THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020416
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
Two of the candidates come out of the Beach's business community. The other pair comes from its grass roots.
But as Beach citizens ponder who they should send to the City Council's open at-large seat, there is more at stake than the difference between a car dealer and a Little League coach.
All four candidates have markedly different styles, aspirations and track records. All four would add different qualities as the 11th man on a council that has worked better together than any in the city's recent history.
First, the businessmen:
Harold Heischober, 76, has spent more than 12 years on the council, two as Virginia Beach's mayor. He works well with the current council and prides himself on getting the job done.
A one-time minor-league ballplayer, Heischober has helped guide younger council members since he was appointed last year to replace John Moss. When the council couldn't find a new location for the Social Services Department, Heischober used his business connections to resolve a parking problem that allowed construction on the current - and least controversial - site.
Richard P. Anoia, 38, fits the stereotype of a hotel owner - he has the flexibility, patience and self-control to get along with everyone, even the most obnoxious guests. Anoia is a leader at the Oceanfront, but he has positioned himself as a political outsider who ``knows how you feel when someone doesn't listen to you.''
He works 80 to 90 hours a week during the seven months of the year his Windjammer Motel is open; then he spends five months relaxing, volunteering and working odd jobs. That crazy schedule has taught him discipline, self-sacrifice and budgeting, he said.
The diversity is no less remarkable between the civic leaders.
Robert C. Spadaccini, 38, a collection manager for a law firm, got his start in politics fighting for ball fields for his son's Little League organization. Spadaccini, who ran unsuccessfully for the Kempsville council seat in 1994, hates ``insider'' politics and promises to be an anti-tax voice for average people.
Louis Miles Pace, 61, a salesman of key-making equipment, attends almost every council meeting to rail against city spending. Pace has run in six elections in the past 12 years - vying for three council seats, a spot in the state legislature, the mayor's job and clerk of court.
A Don Quixote-type, tilting at the windmill of local government, Pace believes every candidate should have a challenger.
His dream in life is to eliminate personal property taxes, though he spends $10 a year to put the vanity plate ``VT4PACE'' on his '87 El Camino.
All four candidates say the city needs to control development.
Heischober served on the council when many of the subdivisions and strip malls that people complain about were approved. But now, Heischober, who voted for farmland preservation, thinks growth needs to be carefully managed.
Anoia, once again, is the voice of moderation. ``It has to be something in the middle,'' he said. ``We can't have uncontrolled growth, we can't have no growth.'' He said the Agricultural Reserve Program benefits too few people, but he favors protection of land south of the Green Line, the southern boundary of city water and sewer services.
Spadaccini also talks about reaching the right mix between development and preservation, but he thinks the council has leaned too far toward the business community. ``We're paying for that now,'' he said, with ugly roads, traffic jams and the water shortage.
Pace, who got involved in politics after a nearby strawberry field was torn up to build Strawbridge Shopping Center, said the city promotes too much development by paying for office parks like Corporate Landing and tourism draws like the amphitheater. Without those spending drains, the city could cut taxes and spend more to solve social problems, he said.
Two of the candidates have ``pet'' projects they want to accomplish while in office; two don't.
Heischober wants to build a multipurpose stadium that could house major league soccer.
``It takes six or more council members to get anything done,'' Heischober said. ``However, I . . . was asked to carry the ball on this, and I will get all the facts on the table and give council my best recommendation.''
Pace repeats like a mantra his commitment to dismantling taxes on cars, mobile homes and boats.
But Spadaccini says he'll simply do the people's business while on council (though he'd still like the ball fields for the Green Run Little League), and Anoia said he's ``coming to council without a list of priorities in my pocket,'' or any pressing issues he wants to resolve.
Their campaign techniques also differ vastly.
As of Monday, Heischober had raised $43,469 and spent $36,329. He has blanketed the city with lawn signs and has run regular full-page newspaper ads. Heischober, who hand-wrote 400 letters asking for financial contributions, earned the endorsement of most of the main-stream city organizations, including the Virginia Beach Education Association, the coalition of police groups, and the Filipino American Community Action Group.
Anoia has done well for a first-time candidate, but lost many of the big-business contributors to Heischober. He raised $22,251 and spent $16,885, mostly on signs and half-page newspaper ads. He earned no major endorsements.
Spadaccini also has had trouble raising money. He has received $1,902 in contributions, and, with the help of a personal loan, spent $2,272. But he has done well with endorsements, receiving the support of the local firefighters union and the Republican Caucus, a group independent of the local Republican Party.
Pace believes he - and other average citizens - should be able to win public office without spending big bucks. To prove his point, he neither raised nor spent a dime in his first campaign. This time, his only contribution was a $10 bill he applied to an old campaign debt.
Ever the optimist, Pace isn't discouraged by his lack of official support. ``The seventh (race) will be the charm,'' he predicts. by CNB