THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512080190
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
Second effort at reform of council, School Board elections
The main complaint of the losers in the May 3, 1994, referendum was that a two-part question was asked. So for the second referendum in May 1996, City Council should have but didn't eliminate the part of the question which all the losers considered answered and asked only the second part, as it was, i.e.:
``Should the City Council request the General Assembly to amend the City's existing councilmanic electoral plan to provide for . . . seven (7) members to be elected only by the voters of their respective districts and three (3) members and the mayor to be elected by and from the City at large?''
It is unfair to repudiate an issue which a majority of the voters approved, and it is grossly unfair to try to defeat the majority vote by changing and skewering the question. The voters knew what they were voting on and should not be treated so shabbily.
Maurice B. Jackson, Chairman
Virginia Beach Citizens
for Electoral Reform
I'm one of the ``grumpy old men'' who have been working hard and long to reform Virginia Beach's electoral process for city councilmen by adopting the balanced district plan recommended by the mayor's blue-ribbon Committee on Re-apportionment in 1990. That's the plan to elect seven council members, each by his own district, plus four at-large members, including the mayor, by the entire city.
Some people have predicted all sorts of doom if this comes to pass. So, it looked like a good idea to see how some other successful cities go about electing their council mem-bers.
A book at the library titled Places Rated Almanac compares 343 cities on the basis of living costs, job outlook, housing, transportation, education, health care, crime, the arts, recreation and climate and ranks them accordingly. Another reference book called Facts About Cities gives vital statistics, including whether city council members are elected by district, at-large or by a balanced district plan.
Here's what it looks like among some of the higher-rated cities. The following elect their council members with a balanced plan similar to the plan we have proposed for Virginia Beach (rating is shown in parentheses): Philadelphia (3); Raleigh (6); Durham (7); Indianapolis (8); Salt Lake City (9); Ogden (9); Atlanta (12); Greensboro (18); Charlotte (100); Jacksonville (107); Fort Wayne (113). (Incidently, Fort Wayne was once used by pollsters and market researchers as the archetypical city in the U.S.)
The following cities elect their council members by district: Louisville (10); Cleveland (14); Milwaukee (34); Minneapolis (40).
The following cities elect their council members at-large: Seattle (2); Pittsburgh (5); Portland, OR (13); San Diego (16); San Francisco (18); Columbus (46); Virginia Beach (97).
It appears that, among the better cities of about the same size as Virginia Beach, more have a balanced district election system than either all-single-member districts or all at-large. Combining the all-single-member-district cities with the balanced-district cities, there is a clear majority over the all at-large cities.
Whether a city prospers or declines is the result of many variables, not the least of which is the quality of its leadership. I believe that the unique blend of land mass, demographics, concerned citizenry, military presence, infrastructure and economic activity which is known as Virginia Beach will benefit, and not suffer, from a change to the balanced district electoral system adopted by so many of the better cities.
Sheldon L. Corner
Virginia Beach
The balanced/district electoral system for Virginia Beach is a must. The voters already said once that they want it. It is an insult and undemocratic to dictate that they have to vote again on this issue.
Who logically is against the change? The answer is, those who have power or think they have power to influence election results. Let's look at specifics.
1. Under the present system, City Council and School Board members are all elected in an at-large system. The highest voter turnout in those elections has been around 22,000, about 13 percent of the registered voters. If a person, group or organization could control/influence as many as 22,000 voters, all 11 council and all 11 School Board positions could conceivably be predetermined.
Under a balanced district system, a person, group or organization would have to organize all seven boroughs and the at-large vote. This would be much more difficult. The change poses a loss of power, perceived or real, to those against the change.
2. The low voter turnout is a direct result of the totally at-large system. Ask the average Virginia Beach resident which City Council and School Board person is the elected representative for his district. My experience from working the polls and talking with citizens is that they do not know. The existing election and representative system is too complex and confusing, their representative is not closely involved with their district and therefore the potential voters simply do not care. Since voters in a district may not be able to determine their representative due to the at-large system, the voters' enthusiasm is dampened. Many get interested in and excited about the state and federal elections because the winning candidates will represent us. There is little wonder that the local enthusiasm for local offices is non-existent. Perhaps those who have or think they have power want a lower voter turnout because it will be easier to control/influence that smaller group of voters.
3. With the current at-large system, everyone is responsible for everything, right? NOT! The opposite is reality: Nobody is responsible for anything. The current School Board mess is a good example: Nobody is responsible for anything. All the citizens and taxpayers get is finger-pointing.
4. Who can afford or who would want to run for City Council or School Board when one has to run citywide? Why don't we have better-qualified and more knowledgeable candidates running? Do state office candidates have to run statewide or federal office candidates have to run countrywide (beside the top few positions)? Absolutely not. If the Virginia Beach at-large system is so good, why did state delegates and senators from the rest of the state voice astonishment and soundly vote against it in the General Assembly? Why aren't the state delegates and senators and the federal representatives and senators beating the drums so they can run statewide or countrywide? They do not want to do that, yet some would want you and me to have to run citywide in the most populated city in Virginia. Get the idea? (You probably need $20,000 to $60,000 totaly in personal and organizational support to get elected locally. Can you afford that?)
5. It is simply amazing and undemocratic that someone outside my district could determine who my representative will be. Can someone in Fairfax vote for and determine who my local state delegate and senator are? Can someone in North Carolina vote for and determine who the Virginia governor, my federal representative or senator is? Can a Canadian vote for and determine who the president and vice president are? There is no difference. The residents in my district are being denied the right to determine who our district representatives will be. This is undemocratic, should be unconstitutional and is plain dumb.
It is, in my opinion, largely a question of those who have power or think they have power trying to retain it. I encourage all Virginia Beach residents to vote for balanced districts in May 1996 if you want democracy and your vote to mean something.
Ben Krause
Virginia Beach by CNB