THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 15, 1996 TAG: 9604150071
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Some candidates for mayor and City Council are trying to capitalize on the city's expensive fight against an election lawsuit.
Hampton has spent close to $400,000 so far to fight a lawsuit filed last July by four residents who claim the current at-large system of electing the six council members discriminates against blacks by denying them fair representation on the City Council. They want a six-ward system instead.
The latest legal bill, for January, topped $105,000. It is the largest from McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, the law firm defending the city, since the suit was filed.
All but two candidates have vowed, if elected, to end the lawsuit and establish a six-ward system. Mayor James L. Eason and Councilwoman Ruthann Kellum support a plan, approved by the council last September, that combines wards with at-large seats.
Thomas J. Gear, a City Council candidate, says there are better ways to use the money being spent fighting the suit. ``That money would go a long way in helping the quality of life in Hampton,'' he said.
Sanford Pankin, a first-time candidate for City Council, supports abolishing the city's personal property tax. Money diverted from fighting the lawsuit could help accomplish that, Pankin contends.
For other candidates, the election issue is about principle as much as it is about money.
Mamie Locke, a council candidate and assistant dean at Hampton University, was one of the first citizens to charge that the at-large system discriminates against minorities. ``We were told this is a black-and-white issue,'' she said recently. ``This was never a black-and-white issue. This was about electing candidates of choice.''
In February, a federal judge struck down an attempt to change the at-large system to a ward plan and ordered the May elections to proceed as usual. Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr., a U.S. District judge in Norfolk, said his decision does not preclude the plaintiffs' lawsuit from going to trial in July.
Most candidates say they support settling the issue out of court. The plaintiffs have said that will happen only if the city agrees to a six-ward plan, or a plan based on the current School Board elections.
Any new election plan needs the approval of the General Assembly and the Justice Department. The earliest that could happen is 1997, City Attorney A. Paul Burton said. A federal judge could order the city to adopt a new election plan, but it would need Justice approval.
KEYWORDS: HAMPTON CITY COUNCIL WARD SYSTEM LAWSUIT by CNB