THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 28, 1995 TAG: 9511280303
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf stopped short Monday night of saying she would run for a third term in May.
But her eyes lit up at the suggestion, and at the thought of the roughly 250 people who turned out, checks in hand, for a fund-raiser in her honor.
Oberndorf said she hosted the event, the first of the 1996 election season, to gauge public support for another bid at the job she has held for eight years, longer than anyone else in the city's history.
Not only was there enough support to make the mayor smile, but many said the diversity of the crowd marked a dramatic change in Virginia Beach politics.
Sheriff Frank Drew, who helped organize the party, said he had never seen so many people of different backgrounds and political interests in the same room.
``This is the greatest mix I have ever seen together in Virginia Beach,'' Drew gushed.
The guests included some strong supporters of Oberndorf's rival in the 1992 mayoral campaign, Mark S. Bailey, as well as some longtime opponents on the City Council. All 10 of her fellow council members lent their names to the reception invitation, to show their willingness to support Oberndorf's re-election bid.
That unanimity is a reflection of the council's new emphasis on consensus, which many credit to Oberndorf. Most important votes over the last 18 months have been unanimous, or nearly so, a marked change from the days when almost every key issue saw a 5-6 split.
A few of the council members at Monday's fund-raiser - Louis R. Jones, Harold Heischober, John A. Baum - are the same ones Oberndorf had to circumvent to become mayor, back in the days when city election laws called for council members to appoint the mayor. More popular with city residents than with her peers, Oberndorf convinced voters to change the law so she could win the seat.
Oberndorf, who used to be criticized by business leaders for taking the ``popular'' stance over what they saw as the ``right'' one, said she thinks she's finally shed her cheerleader image for one with a little more substance.
``You can have your own particular philosophy, but to make it all work in the long run, you have to pull together,'' she said. ``That doesn't mean we don't have disagreements, but we do it like a family, we do it quietly, internally, and we work together.''
Council member W.W. Harrison Jr. said the mayor's leadership at building consensus convinced him to support her re-election effort, even though she campaigned hard against him last year.
``She's always done a great job in terms of being a representative of the city, but now she's actually leading the council in important majority votes, and I think that's why all the members of council are actively supporting her re-election,'' Harrison said.
``I just don't think that there's this business-civic league division that ``Now, we're seeing things like Lake Gaston and the amphitheater and the outdoors plan being supported by all the citizens of Virginia Beach,'' he said.
Council member Barbara M. Henley said she interprets Monday's turnout as a sign of support for the direction the council's been heading. But she's not so sure the unanimity is permanent.
Council members are working together now, Henley said, because they don't have contentious rezoning issues to drive them apart. Once the pace of development picks up, Henley said, those tensions may rise again.
``When we get Lake Gaston and Oceana and the new folks coming back, that'll be the test,'' she said.
The fund-raiser, held at the Sheraton Hotel at the Oceanfront, was also intended to serve as a warning to anyone who might consider running against Oberndorf, Vice Mayor W.D. Sessoms Jr. said.
Just counting the pledges of 56 donors mentioned on the event's invitation, Oberndorf can count on $29,000.
``I'd caution anyone that's going to consider running against Meyera that she's a pretty popular mayor and probably has broader support now than she ever has,'' Sessoms said.
The only person who has been seriously mentioned as a contender for the mayor's race said Monday that he does not plan to run.
Michael J. Barrett, president of The Runnymede Corp., a Virginia Beach development firm, said he was flattered by talk of him running for office, but it isn't true.
``I really was never a candidate for the position,'' said Barrett. ``I am not a candidate and I don't have any plans to be a candidate. . . I wish the mayor well.''
Harrison, almost giddy over the size of the crowd he helped generate, said Oberndorf may end up running unopposed.
``She's unbeatable with this kind of support,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by JIMMY WALKER, The Virginian-Pilot
Joan and Tom Lyon helped organize Monday's fund-raiser for Meyera
Oberndorf, right. The pledges of 56 donors mentioned on the event's
invitation totaled $29,000.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH MAYOR by CNB