THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604130149
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Campaign Notebook
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
It's one thing to bring your kid on the campaign trail, it's another to bring your dog.
Donald F. Bennis, the only incumbent at-large two-year candidate for the School Board, has done both.
Bennis' 9-year-old daughter, Courtney, has been making appearances alongside her father, helping to pass out fliers and wow audiences.
One of the Bennis' dogs has also been called into service.
Jensen is a Golden retriever that Donald and Pam Bennis are raising as a community service project for K-9 Companions, a California-based group that places trained dogs with wheelchair-bound folks. The pooch made an appearance with Bennis at a recent Special Education Advisory Committee meeting.
Donald and Pam Bennis have already helped to raise and socialize two dogs for the Canine for Independence Program. Jensen is the couple's third dog in training.
- Lori A. Denney
Teacher on board?
One candidate for a four-year at-large School Board seat has been fielding a lot of questions lately about the relationship between his job and the office to which he's hoping to be elected.
Kempsville resident Mike Prokopchak is chair of the science department at Norfolk's Lake Taylor High School. When voters question him about a classroom teacher serving on a school board, his answer is brief and to the point.
``Doctors serve on medical boards, lawyers serve on law boards so it figures that educators ought to be serving on school boards,'' he tells them.
- Jo-Ann Clegg
Soscia big on giving blood
Louis R. Soscia Sr., another of the 15 candidates vying for a School Board at-large, two-year seat, is proud of the fact that since 1996 he's donated a total of 17 gallons of blood. That's, let's see, 68 quarts - 136 pints - 136 pounds!
``My blood is very good,'' explained the 74-year-old retired insurance sales manager who also does community outreach through the Kiwanis club, St. Nicholas Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus.
The father of six, Soscia has been married to his wife Mary for 46 years.
He doesn't want to see the schools' curricula cut because of the recent financial crisis.
As for campaigning, Soscia says he'll ``do bumper stickers,'' but ``won't go hog wild like some candidates.''
- Nancy Lewis
Candidates galore
Candidates nearly outnumbered residents at the North Virginia Beach Civic League election forum Tuesday night.
The forum was only for City Council candidates, but School Board candidates were there in mass. Twenty-two School Board hopefuls papered the auditorium at the A.R.E. with fliers, stickers and bumper stickers.
To enter the hall, residents had to negotiate a gantlet of candidates shoving campaign literature into their hands. Inside the auditorium, tables were laden with more literature. Stacks of fliers sat on auditorium chairs. To boot, 10 City Council candidates were there pushing their platforms.
Considering how many trees died in the name of campaigning, it was only appropriate that one of the more interesting exchanges of the evening concerned trees.
Specifically, a resident asked the candidates about Shore Drive and the city's plan to remove trees to make the corridor safer.
Only three candidates responded: Linwood O. Branch III (who is running unopposed) was in favor of the plan, while Robert K. Dean and Reba S. McClanan, both candidates for the Princess Anne Borough seat and both environmentalists, were against it.
``I've yet to see a tree jump out in front of a car and kill people,'' Dean said. That drew a big laugh.
McClanan took the opportunity to criticize the city's tree preservation policies.
``The city policies on tree protection and tree preservation have not held up very well,'' she said, using the new extension of South Plaza Trail as an example of poor tree protection.
An audience member then yelled out: ``Reba, trees don't vote.''
- Debbie Messina by CNB