
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990                   TAG: 9003152445
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                                LENGTH: Short

PORTSMOUTH BOARD VOTE SPLITS COUNCIL

A sharply divided City Council has chosen a sixth white for the nine-member School Board in this city, where 65 percent of public school students are black.

Despite blacks' attempts to get greater representation on the School Board, the council voted 4-3 Tuesday night to select J. Thomas Benn III, a quality assurance director at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, over the Rev. James M. Whitaker, a black Baptist minister.

"It certainly is an indication that they're not trying to heal the wounds of the racial division we've had," said Bernard D. Griffin Sr., one of three black School Board members.

Mayor Gloria O. Webb was the only white City Council member to vote for Whitaker. Since former Board Chairman Bradford L. Cherry announced his resignation in December, Webb has repeatedly called for another black to be named to the board.

- Associated Press

by CNB