THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407080307
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Voter approval of a ward system in local elections is not legally binding, the city attorney said Tuesday, so City Council members must decide for themselves whether to follow the will of the electorate.
Fifty-three percent of the voters approved a referendum issue in May calling for the division of the city into seven equally populous electoral districts.
If enacted into law, one City Council member and one School Board member would be selected from each district in which they live. Four at-large council seats, including that of the mayor, also would be selected. Voters in each district would be limited to voting for representatives from their own district and five at-large candidates.
City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley said he and his staff spent the last two months thumbing through law books to determine whether or not the referendum approval was legally binding on the council.
Their collective answer: No.
``First of all,'' he said, ``this specific plan was not before the voters. You're not tied to this plan.''
Neither is the council tied to the concept, Lilley contended.
``That was an easy one for me and a tougher one for you,'' he said. ``The referendum was advisory only.''
Whether the council felt obligated to adopt what a preponderance of voters approved was up to its members, he said.
The issue was placed on the May 3 ballot at the behest of the Council of Civic Organizations, which secured enough signatures on petitions - 25 percent of the voters in the last prior election - to have it done.
To put the ward system into effect, the plan must be approved by the council. It would then require approval of the U.S. Justice Department, then possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.
The existing at-large system allows voters in any area of the city to vote for all 11 members of the City Council and has been sanctioned by the Justice Department, said Lilley.
Councilman John A. Baum cited a possible loophole in a law, should it be adopted.
``How come the state law says practically nil about residency requirements?'' he asked. ``How can you take living in a borough very seriously, if you don't really have to live there?''
All a local candidate has to do, Baum declared, is get a new driver's license and mailing address to qualify as a resident of a specific district. This requirement, he added, has been skirted easily.
``We've had people in the past that lived in one city and represented the other city,'' he said, citing the late state Sen. Peter M. Babalas as an example. Babalas lived in Virginia Beach and represented a district made up largely of Norfolkians.
Other states have stricter residency requirements, Baum insisted. They insist on documentation of real estate taxes, plus proof that a candidate's children attended certain district schools.
``If you don't even have to be a resident, why are we spending all this time?'' he asked.
``A lot of this is political rhetoric. If we really want to change something for the better we ought to know what it is we're doing and where the weaknesses are in the present system, especially under state law.''
Lilley said it was up to the council whether or not to pursue the issue.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL WARD SYSTEM by CNB