THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270212
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Following are remarks Virginia Beach Treasurer John Atkinson made Tuesday night before City Council during the public hearing on redistricting.
Madam Mayor, members of Council: I approached redistricting as a personal academic exercise, with no intention of making a presentation. It wasn't until the Virginian-Pilot story on Sunday (``Two plans submitted to alter map of city's voting districts,'' The Beacon, Oct. 22) that I realized there are only two proposals to date. On Monday, I was asked to explain my approach to you.
I would like to thank (City Attorney) Les Lilley, (Assistant City Attorney) John Neuhart, (Director of Planning) Bob Scott, (Planning Department members) Jolilda Saunders and Jan Dool, without whose help this presentation could not be made.
Redistricting to equalize the boroughs was a mandate by the General Assembly, and the only task I focused on. I did read Justice Douglas' delivery of the Supreme Court's opinion in Dusch vs. Davis, which gave me insight as to how our current makeup of council occurred. It is this opinion which explains why we currently meet the Justice Department's requirements for one man, one vote. Accordingly, I attempted to do nothing that would affect our status under the Voting Rights Act.
It was interesting to note that the disparity in population at the time of the merger, in 1963, was similar to what exists today.
I first inventoried what I thought were the common assets of the city, those unique geographical elements which are valuable to very citizen and upon which our present and future tax base is dependent.
Second, I concluded that under majority-rule government, these assets - the city's ``cash cows'' - are too valuable to be represented by only one city councilman and could be better managed if they were shared by as many city councilmen as possible. After all, it does, and will and in the future, require six votes to make all decisions affecting this city. This approach attempts to recognize the interdependence of the different geographical areas of the city and eliminates the creation of individually controlled fiefdoms should a ward system be adopted in the future.
Third came drawing the lines which contained the necessary number of citizens. This magic number is 56,153 plus or minus 5%, or 58,961 on the high side and 53,345 on the low side. Thanks to fine-tuning by Jolilda Saunders and Jan Dool, all of my districts fall within the desired limits.
Beyond that, I concentrated on creating multiple representation for the five ``cash cows.'' They are our Atlantic and Chesapeake (Bay) shorelines, the military bases, the Central Business District, the industrial parks and the agricultural area. I assumed that maintaining neighborhood integrity and other concerns would be addressed and fine-tuned by others.
Analysis of my map shows that four councilmen would represent our eroding shoreline. Three have military bases in their districts; this could easily be changed to four if it was deemed desirable. At least four would represent areas of intense industrial development, four would represent the Central Business District and two the agricultural area.
This approach guarantees diverse representation for the city, a sharing of responsibilities, a good understanding of the entire city the majority of council. And it attempts to address the political fact of life: that it takes a majority to govern. by CNB