THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 5, 1996 TAG: 9603050184
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Chesapeake Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance, who had told a group of Republican leaders in January that he would not run for re-election, filed Monday as a candidate to retain his seat in May's City Council election.
Nance said Monday that the Chesapeake's civic leaders convinced him to change his mind.
``They told me there was a lot of things they wanted me to finish up,'' Nance said, ``and so I will work for the civic leagues.''
Late Monday afternoon, eight candidates had declared for three open City Council seats and the mayor's seat.
Councilman John E. Allen was the only incumbent who had not officially declared his candidacy.
Candidates have until 7 p.m. today to file to run in the May 7 election.
Nance's candidacy comes one day before the council was to meet in executive session to discuss calling for a special grand jury probe of the performance of the police department in investigating the sons of three prominent citizens.
One of those cases involves a police captain's son who is charged with breaking and entering and grand larceny in the theft of an all-terrain vehicle from Nance's home.
There were a flurry of filings across Hampton Roads Monday.
In Virginia Beach, three city councilmen, Robert K. Dean, John A. Baum and Harold Heischober, filed paperwork Monday to seek additional terms.
Dean, an environmental activist who represents the Princess Anne Borough, has served one term on the council.
Baum, a retired farmer who has been the Blackwater Borough's representative on council for two decades, wants to serve out his borough's final term. The Blackwater Borough will be eliminated in 1998 when the city is redistricted.
Heischober, a longtime council member and former mayor, was appointed a year ago to complete the unexpired term of John Moss, who quit to take a job in Memphis. Heischober, owner of Mega Mazda on Holland Road, will be challenged by civic activists Lou Pace and Robert Spadaccini, who have already filed with the city's voter registrar. Both Baum and Dean, who would serve for 2 years if elected, had no challengers Monday.
In Portsmouth, former Vice Mayor Lee E. King, who lost his seat two years ago, has filed petitions to run for a City Council seat.
King, 63, is a retired general manager of the Naval Aviation Depot who sits on the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority and had served four years on the council.
Incumbent Councilman Bernard D. Griffin Sr. also has filed for re-election. Griffin has served one term on the council. He is also a former School Board chairman.
In Suffolk, seats are up for grabs in the Whaleyville, Sleepy Hole and Nansemond boroughs.
Vice Mayor Curtis R. Milteer Sr., is running unopposed in the Whaleyville Borough. Milteer, 65, a site manager at SEVAMP, is seeking a fifth term.
Councilwoman Marian ``Bea'' Rogers, 60, is running for a second term representing the Sleepy Hole Borough. She is opposed by William B. Bishop.
Bishop, 58, is retired from the Navy where he served more than 32 years. He also managed the Suffolk Municipal Airport for seven years.
Councilman Richard R. Harris, 50, is seeking a second term representing the Nansemond Borough. He is opposed by Leroy Bennett, 57, chairman of the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority and a general foreman at Newport News Shipbuilding.
KEYWORDS: CITY COUNCIL RACE CANDIDATES by CNB