Williams: Henrico officials take the gloves off

The gloves come off in Henrico Henrico County is accustomed to flush times, not tough times.

Henrico, for as long as anyone can remember, has been synonymous with excellent schools, well-managed government and satisfied residents, give or take occasional grumbling from its eastern precincts.

As county governments go, Henrico has been the proverbial well-oiled machine.

"Henrico County, along with Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County, California, has been repeatedly cited as being among the best-governed counties in the United States," Nelson Wikstrom, a professor of political science and public administration at Virginia Commonwealth University, wrote in his 2003 history of county-manager government in Henrico.

As Henrico hummed along, Richmond struggled with a suburban flight, urban decay, crime and political turmoil. Chesterfield County grappled with ungainly growing pains.

Henrico became a place that news reporters found a bit challenging -- county officials had a talent for tamping down controversy, and they were not given to colorful pronouncements or emotional outbursts.

But this economic recession has spared no one. Henrico -- with 290,000 residents and a median household income of about $58,000 -- has absorbed unaccustomed hits, including massive job losses at Qimonda, Circuit City and LandAmerica.

Henrico officials, citing worries about the recession, slashed construction plans for next year by nearly 90 percent. The decision affects an array of projects, including roads, fire stations and schools.

School officials are unhappy at this turn of events. They made their feelings known Thursday during a meeting with the Board of Supervisors.

"This is the first time in 21 years that we've had a public argument," said Brookland Supervisor Richard W. Glover.

If that's true -- and Glover's use of the word "public" is instructive -- it's nothing to boast about. What Glover laments, others might find refreshing.

Some of us have long harbored the suspicion that business -- at least business that takes place publicly -- has been a tad too polite in Henrico. Priorities can't always be sorted out behind the scenes. And sometimes, a spirited or heated debate in the sunlight of a public meeting is a good thing.

"Funding is critically important," Fairfield Supervisor Frank J. Thornton said. "But collegiality also is important. It was a little tarnished today. We don't want future board members to go through anything like this."

Fairfield District School Board member Lamont Bagby agreed. "Today was a disservice to the entire county."

Seriously?

Two boards -- with at-times competing priorities and constituencies -- should be expected to duke it out on occasion, metaphorically speaking. But the way some of the members reacted to the session, you'd have though real fisticuffs had erupted.

Collegiality is desirable but not always attainable in moments of political passion. You're allowed to be human.

Tough times occasionally produce rough talk. But Henrico officials ultimately will be judged not by their comportment, but by their results.

Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or .