THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, April 15, 1995               TAG: 9504150296
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                         LENGTH: Medium:   56 lines

COUNCIL MEMBERS TO PICK FILL-IN UNTIL NOV. ELECTION

In November, voters will have their say on who should succeed Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer.

Meanwhile, the City Council has 30 days to appoint a temporary replacement, City Attorney Ronald S. Hallman said.

``There is no restriction on who they can choose,'' Hallman said. He added that a simple majority will determine who fills the seat.

That majority is now held by Republicans, who now have five out of nine seats. Two Democrats and one independent hold the remaining positions.

Once the appointment is made, council members will decide who will be named vice mayor.

The appointee will serve until Nov. 7, when Chesapeake will hold a special election for Dwyer's seat.

The winner of that election will serve until the May elections, when Dwyer's term would have expired.

The city charter requires that all discussions on council appointments be done publicly, Hallman said.

The city's charter used to allow an appointed council member to stay on until the term expired.

In 1990, the City Council appointed Sherry Simmons to the council after Mayor David I. Wynne stepped down. Wynne had been convicted of felony fraud charges; the conviction was overturned last year.

Simmons did not face voters until last year, when she was defeated in the May council elections.

Most council members contacted Friday declined to speculate on who might fill Dwyer's council seat. Councilman Robert T. Nance said the council will need to decide when the process should begin; Mayor William E. Ward said the council will first need to meet with Hallman.

In an interview Friday, Del. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, pointed to Dalton Edge as a ``great candidate'' to succeed Dwyer.

Edge, a farmer who ran on the same ticket as Dwyer, was the seventh highest vote-getter in citywide elections for six seats last May.

Whoever is chosen will have a say in selecting the next vice mayor.

Hallman said the council will vote on its next vice mayor, but only after the vacant seat is filled.

``I think each member of council has to recommit himself to serving citizens in a unified manner,'' Ward said. ``I'm appealing to council members to close ranks during this dark period and let us move on united. The city is larger than any one individual.'' MEMO: Main story on page A1.

KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENT RESIGNATION

VACANCY by CNB