The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996               TAG: 9602020195
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN              PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: By KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER SUFFOLK 
                                             LENGTH: Long  :  109 lines

CANDIDATES GEARING UP FOR ELECTIONS IN MAY

City Council and School Board elections will be held May 7 for representatives from the Nansemond, Whaleyville and Sleepy Hole boroughs.

The filing deadline is 7 p.m. March 5. Citizens may register to vote until April 8. Motor-voter sites - places to vote without going to the registrar's office - will be available in March.

Here is a look at candidates who had declared their intentions by Feb. 1:

CITY COUNCIL

Three incumbents, a retired military officer, and the chairman of the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority will seek seats on city council.

Vice Mayor Curtis R. Milteer Sr., Richard R. Harris and Marian ``Bea'' Rogers will seek another term.

They are campaigning on a platform of improving economic development, and police and fire protection. The three also want to work on extending utilities to citizens.

Milteer, 65, is seeking his fifth term. In giving residents the opportunity to connect to city water and sewer lines, he said, economic development will follow.

``These services will help residents but will also help the city develop vacant land,'' said Milteer, who represents the Whaleyville borough.

Milteer, a site manager at SEVAMP, said he also wants to revitalize some of the older neighborhoods in Suffolk.

Rogers, 60, is seeking her second term on the council. She said she is interested in rebuilding some of the city's older schools.

Rogers also wants the city to look into building a tri-city facility with Franklin and Isle of Wight to house juvenile delinquents.

``Currently, any juveniles go to other localities because we do not have a place,'' said Rogers, who represents the Sleepy Hole borough. ``We went in successfully with Franklin and Isle of Wight to build a regional jail, and it worked well.''

Richard Harris, 50, said he wants to run government services more efficiently by consolidating some school and city departments. Harris also wants to form a closer relationship with the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

``We need to work with them because they will have better access to funds to improve Suffolk's housing stock,'' said Harris, who is seeking his second term. ``We need to clean up some of the blighted areas.''

Leroy Bennett and Bill Bishop are challenging Harris and Rogers, respectively.

Bennett, 57, is chairman of the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. He is seeking election in the Nansemond borough.

He said he wants to extend utilities to Suffolk citizens and build more recreational facilities.

Bennett is married and is general foreman at Newport News Shipping. A native of South Carolina, he has lived in Suffolk for almost 40 years.

Seeking election in the Sleepy Hole borough, Bishop, 58, wants to tackle improving residential growth and the revitalization of older neighborhoods in the city.

``I want to see larger lot sizes and a better grade of housing going up,'' said Bishop, who served in the Navy for more than 32 years. ``There are parts of Suffolk that look bad, and before we build more low-cost housing we need to renovate what we have.''

Bishop, a Tennessee native, said he has seen how other city governments work, and he wants to run Suffolk more efficiently.

``I want to make government more open to the citizens,'' said Bishop, who has lived in Sleepy Hole for 12 years.

Bishop, who is married, managed the Suffolk Municipal Airport for seven years.

SCHOOL BOARD

Announced candidates are Arthur D. Smith, School Board chairman; and John R. Riddick, both seeking the Nansemond Borough seat.

Smith has served on the board since 1992 and has been chairman since 1993.

He is an administrator at the Chesapeake campus of Tidewater Community College.

Riddick, retired from Newport News Shipbuilding, served on the School Board from 1975 to 1981, then representing the Cypress Borough.

In the Sleepy Hole Borough, Clarice Johnson announced that she will not seek re-election. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Richard R. Harris

``Bea'' Rogers

Leroy Bennett

Curtis Milteer Sr.

Bill Bishop

graphic

WANT TO RUN?

All city council candidates must obtain a candidacy packet from

the State Board of Elections in Richmond. It includes a declaration

of candidacy, a petition form - on which candidates must obtain 125

signatures from residents in the borough from which the candidate

seeks election - a statement of economic interest and a candidate

qualification form.

Anyone wishing to run for City Council or the School Board must

be a Suffolk resident living in the borough in which they are

seeking election, and must have lived in Virginia for a year prior

to running for election.

Additionally a candidate must be at least 18 by the May 1996

election; be a registered voter (felons or persons ever deemed

mentally incompetent by a court are forbidden to run); and be a U.S.

citizen.

Candidacy packets must be filed with the registrar's office in

Suffolk by 7 p.m. March 5.

For more information, call the State Board of Elections in

Richmond at 1-800-552-9745.

by CNB