THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9510310077
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
MALCOLM GAINES hates party politics.
When Democrats pushed aside incumbent Clerk Bill Ryan earlier this year and endorsed Councilman W. Randy Wright for the job, Gaines knew he had to to run for office.
``I'm fed up with the political power structure battling in this city,'' Gaines says. ``The Democrats aren't concerned about this position (of clerk) per se. It's their ability to fill the position. . . .
``If they know they can put who they want, where and when they want, that's power. To be hung up on that power eliminates the integrity and concern for the people.''
Gaines also is not keen on Wright personally, as a councilman or a politician.
``He seems to be a nice gentleman,'' Gaines says. But ``his seeking of this position would be more self-serving, in my opinion. . . . Most of the time, Randy Wright takes a demagogic position. As a politician, he capitalizes on various issues.''
And so Gaines, 36, who runs a small construction business out of his home in Lamberts Point, entered politics for the first time.
Gaines became an independent candidate early on, after the Democrats endorsed Wright, but before the Republicans put up Albert Teich.
``I'm not one to stand back. I like to get involved,'' Gaines says.
As the youngest of the candidates, Gaines hopes he can pull young voters back into politics after years of alienation. He will try to do this, he acknowledges, with almost no money and no political organization behind him.
Gaines says he wants to attack the city's deepest problems - crime, idle youth, suburban flight - even though these are traditionally handled by the City Council, not the court clerk.
``I don't want to use the office as a political power. I want to use it as a pulpit,'' Gaines says. His message to youth is simple: ``You can do. You can excel.''
Gaines emphasizes his experience with kids. He has three sons, ages 8, 7 and 5, and he coaches youth-league football and basketball. He also works closely with other children in his neighborhood.
Gaines emphasizes his managerial experience in business, saying this would help him as clerk run an office of 45 to 50 employees.
Gaines holds a business degree from Norfolk State University and has managed work groups as sole proprietor of a construction business. He has managed large sums of money as business manager of St. Mary's Catholic Church and school from 1987 to 1990.
``That's the main thing that gives me the edge in this job,'' Gaines says. ``It's an administrative job with the city. It's not a policy-making position. It takes more management skills and personnel skills.''
He downplays Teich's experience as a lawyer, saying that that is not necessary to run the clerk's office.
``That's really being overplayed,'' Gaines says. ``Anybody with some management skills and the ability to read the Code of Virginia can run this office.''
But he also says Teich is the second-best candidate among the group. If Bill Ryan had run for re-election, Gaines says, he never would have entered the race.
``Bill Ryan has put together a good team there, and they're functioning well,'' he says.
Gaines says all the candidates except Wright are running for the right reasons. He hopes his own candidacy will dispel some of the cynicism in Norfolk politics.
``My presence can help alleviate some of this,'' Gaines says. ``It can bring a positive hope back to the city. . . . I plan on being full-time and overtime, to be a positive image. I want to be a part of what makes Norfolk great.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE COURT CLERK ELECTION NORFOLK by CNB