THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100251
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 132 lines
The gap widened Monday between supporters and detractors of Councilman W. Randy Wright in his bid to become clerk of Circuit Court.
On one hand, 25 Democratic supporters gathered at the courthouse to denounce Wright's Republican opponent, Albert Teich Jr., for ``inflaming . . . the race issue.''
About half were black, including Councilman Herbert Collins and state Dels. William Robinson and Jerrauld Jones. About half, including City Treasurer Joseph Fitzpatrick, were white.
``As a member of the Public Housing Task Force,'' said William E. Swindell Jr., who is black, ``I am disturbed by the introduction of race in this political contest by the Republican candidate. His thinly veiled use of code words only serve to fan the flames of racial discord during this tenuous period.''
On the other hand, Councilman Paul Riddick, who is black and did not attend the gathering, said Wright, who is white, created his own problems by making ``insulting'' and ``damaging'' remarks last week at a City Council meeting.
``Al Teich didn't raise the race issue,'' Riddick said. ``It was already there. . . The race issue was already raised when you've got Randy Wright in the campaign.''
Wright's supporters originally said Riddick would attend the courthouse meeting, and Wright later said Riddick could not make it because of business.
But Riddick, who was among Wright's earliest supporters, said he did not attend because ``I just did not support the effort. . . Randy is a big boy and we don't have to wipe his mouth every time he makes a mistake.''
The courthouse gathering was an unusual spectacle: a mixed-race group of 25 people clustered tightly on the courthouse steps facing busy St. Paul's Boulevard, for the benefit of TV and newspaper cameras, on a day when the court was closed for Columbus Day.
Robinson said the group was called together to ``set the record straight'' on Wright's remarks.
The controversy began last week when the Census Bureau announced that Norfolk was among the biggest population losers in the country. The city has lost 20,000 residents in the past five years.
At a council meeting last Tuesday, Wright said this was mainly because of military downsizing, but also because Norfolk has intentionally demolished lower-income, higher-density areas.
In doing so, Wright said, the city has ``cut down on quantity and gone for quality.''
Later, Wright said he was referring to houses, not people.
But Teich, his opponent, pounced on the remark Friday, calling it ``elitist'' and ``anti-democratic.'' He said Wright ``wants to get rid of the lower-income people in the city of Norfolk and send them somewhere else.''
He did not explicitly say this was a racial issue, but the neighborhoods demolished in recent years, except for East Ocean View, have been mostly black.
On Monday, Wright and his supporters denounced Teich for raising the race issue.
Don Williams, a white Ocean View civic leader, said, ``It shows how desperate the Republican party is. They're trying to foster hate and discontent.''
Horace Downing, a black Berkley civic leader, said Teich ``took one or two words and blew it out of proportion.''
Jones said Teich's remarks were typical of Republican distortions nationwide.
Collins said there is ``no attempt to run the poor out of this city.''
Later, Collins added, ``I'm not saying there aren't racial intentions with the population shift, but it's not coming from the council.'' He blamed city administrators for being insensitive to minorities.
But Riddick, reached at the funeral home he operates, said Wright's statements last week were insulting.
``While I think he would be an excellent clerk,'' Riddick said. ``I do believe the statements that were made were very damaging. This is the second time Randy has made statements that were insulting to the black community.''
The first, Riddick said, was in February when Wright said he wants the clerk to be active in civic affairs, like predecessors Hugh Stovall and William Prieur. Prieur was a Norfolk Democratic boss from the statewide Byrd political machine.
Riddick said Wright's candidacy introduced race into the election, since Wright had upset many blacks with such actions as leading the opposition to Calvary Revival Church on Little Creek Road in 1993 and 1994.
Two independent candidates for clerk - Ben Rogerson and Malcolm Gaines - said they distrust both Wright and the Democratic Party.
``I wouldn't believe anything Randy says,'' said Rogerson, a white former police captain who runs his own private security firm. ``I don't believe he tells the truth. He talks out of both sides of his mouth.''
Gaines, who is black and runs a small construction firm, said, ``It's a shame even our black leaders in the community, and our Democratic leaders, are helping to deceive the people in this manner. He (Wright) is not a true Democrat. . . They just want the Democratic candidate to win, so they're blindly behind him.''
Teich continued to deny that he introduced race into the campaign.
``In no way, shape or form have I used the word `race,' '' Teich said Monday. ``I talked about the poor. There are poor white people and poor black people. It's his (Wright's) effort to inject race into the campaign.''
ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by TAMARA VONINSKI
Norfolk Councilman W. Randy Wright, running for clerk of Circuit
Court, hands out copies of statement he says his GOP foe
misrepresented.
Color photo
Councilman Paul Riddick
B\W photo
William E. Swindell Jr.
Graphic
WHAT WRIGHT SAID
A partial transcript of Oct. 3 remarks by Councilman W. Randy
Wright to the City Council on the city's declining population:
``The declining population comments that seem to become so
prevalent, when you really analyze and evaluate them, you find that
the large percent of that is cutbacks in the military and the other
part of that is that we've made a conscious decision that our city
has been somewhat overpopulated, that density is a problem and I
think any of us that live in the Ocean View corridor would attest
that too many units per acre have been built and people have lived
in them and that's a problem we've had to deal with there.
``It's a problem that we've dealt with in other places and I
would submit to you that if you were to look at some of the things
that we've done that has lessened the density, we've cut down on
quantity and gone for quality, and that's part of what we've tried
to do in the city, and we've done that in downtown Norfolk to some
extent.''
KEYWORDS: CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT RACE ELECTION CANDIDATE by CNB