THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994 TAG: 9406290598
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940628 LENGTH: CHESAPEAKE
Instead, in a racially split 7-2 vote, the council passed an at-large system without paying much attention to the study.
{REST} Now that the Justice Department has forced the issue back on the table, it seems the work of Dr. Rudolph Wilson has returned to haunt a council that once overlooked it.
In a letter rejecting Chesapeake's request for at-large elections, the Justice Department specifically mentioned the council's speed in approving the at-large system, ignoring black council members' requests for more time to consider the issue.
In the letter, discussed by the City Council in a closed session last week, Gerald W. Jones, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said the city had failed to prove that an at-large system would not discriminate against blacks.
The department's conclusions were based on an analysis of at-large voting patterns in the past decade of City Council elections, Jones said.
The rejection effectively halted plans for Chesapeake's first School Board elections, which were slated for November 1994.
All seven of the plans proposed by Wilson, an associate professor of political science at Norfolk State University, are designed to give blacks an opportunity to win proportional representation on the School Board.
``The underlying theory behind this plan is that, in most cases, blacks tend to vote with blacks,'' Wilson said. ``The law says that if you can draw districts with majority African-American populations for equal representation, then you are obligated to do it.''
Wilson's plans were based on 1990 census figures of ethnic and racial composition throughout Chesapeake, which is 27 percent black.
Two of the plans would divide the city into nine districts, preserving the number of members that currently sit on the board. Others chart districts for school boards ranging from five to 11 members.
In each scenario, Wilson explained, a proportional number of districts would have a majority of black voters.
For example, one 9-district option would carve three black-dominated districts from areas around South Norfolk, Georgetown and Bowers Hill.
Some of the plans provide for ``minority-influenced'' districts, where a large minority of black voters could carry a black candidate with just a small number of white votes.
Should the city council choose a system that combines at-large and district seats, Wilson said, the districts he has outlined would need to be modified.
Wilson stressed that his findings were only a crude investigation that did not explore systems used in other states.
Mayor William Ward, who asked Wilson to conduct the study and submit the findings to council last November, was optimistic that the plans would now get the attention they deserve.
``The significance of Wilson's plan is that it proves that the city can be divided into districts or a combination of districts and at-large spots,'' Ward said. The mayor has said he would support some kind of combination, but would leave the details to ``experts.''
For March Cromuel, president of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Wilson's plans were a pivotal factor in his decision to personally support ward elections, despite two Chesapeake NAACP votes in favor of at-large elections.
``The heaviest impact of it is you're going to have representation from all over the city,'' Cromuel said. ``With at-large elections, you may have five or six representatives from one area.''
But for Lamont Simmons, who heads the umbrella group Chesapeake Forward, any district plan, including Wilson's, will only dilute the black vote. The group conducted its own demographic studies before meeting with Wilson.
According to Simmons, ``only an at-large system can ensure the city of Chesapeake has government accountability'' to all black residents, whether they live in black-majority districts or not.
School board positions will continue to be appointed until the city comes up with an acceptable election plan. The terms of two of the members expire in January.
Other council members, including Republican Arthur Dwyer, have suggested holding an advisory referendum before deciding whether to contest or comply with the Justice Department ruling.
But Ward called the idea of a referendum ``a waste of time that would only prolong'' school board elections.
``If it is the decision of council to object, the council must refute the charges upon which the decision was made by the Justice Department in a suit, not engage in public opinion polling,'' Ward said.
by CNB