction of the School Board from City Hall, his around-the-clock security detail and his receipt (later repaid) of nearly $26,000 in car-allowance money despite being chauffeured around town.

His appetite for feuding clouds any assessment of Wilder's accomplishments as mayor.

Instead, we're left with the sense that Wilder is leaving Richmond with unfinished business. To his credit, the city is a much safer place than when he took office. But his City of the Future building plan hasn't really taken flight. And despite some progress, public education and municipal bloat and waste remain problematic.

Wilder is a trailblazer, which by definition requires wielding a political machete to hack away at conventional wisdom. Perhaps it's too much to expect one man to carve a trail, clear the debris and build something sustaining. But that's the job he signed up for.

Wilder gets props for changing the arc of Richmond history by ushering in a new era of civic democracy. In doing so, he aided Richmond in its maturation beyond race-based politics. But as a former legislator and governor, Wilder was uniquely equipped to accomplish so much more.

His term represents a missed opportunity to move Richmond beyond the hidebound political divisions that have stunted the stature of both the city and region. He may have been the only person capable of pulling it off.

Wilder's scraps with the City Council and the School Board made for great theater. All that was missing was the popcorn.

Wilder's term was quite entertaining, but it should have been more meaningful. His encore didn't live up to its promise.
Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or .