THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270225
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: On the Street
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Some wise old soul, probably a Southerner, once said:
``If it ain't broke, don't fix it.''
The reference could apply to a lot of local things.
One that comes to mind is the existing system of voting districts by which Virginia Beach residents elect their City Council representatives.
Despite the wisdom of the adage, it seems that the system is about to be ``fixed,'' come hell or high water.
Under a mandate from the General Assembly - resulting from a local May 1994 referendum - the city is about to ``equalize'' its seven boroughs, which range in population from 1,000 to 150,000.
That means redrafting district lines to combine less populous boroughs such as Pungo and Blackwater - and probably the Beach Borough - with chunks of larger ones like Kempsville, Princess Anne and Lynnhaven to produce districts with populations roughly 50,000 in number.
That way, proponents of the change argue, everybody gets equal representation - at least on paper.
What it also does, and supporters pooh-pooh this argument as wrong-headed, is bury the interests of smaller segments of the population - such as the farmers in Pungo and Blackwater or the resort merchants in the Beach Borough.
But this is a done deal. All that remains is a council decision on how to redraw borough lines.
Next on the agenda is a council vote next May on whether to change the way city residents actually vote for their council candidates and eventually their School Board candidates.
Basically, they will have two choices:
Stay with an at-large system, whereby anybody living anywhere in the city can vote for all 11 council seats.
Go to a ``ward'' system, whereby residents of a particular district - say Kempsville - would be limited to voting for one borough or ``ward'' council candidate and four at-large candidates, including one for mayor.
In future council elections, this would mean every voter in the city would lose six ballot choices they now have.
Backers of the ``ward'' system say it would benefit both constituents and candidates.
First, they say, borough residents would have greater influence over a ward council member, because his or her loyalty and actions would depend upon the wants and needs of borough voters.
Second, borough candidates would not have to spend the big bucks now being spent to campaign for an at-large council seat, thereby giving the ``little'' guy a better shot at being elected.
While there may be little chance of keeping the present borough or voting district boundaries, Virginia Beach residents still have a chance to avoid trading the 11 ballot choices they now enjoy in council elections for five allowed in a ward system.
How can less be more?
How can a candidate, who is hemmed in by the parochial interests of one borough, see the big picture? How can he or she be expected to act for the general good of the entire city?
The answer is he or she can't - and get re-elected.
Just how all this eventually shakes out depends upon the wording of the issue on the May ballot. And that is to be decided in November by present council members. by CNB