THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190392
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
In a twist on regional cooperation, a coalition of Norfolk civic leagues will help lobby the General Assembly for a ward system for the Virginia Beach City Council.
``Pleased? You bet I am,'' said Leslie K. Fenlon Jr., president of the Council of Civic Organizations, which proposed the ward system. ``This is the kind of rapport that we need to have.''
Fenlon said it was the first example of regional cooperation among area civic leagues.
``We're talking about grass-roots regional cooperation,'' he said. ``We're talking about getting things done that the vested interests and the politicians haven't been able to do.''
Virginia Beach Del. Robert Tata, R-85th, introduced the proposal as House Bill 1593, which seeks to amend Virginia Beach's charter. The Counties, Cities and Towns Committee, of which Tata is a member, will hold a hearing on the bill at 9 a.m. Friday in House Room D.
The Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations asked the Norfolk Federation to lobby Norfolk General Assembly members because of expected resistance from some Virginia Beach legislators.
Political opponents, including five of the 11 members of the Beach City Council, contend the ward system would divide residents rather than bring them together.
The Norfolk Federation, representing 42 civic leagues, endorsed the ward system last week at the request of its counterpart in Virginia Beach. Eloise LaBeau, federation president, said she planned to talk with Norfolk legislators while visiting Richmond on Wednesday.
Two Norfolk-based legislators - Dels. William P. Robinson Jr., D-90th, and Howard E. Copeland, D.-87th - already support the ward-system proposal. Their districts trickle into Virginia Beach.
The Council of Civic Organizations, composed of 74 civic leagues, wants a modified ward system, with seven city council members elected in equal-sized districts and four members elected at large.
Currently, all 11 City Council members are elected citywide, but seven of them must reside in districts they represent.
Copeland said he supports wards because Virginia Beach voters approved the idea 53 percent to 47 percent in an advisory referendum in May. Robinson said he favors wards because ``it's much easier for voters to identify with particular representatives and to hold them accountable.''
Wards in Virginia Beach would make election campaigns less expensive, he said, and would be consistent with general political trends toward single-member districts.
For example, Virginia switched from multi-delegate district representation in the General Assembly in the early 1980s, and the Norfolk City Council went to a ward system beginning with the 1992 elections.
Norfolk Councilman Herbert M. Collins Sr., lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit to create wards in that city, said he will join civic league leaders in lobbying for the Beach charter change.
He also applauded the federation for helping its Virginia Beach counterpart. ``Regional cooperation and civic leagues is a natural marriage,'' Collins said.
But Virginia Beach City Councilman W.W. Harrison Jr. was irked.
``I'm against the ward system, so any lobbying activity in favor of the ward system doesn't please me,'' he said, ``but it's certainly their democratic right to do what they're doing, so I don't object to it.''
Harrison said wards should not be a priority for the General Assembly: ``I hope they're spending their time on the important issues and not on the ward system.''
Fenlon said help from the Norfolk Federation was a harbinger of regional cooperation for other issues. He vowed to return the favor.
``We've been antagonists too long. We have to move in a protagonist manner. This type of relationship can help,'' Fenlon said. ``Virginia Beach is a fairly affluent suburban city. Norfolk is a struggling inner city, but it's moving, and Virginia Beach should help them.'' MEMO: Staff writer Karen Weintraub contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Leslie K. Fenlon Jr., president of Virginia Beach's Council of Civic
Organizations, hails the move.
KEYWORDS: WARD SYSTEM VIRGINIA BEACH GENERAL ASSEMBLY CIVIC LEAGUE by CNB