THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501210198
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
For a band of civic leaders, the road to the Capitol wound through an unprecedented petition drive and a political upset in May's Virginia Beach elections.
On Friday came the easy part: A General Assembly committee unanimously backed the community leaders' proposal to change Virginia Beach City Council elections. The House of Delegates is expected to vote on the issue - HB 1593 - next week.
The tough part is understanding what it's all about.
Under consideration is a city-charter change that would create a hybrid ward system, with seven City Council members elected in equally populated districts, and four members elected at large.
Currently, all 11 council members are elected citywide, but seven must reside within the boroughs they represent.
``Hold on, I don't understand,'' Del. Franklin P. Hall, D-Richmond said during a presentation of the arcane issue in the Counties, Cities and Towns Committee. ``Let's try again.''
Business leaders opposing the measure used that argument - that people didn't understand the issue they voted for.
More than 22,000 Virginia Beach voters signed petitions to put the question on the ballot, and 53 percent of the city then voted for it.
Opponents argued that the margin of victory was small.
But Robert Tata, R-Virginia Beach, who is shepherding the bill through the legislative process, called the opposition's case ``very, very weak.''
``They (opponents) did not make sense to most of the committee members,'' added Del. Howard E. Copeland, D-Norfolk, whose district includes one Virginia Beach precinct.
The Council of Civic Organizations, a potpourri of Virginia Beach civic leagues backing the proposal, was apparently more persuasive.
Soft-spoken civic leader Maurice Jackson told the House committee that the current electoral system ``hit like a bombshell'' when he and others learned of the latest census figures. Kempsville, a borough of 145,000 residents, has one council member in name - as does Blackwater, with fewer than 1,000 people.
``Right now,'' Jackson said, ``many citizens don't know who their representative is.''
All of that could change, he said, if two-thirds of the General Assembly approves the measure. That's what it takes to OK special legislation, like city charter changes. Prospects appear tougher in the state Senate, where some lawmakers are expected to try to amend the proposal.
KEYWORDS: CHARTER CHANGE VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL GENERAL
ASSEMBLY WARD SYSTEM by CNB