THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020449
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
The City Council on Tuesday approved a schedule for its transformation from a body based on geography into one in which each borough member represents the same number of residents.
The General Assembly decided this spring that the council's current structure doesn't provide adequate representation for Virginia Beach residents.
Under the current system, four members are elected at large and seven must live in boroughs that range in population from under 1,000 to over 150,000.
All city voters can vote for all council members now. But an advisory referendum, scheduled by the General Assembly for next May, would ask Beach residents whether they think those district members should continue to be elected by voters citywide, or just by those in their own wards.
Several council members have argued that the current system makes sense because it helps reflect the city's diversity. Farmers and resort residents, who now have three council representatives, stand to lose all or some of those voices under the new plan.
State legislators, however, have sided with a group of civic leaders who argue that the present system contradicts the premise of one man, one vote.
Those citizens were upset when a candidate won the most votes in Lynnhaven Borough but was not elected as its representative because he did not garner enough votes citywide.
Because changing the districts is so complicated and requires the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice, the new system won't be in place until at least 1998, City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley told the council Tuesday.
After the 2000 U.S. Census, the process might have to begin again to account for population shifts since the previous Census, he said.
To meet the state's demand for equal-size boroughs and a referendum, the council must draw up new districts and the ballot language by Dec. 5, Lilley said.
The council unanimously approved the working schedule Lilley suggested.
Key dates on that schedule:
Aug. 8: The city should hire Election Data Services to assist the council in designing the new districts and receiving clearance from the Justice Department to make the change.
Aug. 15-Oct. 10: Council members and citizens should draw up their proposed districts.
Oct. 30: Council should hold a public hearing on proposed plans, submit a preclearance package of information to the Justice Department and approve the question to be placed on May's ballot.
Nov. 7: The council should hold a night public hearing on all the plans.
Dec. 5: The council should adopt its preferred plan.
After the May referendum, the council members will have to decide whether to heed the advice of the voters or make their own decision about moving to a ward system. The General Assembly will make the final determination in its 1997 session, subject to approval by the Justice Department, Lilley said.
To allow implementation of equally sized districts, the council members representing the Princess Anne, Blackwater and Beach Boroughs, who are all up for election next year, will run for two-year instead of three-year terms.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL by CNB