THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150487
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
Virginia Beach Del. Robert Tata was in no mood to celebrate Tuesday afternoon, even though civic league members swarmed around and patted him on the back.
Tata had just won Senate committee approval of changes in the Virginia Beach charter that would reapportion the city's seven boroughs and provide for a modified ward system for City Council and School Board elections.
But Tata conceded that the bill, which has cleared the House of Delegates, lacks the legs to make it through the Senate.
Two of Virginia Beach's three senators are dead-set against the modified ward system, even though it was endorsed by 53 percent of city voters in an advisory referendum last May.
Because the Senate traditionally looks for direction from hometown representatives on local matters, Virginia Beach Sens. Clarence A. Holland and Kenneth W. Stolle could doom the bill when it comes up for a floor vote later this week.
Chesapeake Sen. Mark L. Earley, whose district includes a portion of Virginia Beach, favors the plan. by CNB