Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Is Hopewell the Next Petersburg?

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Downtown Hopewell. Photo credit: Richmond BizSense

by James A. Bacon

Long-time Bacon’s Rebellion readers will remember the fiscal saga of Petersburg, a struggling rust-belt city whose finances were so mismanaged that the city had to call in outside consultants to fix them. The City of Hopewell, another struggling rust-belt industrial town, may be facing the same fate. City Council has appointed Concetta Manker — its former information technology manager — to lead a financial turnaround.

Finances had deteriorated to the point where Virginia State Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings ordered an outside audit and outlined steps the city should take to get back on track. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Cummings stressed the need to bring in experienced help to get the municipality’s books in order. He even offered $200,000 to help the city find such an executive.

But Council voted “no” yesterday on the idea, and elevated Manker, who was serving as interim city manager, to step into the role officially. Manker’s job would be tough under any circumstances: the city with a population of 23,000 cannot take on debt because it hasn’t even had a credit rating since 2017. Making the challenge even greater, her professional background is IT, not finance.

Crime is high. The schools are a mess. The economy is hollowed out. And City Council apparently is fractious. It would generate confidence if the person leading Hopewell’s financial rescue had a background in… finance.

Petersburg, here we come!

 

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32 responses to “Is Hopewell the Next Petersburg?”

  1. Kathleen Smith Avatar
    Kathleen Smith

    Petersburg took the advice provided and the money too. Hopewell did not (at least to date).

  2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    In the case of Petersburg, Ric Brown, then Secretary of Finance, worked behind the scenes to maximize Petersburg’s cash flow of state funding. He also provided general advice. The city hired the Robert Bobb Group to assist it in getting back on its feet financially. After conducting a thorough assessment of the city’s finances, that group came up with a long range plan for the city. The plan necessarily included some pain, but the city persevered. Hopewell is being very shortsighted to refuse help. The new city manager may be good at finance, but, being city manager involves more than handling the finances.

    1. VaPragamtist Avatar
      VaPragamtist

      My understanding is that the city didn’t refuse help. They accepted help but refused the ultimatum to fire their city manager to be replaced with a state-appointed unknown. I can respect the city council exercising its autonomy. I imagine there’s a middle ground the Secretary of Finance doesn’t want to explore.

      1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
        James C. Sherlock

        The middle ground is under water.

    2. Lefty665 Avatar
      Lefty665

      The current Sec Finance is no Ric.

  3. VaPragamtist Avatar
    VaPragamtist

    Someone with a professional background in IT likely has project management skills.

    Bacon will have you believe that a locality’s CAO must be an expert in all things. That’s just not how local government works. Local government managers are generalists. They manage operations and lead staff.

    Hopewell has a finance department, led by a finance director. As a city they also have a treasurer and a commissioner of the revenue (and I assume staff for each). For a financial crisis, these are the people you want to focus your resources on.

    Meanwhile, the manager can’t/shouldn’t be focused solely on the financial crisis. She needs to also consider all city operations. Public safety. Economic development. Community development. Human Resources. Social services. Planning and zoning. Public works.

    Both the premise of this article. . .and the state’s heavy-handedness in this issue. . .are disappointing.

    1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
      James C. Sherlock

      What would lead you to think that Hopewell can get out of this own? Or that a “city” that small and poor led by an official with no education or background in economics can work its way out of a pending default?

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Well, first a name change. Hopeless?

  4. DJRippert Avatar
    DJRippert

    Ms Manker’s resume …. (best I could find) …

    Concetta Manker; Computer Technology. B.A., Business Administration, Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia, 2002 ; M.I.T., Information Technology, American Intercontinental University, Atlanta, Georgia, 2004 ; Ph.D., Information Systems Management, Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2015.

    Good luck to Dr. Manker.

    As for Hopewell ….

    What, exactly, is a “city” of 23,000 with an area of 10 sq mi? It’s a neighborhood!

    Same population today as in 1970.

    Of course, in Virginia, this “city” of 23,000 is not even within a county. It’s a freestanding entity.

    Hopewell (median household income = $44,209) has no business being a freestanding city.

    Maybe Chesterfield County (median household income = $88,315) needs to annex Hopewell (after Hopewell converts to town status).

    1. Lefty665 Avatar
      Lefty665

      What beef do you have with Chesterfield that you would inflict Hopewell on it?

      1. DJRippert Avatar
        DJRippert

        Yeah, I imagine that would be a hard row to hoe for the folks in Chesterfield.

        Call it a charitable contribution.

    2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      In Virginia counties do not annex cities. Cities used to annex counties, but there has been a moratorium on doing that for about 40 years. The best option would be for Hopewell to revert to town status. Another option would be for Hopewell to give up its charter altogether and be absorbed into Chesterfield. (That would require GA approval.)

      1. DJRippert Avatar
        DJRippert

        Good point. Poor word choice on my part. Chesterfield would have to absorb Hopewell.

        Cities that were once counties? Fine.
        Rich neighborhoods in metropolitan areas masquerading as cities? Fine.

        Small, isolated cities in generally rural areas – what’s the point? Especially when those cities are not within counties.

    3. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Hopewell is on the opposite side of the Appomattox River from Chesterfield County. If the city reverted to Town status, I think it would more likely be absorbed by Prince George County, which surrounds it on three sides.

      1. DJRippert Avatar
        DJRippert

        Ok. I picked Chesterfield because it was bigger to illustrate a point. But … your geography seems right.

        The real question is why Hopewell wants to remain an independent city in the only state where cities are not routinely within counties.

        Isn’t there some combination of population and income minimum required to effectively fund the overhead of being an independent city?

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          The state Code (Sec. 15.2-102) sets a minimum population of 5,000 for an independent city. Obviously, this level is seriously outdated. It has been a long time since any new cities were charted.

  5. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Kepone. Need a way to capitalize. Kepone Daze… a Mardi Gras like event.

    Ooh, ooh, I know! They can open a rehab facility for Virginia Tech grads! The Hokey Pokey Clinic — A place to turn yourself around.

    1. Hi Ewald Avatar
      Hi Ewald

      ouch. so…. ouch….

    2. Lefty665 Avatar
      Lefty665

      …and they would provide food, supplies and porta potties via Kepone Truckin’.

    3. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
      James Wyatt Whitehead

      We are sort of proud of that song.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqMjvgQcc1w

    4. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ed04ae8ef4cfa274e0cd3499a80af0854bd9d14dfb3e75c1de2ea75c0f7a4ec9.jpg

  6. Lefty665 Avatar
    Lefty665

    The Beacon Theater has really good musical acts coming through. It’s an attraction in Hopewell,

    IT folks can (not must) have good financial chops, especially those who have been running the bean counting. Ya gotta know something about finance to translate a general ledger into a balance sheet and expense/revenue summaries. Fund balance accounting is a whole different twist too.

    Like Petersburg it looks like Hopewell’s in deep do do. Your comparison is apt.

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      The Beacon Theater has really good musical acts coming through. It’s an attraction in Hopewell

      Indeed it is. There is also a pretty decent Irish-style pub just around the corner from the Beacon where you can grab a bite to eat and a drink or two before going to the show.

      Last time I went to the pub, the young lady behind the bar prepared for me one of the most ‘well-layered’ Black & Tans I have ever been served.

      The Fish and Chips weren’t bad, either.

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      The Beacon Theater has really good musical acts coming through. It’s an attraction in Hopewell

      Indeed it does, and is.

      There is also a pretty decent Irish-style pub just around the corner from the Beacon where you can grab a bite to eat and a drink or two before going to the show.

      Last time I went to the pub, the young lady behind the bar prepared for me one of the most ‘well-layered’ Black & Tans I have ever been served.

      The Fish and Chips were pretty good, too.

      EDIT: The place was called Paddy’s Irish Pub. It appears to have gone out of business.

  7. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Tough row to hoe. A quick trip to Google Earth will show a city built to the lines in the 1950s and strictly a company town with nearly a 100% industrial waterfront.

    10,000 30×40 asbestos shingled houses ain’t much of a tax base. Save for those who work there, what would draw someone from outside the city to move in? The view of chemical tanks?

    1. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      Hopewell had 23,471 people in 1970 and 23,033 in 2020.

      Solving the financial problems through growth doesn’t seem like a very good plan.

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Hopewell is the quintessential example of your argument against independent cities. It’s property bound. It’s most valuable property is the waterfront and totally owned by heavy industry. The rest is residential.

        One possibility for bringing in outside money would be to sell it to Hollywood as a 1950s or 60s movie set.

        1. Lefty665 Avatar
          Lefty665

          City Point in Hopewell has been a landing spot and port since 1635, nearing 400 years. It is not unusual for industries and cities to grow up around ports. Before trains rivers were the most efficient forms of transport.

  8. James C. Sherlock Avatar
    James C. Sherlock

    Virginia can’t saw it off and flush it down the James. There are real people who live there. The chemical plant is a viable industry and taxpayer with high paying jobs. There must be a way to put that into a package that works financially if the schools and public utilities are merged with larger systems.

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      At least as far as sewage treatment goes, it appears Hopewell has merged with other systems.

      Hopewell Water Renewal (aka the Hopewell Wastewater Treatment Plant) treats sewage from the City of Hopewell, Fort Gregg-Adams (nee Fort Lee), the Federal Corrections Complex, parts of Prince George County, and four large industries: the Honeywell Hopewell Plant; WestRock paper mill; Ashland, Inc; and the Virginia American Water Company.

      1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
        Dick Hall-Sizemore

        That facility is probably a moneymaker for the city.

  9. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    A solution for Hopewell…

    https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/when-the-giant-cruise-ships-came-to-town#

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