Posted: February 19, 2010

Joe Frank received the Fourth Annual Leadership Award from Thomas Nelson Community College.

Not running Again

I've been mayor of Newport News since July 1, 1996. I turned 67 in November. This job has taken up 60 to 80 hours of my life each week. I've been on the City Council since 1988. While I still have my strength and health, I want to use that time to spend with my family and law practice. I told my wife it's better to leave when people want you to stay than it is when people want you to go. I've loved my job. Even the bad days have been good days. I've had the opportunity to contribute to the community and help build it to a better place than what it was. The job has been enriching, fulfilling and rewarding. I've met people I wouldn't have normally met.

Growth of Newport News

I think in many ways we have transformed the community from one that had a relatively narrow economic base to a broader one. That process started earlier than my term as mayor. We have been gradually working toward diversifying our economy and providing more opportunities for citizens in terms of job and quality-of-life issues. One could look at the creation of the Ferguson Center for the Arts, the growth and expansion of Christopher Newport University, improvements at Jefferson Lab, the shipyard, Canon and expansion of larger and smaller businesses.

Revitalizing downtown Newport News

We spent millions of dollars on reconstruction of infrastructures. We have torn down a lot of houses that were beyond repair and dilapidated. We built a number of senior housing facilities. We converted Walter Reed Elementary School into the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center. We are also working with a local entrepreneur to build a shopping center and housing complex. There's a great deal more that needs to be done. But a huge amount has been done already. Like most downtown areas, a lot of the houses were not maintained and modernized. No one invested in the property. We are making improvements to invest massively in helping to overcome those things. I think we have made substantial progress. I'm not satisfied that all the progress has been made but it certainly has not been ignored.

is the city Behind the ball when it comes to getting federal monies?

Good question; not so sure I know the answer to it. There is an emerging realization that we haven't gotten our fair share. I think there are two things that have kept us back. I don't think we as a region have coalesced among ourselves to create a regional agenda that we have forcefully articulated to the federal government about what the needs are. I think we have failed to be aggressive in going after federal funds. We need to work harder to make sure we do.

Do you think that the Peninsula, as an economic region, is creeping to Richmond and that in the future, you'll see the area west of Richmond to Newport News as one economic area and southside as its own region?

Today and for the foreseeable future, we are part of Southside and vice versa. If we can't solve our transportation problem, meaning better mobility between Southside and the Peninsula and better service of our transportation systems, which includes the public transportation systems, highways and bridges, we will have problems. Over time it will become more inevitable our economic focus will turn more toward Richmond. They are expanding more to the north and west and not to the east and south. It's a possibility we could see a merger between the cities. If it happens, it won't be for a while. If folks can't get across Hampton Roads, looking toward Richmond will become inevitable.