THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
The House of Delegates on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to changes in the election process for Virginia Beach City Council, but a split in the city's legislative delegation raised the possibility that the General Assembly might kill the plan, which has been requested by voters.
Del. Robert Tata said his bill - HB 1974 - simply would set in place an election system approved by city voters in a referendum last year.
The plan would change the city's at-large voting system by creating seven election districts with equal population. Voters living in each district would elect their own representatives. Three additional council members and the mayor would be elected citywide.
Tata's bill was backed by fellow Virginia Beach Republican Del. Robert F. McDonnell, as well as Democrat Howard Copeland of Norfolk, whose district dips into Virginia Beach.
Speaking against the bill, however, were Republicans Leo C. Wardrup Jr. and Harry R. Purkey and Democrat Glenn R. Croshaw, all of Virginia Beach.
Croshaw said there was no need to fix ``something that ain't broke,'' adding that businesses with a stake in the city's tourism industry opposed the voter-approved plan.
Copeland warned against second-guessing voters and the City Council. The changes in the electoral process were approved by 53 percent of the voters, and the council endorsed the same plan in a 6-5 decision.
``This is what the people asked for,'' Copeland said. ``Let's give them democracy.''
In other business:
Del. William P. Robinson Jr. warned that ``charter schools'' sought by Gov. George F. Allen would roll back the clock to days of separate-but-not-equal schools.
Robinson, who graduated from a segregated high school in Texas, said he found it hard to believe that Allen would want to divert $500,000 to schools exempt from many state regulations while cutting $52 million from public schools.
``I for one,'' Robinson said in a floor speech, ``will not stand by . . . and watch us march backwards into history.''
His remarks drew a swift reply from Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, a Newport News Republican and public school administrator who has introduced a charter schools bill of his own.
Hamilton pleaded with his colleagues to consider the concept on its merits. ``I have no intention of doing all those evil things that have been mentioned,'' he said.
The Senate has passed a bill that would create a Small Business Commission.
The 12-member panel would serve as a forum for small-business owners across the state. It would include six members of the House of Delegates, four Senators and two citizens.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Stanley Walker, D-Norfolk, resulted from a legislative commission's study of small business in Virginia.
The bill went Tuesday to the House.
Members of the Hampton Roads Caucus signed a resolution one hour before the deadline Monday, urging the federal government to consider construction of a high-speed rail line between the Southside and the Peninsula.
Do they really think it will happen?
``Well, not any time soon,'' acknowledged Virginia Beach Sen. Clarence A. Holland, chairman of the caucus. ``But we start now, and then, who knows?'' MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. by CNB