Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 6, 1992 TAG: 9202060359
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MIXED ELECTION PLAN GETS PUSH
Representatives from several community and neighborhood organizations said Wednesday that Roanoke should replace its at-large system for selecting City Council members with a mixed election plan in which some members would be chosen by districts or wards.They said a mixed system - also known as a modified ward plan - would help ensure that all sections of the city are represented on council.
"The present system does not provide equitable representation from all areas," said Evangeline Jeffrey, president of the Roanoke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The need for a change in the city's election system is a geographic and representation issue, not just a racial concern, Jeffrey said.
Under Roanoke's at-large system, nearly three-fourths of the council members in the past two decades have come from the southern half of the city.
Jeffrey said she favors a system with five council members chosen by districts and two elected at large.
"You need some people who are sensitive to the needs in the neighborhoods."
She spoke to the Task Force on Alternative Election Procedures, a citizens' group appointed by City Council to determine whether the city needs to change its at-large system.
The League of Women Voters also told the panel that it favors a mixed system, with council expanded from seven to nine members. Under the league's proposals, four or five members would be chosen by districts and the remainder would be elected at large.
Speaking for the league, Carol Marchal noted that the group first recommended in 1977 that the city switch to a mixed system. But council never has adopted the proposal nor put it to voters in a referendum.
Roy Stroop, president of the Wildwood Civic League, told the panel that the city needs a mixed system to help ensure that neighborhoods concerns are addressed.
He said the Northeast section of the city was promised a new fire station in 1976, but it had to wait 15 years for it. The station is to be finished soon.
If the city elected some council members by districts, residents would have someone who could bring their concerns to council's attention, he said.
But Barbara Duerk, a leader in Neighbors in South Roanoke, told the panel she thinks the city should retain its at-large system.
"In a ward system, my influence would be diminished because only one council member would have to respond to me. But now, all seven members have to be responsive because I can vote for all of them," Duerk said.
With the at-large system, council members must consider the entire city and work together, rather than just concentrating on a ward, she said.
Council members have said they may submit the issue to city voters in a referendum this fall.
If council decides to seek a change, it must get the approval of the General Assembly as well as the Justice Department. The earliest a new system could be used would be the council election in May 1994.
Keywords:
POLITICS