THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994 TAG: 9406290415
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940629 LENGTH: NORFOLK
The new council will meet in special session Friday night at 8 p.m. to decide who will be mayor and vice mayor.
{REST} No council member would say publicly that Fraim had the four necessary votes. But privately, council members and others familiar with council politics said Fraim can count on the support of colleagues Randy Wright, Paul Riddick, and Councilman-elect Herbert Collins.
``I don't think it surprises anyone that I have long supported Paul Fraim,'' Wright said.
``I am prepared to vote for him for mayor and to put his name in nomination.''
Fraim said, ``It would be an honor to be mayor and follow in Dr. Andrews' footsteps. ''
The other leading candidate is Vice Mayor Joseph N. Green.
``I don't have anything to say on the subject,'' Green said Tuesday night.
Andrews, 75, quietly handed out a written statement at the end of Tuesday's council meeting. It said in part: ``I will not be a candidate for re-election as mayor.. . . One important factor in Norfolk's success, against significant odds, has been its ability to maintain harmony on the council. This is important to preserve.''
He made no other comment.
Andrews has served for two years as mayor and his term on council will not expire until 1996.
He is a co-founder and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Jones Institute of Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk.
Council members, who had just finished applauding Councilman John G. Foster in his last session, quickly praised Andrews' tenure as mayor.
``He's done a terrific job of guiding the city from an at-large system of council elections to a ward system,'' Wright said.
``Everyone predicted that the change would be extremely disruptive. With rare exceptions, that has not happened. He has to be credited with that.''
Fraim said, ``All of Hampton Roads is a better place because of his service and sacrifices.''
Andrews, a stately, thoughtful politician, has served on the council for 20 years. As mayor, he has spearheaded efforts to reduce crime and improve living conditions in the Park Place neighborhood.
He also worked behind the scenes to help peacefully resolve the Calvary Revival Church dispute in neighborhoods along Little Creek Road.
If selected mayor, Fraim, 44, would continue the 10-year string of mayors from the town's West Side, with strong local and Virginia roots.
He is an attorney with degrees from Virginia Military Institute, the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond.
He has been on the council since 1986. Fraim helped negotiate the city's new, long-term water contract with Virginia Beach and oversaw the construction of Harbor Park.
Yet he also is an Ocean View native, a close ally of Wright's, and one of the council members most favorably viewed by Ocean View and the East Side.
If Fraim became mayor, the vice mayor's post would likely go to one of the three black council members - Green, Riddick or Collins.
In other action, the council voted unanimously to raise council members' salaries from $15,000 to $18,000 a year and the mayor's salary from $17,000 to $20,000.
The council last raised its pay in 1986. by CNB