THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503020023
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Government by clairvoyance: That's what Virginia Beach will end up with unless two things happen soon: First, Governor Allen vetoes legislation which turns guesswork into law, law likely to be contested in court. Second, a dismayed City Coun-cil finally finds the fortitude to chal-lenge the reformers and a way to clarify what most Beach voters want and how to achieve it. So far, fortitude in City Hall has been as scarce as definitive answers in public votes.
A short history: On the ballot in municipal elections last May was an advisory referendum asking voters in effect if they wanted to (a) equalize the populations within the city's seven boroughs and (b) let voters elect only the Council member who resides in their borough and four at-large members (including the mayor). Currently, the boroughs range in population from more than 150,000 to fewer than 1,000, and all voters elect all 11 members of Council, wherever they reside.
The referendum, put on the ballot through an impassioned, impressive petition effort by a group of disgruntled voters in Lynnhaven Borough, passed. But its passage is not impressive. Fewer than 25 percent of the city's registered voters participated in the referendum. And more than a few complained afterward that the referendum's wording and the campaign on its behalf had confused them into approving a ward system they didn't want.
The wording was confusing. And the campaign reinforced some misconceptions: That the current system doesn't pass constitutional muster, although it does. That it invites Justice Department intervention, although it does not - and wards would. That it satisfies public clamor for change, although how much clamor and for what change remains unproved. What the Beach has here is a low 25 percent of registered voters participating, a higher than ever confusion quotient and a referendum that was ever and only advisory. What the Beach doesn't have is a mandate for such radical reform as reapportionment-cum-ward reform.
Yet City Council, on a 6-5 vote, passed the nasty task of killing this reform to the legislature. And the Beach's Assembly delegation, loath to deny vocal voters some reward, half-baked this half-loaf: They presumed that Beach voters want the boroughs equalized and that equalization is easily phased in; and they instructed City Council to ask voters in the next municipal election if they want wards.
There's a better way, and it only begins with City Council persuading the governor to dump the reform legislation. Council should then take the initiative to ask voters, in November if possible, two questions: Do you want equal boroughs? Do you want a ward system?
Between now and that next referendum, Council should start thorough, spirited debate on whether and how to achieve each reform. City leaders who slight-ed that debate before had better lead it now. by CNB