THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605020179
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 474 lines
Much has been written about the School Board fiasco. Many agreed with the grand jury's report and some did not. A few said that it was too harsh. This was about a reckless waste of about $12 million. Too harsh? I think not.
Some would write that it would take at least one to three years of on-the-job training to be able to perform your job as a member of the School Board. In one to three years they could lose another $12 million. Any manager that does not know how to ask tough questions and get straight answers should not be in that position.
Mark Twain once said, ``God created idiots and that was just for practice, then he created the School Board.'' Now I don't believe that applies to all School Boards or all members of the board. However, sometimes his humorous statements have some shades of truth.
Those that serve on the board should know how to deal with bureaucrats. All bureaucrats are cut from the same cloth - federal, state or local. They all spend tax dollars supposedly to support all citizens. If they run short of money their fellow politicians will just raise taxes to give them what they want. This is nothing new.
It is true that some civic-minded people have served on the School Board. However, if you cannot ask tough questions on spending vs. needs and availability of funds, then maybe you should do your civic duties in another area. We have to remember that the superintendent of schools and his staff are in the business of spending not making more money as in private enterprise.
I don't mean to imply that all bureaucrats are incompetent or dishonest because they are not. But at times they do need some close overview of the direction they are heading and the amount of money they are spending to get there. The School Board should see that the superintendent provides a good education for our children with the least amount of money necessary to do the job.
It is my strong belief that our elected school board was elected by the National Education Association (NEA) and its various affiliates. The NEA is one of the most radical left wing groups in this country. This is one of the reasons that I do no favor elected school boards. I would caution voters to take a critical look at candidates that have strong support from various unions. I would also strongly recommend that everyone get out and vote.
James E. Laughlin
April 16
As a citizen of Virginia Beach, I feel I must state a few facts concerning the Virginia Beach schools:
1. The schools in Virginia Beach are excellent!
2. The schools became excellent through a joint effort of concerned citizens on the School Board, caring superintendents and administrative personnel, dedicated teachers and principals, and volunteers at the schools.
3. The schools did not become excellent because of the efforts of the mayor, City Council or Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Humphreys.
4. The City Council members were the first to jump up and say we had nothing to do with the overspending.
5. The City Council members were the first to start pointing fingers and appearing on the front page of the newspaper daily concerning events of the school system.
6. The City Council members are also the first to jump out and take credit for the many positive things going on in the school system.
7. Mr. Humphreys appears to have much wrongdoing occurring in his office daily.
Conclusion: Mr. Humphreys was correct in calling for resignations, he just asked for the wrong people to resign. The members of City Council should be asked to resign by Mr. Humphreys 10 minutes prior to him submitting his own resignation. Now if you want to see positive change in a city, this would do it.
My thanks to the school board members past and present for a job well done!
Aubrey Spruill Dean or McClanan? You must decide
I am president of the Shoreham Court Home Owners Association and I stay active in community affairs. When specific issues arose that effected our community, I contacted Reba McClanan. I have always found that Reba was extremely knowledgeable, very professional, responsive and a major force in improving the quality of life for Virginia Beach residents. She demonstrated that she cares for our citizens. I endorse her for City Council
Jacob Thompson
April 25
In these days of big city projects that eat up our taxes and turn our landscape into concrete we are lucky to have an environmentalist in City Hall. Robert Dean's role has been to keep Virginia Beach beautiful, despite those who are anxious to build the slums of tomorrow.
Dean not only talks sense, but he goes out with people and physically helps clean up our waterways and wild places. Surely, we won't turn back to those super-development days that have caused problems.
His opponent, who ran against the mayor with the help of business interests and now seeks to defeat one of the few council persons who stand in the way of the bulldozers, seems to have lost her early populist appeal.
Let's show the world that Virginia Beach isn't going back to the old, wasteful ways. Vote for Dean.
Edward F. Bacon
April 18
I had only one tangle with Mr. Robert Dean
The subject: overpopulating raccoons on the scene.
I asked for his assistance to help educate the voters,
Some citizens would catch raccoons, some feed the furry floaters.
We're out of cages constantly was the city's new report.
It's best you have your own to use if you live in the resort.
I tried in vain the subject of rabies in raccoons.
``Dogs have it, too,'' was his retort - perhaps he spoke too soon.
All I ask of you, I pleaded, is to let the public know.
Since environment is your big bag, you could surely make a show.
Here Mr. Dean began to speak of the future and the woe,
That some day all our children will never ever know
Just what a raccoon looked like if we chase them all away.
Then, of course, he said that he would check and call back another day.
I guess the point I'm making has happened to us all.
After getting into office, members promise, then don't call.
I've never heard from Robert Dean, a fact I can't forget.
So I'll cast my vote McClanan. Reba's sure a better bet!
Barbara A. Fahey
April 15
Robert Dean has been a long-standing advocate for Virginia Beach. Before his election to Virginia Beach City Council in 1992, he noticed many needs the community had and took action.
Dean has witnessed and challenged the uncontrolled growth of the '80s and recognizes that Virginia Beach's future lies in maintaining reasonable growth. Rather than wholesale construction, he has supported the concept that neighborhoods that are in decline in Virginia Beach should be targeted for redevelopment and renovation.
Robert Dean is the best choice for Princess Anne borough and the future of Virginia Beach.
Daniel A. Baxter
April 3 Tate, Miles snub voters
The ``How to choose a School Board candidate'' article published as part of the Virginia Beach Beacon on April 26 was extremely helpful to me as a registered voter. I commend all the candidates for telling us where they stand with respect to the education of our children.
I was, however, disappointed that unopposed candidates Arthur Tate and Delceno Miles chose not to share their views. As a Virginia Beach citizen, I will be electing a school board team. It is important that I have access to all positions in order to effectively vote.
Part of ``learning the job'' is communicating with your constituents. Let us hear from you before the election, whether you need my endorsement or not.
Dolores M. Firnstahl
April 26
Once again the Virginian-Pilot (April 26 Beacon) has demonstrated its commitment to informing the citizens of Virginia Beach on the issues involved in the forthcoming election and the positions of the individual candidates for the School Board. For the most part, each candidate made a good faith effort to articulate his/her position on each issue posed by the Beacon.
The notable exception was Mr. Tate who is running unopposed for the Virginia Beach seat. Since Mr. Tate did not seek endorsements, he chose not to answer the Beacon's questions. In short, he has it locked up. We know little about him except his age, address and place of employment. His qualifications for a seat on the school board remain unclear. He asks that we accept him on blind faith devoid of any knowledge of where he stands on important issues that impact our children and the community at large.
I, for one, will not vote for Mr. Tate. I hope that other members of the Virginia Beach community will recognize his intellectual arrogance and political ineptness for what they demonstrate, namely a lack of qualification for elected office and that they too will send a message to Mr. Tate that his silence insults the electorate.
Ralph W. Furtner
April 26 Don't park buses here
Over the past few years much has been said about the parking of Big-Ugly-Yellow-School-Buses in the residential neighborhoods of Virginia Beach.
Other then the benefit to the driver, there is no value added to any community to have a traffic hazard, unsafe, noisy, smoky, school bus transiting their streets and cul-de-sacs, which were never designed to accommodate such vehicles on a routine basis, and then have this unsightly behemoth parked in front of your home.
For your information, the following School Board candidates have declared in writing that they will support regulations to stop the practice of allowing school buses to be parked in our residential neighborhoods:
2-Year at Large: Charles ``Don'' Clark, Patricia L. Burns, Donald F. Bennis, Louis R. Soscia, James A. Grace, Daniel D. Edwards, A.A. ``Al'' Wallace III.
4-Year at Large: Joshua F. Edwards, Raymond D. Beck, Vernon H. Fix, Steven M. Emmanuel, George R. Melnyk.
Blackwater Borough: Delceno Miles
S. Paul Hamaker
April 2 Vote YES on question
Concerning the ward-system question to appear on our May 7 ballot, Bill Reed's ``On the Street'' column of April 14 has perhaps helped to expose some of the misguided thinking and delusive efforts of a small group of obsessed activists who call themselves ``Citizens for Electoral Reform.''
It's strange that these citizens term themselves ``for electoral reform,'' because they are obstinately attempting to inflict upon our city a system of municipal government - wards - which was soundly rejected many years ago by the greatest urban political reform movement in our history. That historical reform movement specifically recognized the corruptibility, divisiveness and parochialism of ward systems and resulted in the adoption of at-large voting systems by a large majority of America's cities, particularly in the newer and middle-sized cities such as Virginia Beach. In fact, by the 1980s, only 12 percent of cities in the 250,000 to 500,000 population group employed a ward system (source: Thomas R. Cye's ``Politics in States and Communities,'' 1985 ed.)
In Virginia Beach, we certainly do not want to encourage the graft, collusions, pork-barreling, log-rolling, short-sightedness, provincialism and machine politics that ward systems facilitate. And, as Mr. Reed's article notes would happen if the proposed ward system were adopted, we voters most certainly do not want to lose six of our current 11 Council and School Board votes and see our ``voting influence shrink to half its present status'' (actually less than half).
To quote an appropriate phrase from a previous Beacon editorial (Feb. 1): ``If you want a loud voice in local government, vote `Yes.' If you want just a tiny squeak, vote `No.' '' I'm sure a large majority of us voters will recognize this somewhat insidious threat to our voting rights and will ``Vote Yes.''
James F. Willenbrink
April 14
I must take exception to the letter from James R. Campbell in the April 28 Beacon where he states that the recently redrawn voting districts are also school attendance districts. This is untrue. The school attendance zones (districts) are drawn by the school administration in an effort to equalize the student loads at each elementary, middle and high school. Factors such as school location, population distribution and the availability of facilities and equipment are considered when the school attendance zones (districts) are drawn. The voting district boundaries are not school district boundaries.
A major concern of mine, and many others within the city, is, with the adoption of the ward system, a voter could be voting for a school board member from his residence voting district, but his children could attend school in another voting district where he has no voice in the election of the school board member.
Citizens are urged to vote Yes on the referendum question on May 7 to preserve our voting control over all 11 school board and city council members.
Judith K. Connors
April 30 Editors Note: Connors is president of Citizens for Accountable Government. Vote NO on question
Some say that the existing all at-large voting system in Virginia Beach creates an advantage for voters. This idea is purely imaginary. Consider the facts:
City Council includes seven borough council persons, one for each borough. There are about 160,000 voters in the city. Under the existing all at-large election system these 160,000 can cast a vote for each borough council seat or a potential total of 1.2 million votes. This means that your voting strength is seven in 1.2 million. It is like casting your ballot into the ``Sea of Obscurity.''
Ask yourself which council person, if any, listens to you? Remember, real representation is more than just numbers.
Vote for a change to the electoral system. Vote No to the referendum question May 7.
Al Strazzullo
April 26
Confusion has long been part of the city election process in Virginia Beach - and not only because of the large number of candidates. The fault lies largely in our system.
During the forums preceding council elections, borough seat candidates have often been heard to say, ``Remember, you can vote for me no matter where you live in Virginia Beach.'' I asked one of the candidates recently why he found it necessary to remind people of this. His reply was that many people believe they can only vote for candidates in their own borough. Well, if that's what many people believe, and I know that to be the case, maybe that's the way it ought to be. That is, after all, the logical way to do it - to have each borough elect its own representation (as well as the mayor and three at-large candidates). That is what the balanced district system would have us do.
When lobbying for the balanced district system before the General Assembly up in Richmond last year, many of the delegates and people from other parts of Virginia that we spoke to, couldn't understand our current system. When we finally got through to them, explaining how it worked, they found it hard to believe. It confuses everybody! So, let's make it right and adopt the balanced district system by voting ``No'' on May 7.
Sheldon L. Corner
April 28
The cover page of the Beacon's April 28 issue precisely illustrates the confusion inherent in the wording of the ballot question for the upcoming voting referendum. The headline states, ``Virginia Beach voters will be asked May 7 whether they want to change the present system of city government.'' The cover then includes dialogue that explains that a No vote would change the current process whereas a Yes vote means you're content with the current system.
Only politicians who seek to add confusion to an already unwieldy process could create such folly in their attempt to maintain the status quo. Thanks to the Beacon for making this point crystal clear.
Marvin Seay
April 30 Praise for Mike Mitchell
Making a Difference Foundation has always strived to motivate children to learn and to surround itself in partnerships with groups that feel likewise, like St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Newport News; Gibson World Travel in Virginia Beach; Pasquotank County Partnership for Children in North Carolina; Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach; I.C. Norcom High School Parents Group in Portsmouth; Western Branch High School Parents Group in Chesapeake; the Hampton Roads Sharks and others.
The results with children from every Hampton Roads city grows daily. One of the equalizers in all of these relationships and the success with the children is a man who gives countless hours for the good of children across Hampton Roads: Aubrey ``Mike'' Mitchell. He doesn't talk about society's problems or lay blame, he gets out and does something about it. He is a responsible, caring individual who believes that children want to achieve results in their lives and are looking for adults who will lead them there. He isn't afraid of accountability or the need to be decisive for the good our our children.
Mike Mitchell is a silent warrior who has the heart to give our children the guts to stand up in society and live successful lives.
Robert A. Bobulinski
April 15
Editor's note: Bobulinski is executive director of Making A Difference. Vote for Heischober
Harold Heischober has an outstanding record of achievement in our community, including his service as president of the Tidewater Veterans Memorial.
Having retired from the Navy after 22 years and from the Virginia Beach school system after 23 years, I feel that I can state without reservation that Harold Heischober is a strong supporter of our young people.
I have three children teaching in the Beach system and five grandchildren attending public schools in Virginia Beach. Education is one of Harold's top priorities.
Frank L. Johnstone
April 22 Support for Arsuaga
I am writing to voice my support for Mike Arsuaga for School Board, Lynnhaven Borough. I know Mike to be an honest, sincere, unpolitical man interested only in doing good as a School Board member. His belief that a top heavy administration has a stranglehold on the school system is stressed by most of us in Ocean Lakes.
Mike would like to fix the system, working with the other board members by downsizing the administrative divisions and the money they control and placing those resources in the classrooms where they belong.
Georgia Brenghton
April 18 Ball has answers
After reading several letters about candidates in your Letters to the Editor section, I wanted to voice my opinion on one candidate running at-large, Gail Ball. Of the 15 people running for the two-year, at-large seat she has impressed me with her work ethic, dedication and knowledge of the issues.
You can't miss those bright red BALL signs all over Virginia Beach and she even came to my home to deliver literature about her campaign. I asked her about he current problems the schools were having, and she was able to explain not only why there wasn't enough money but how she would make sure that the problem never happened again.
Gail Ball is the kind of candidate we need on our School Board.
Susan L. Robbins
April 9 Educators back Bowie
Members of Alpha Rho chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International support Sandra Bowie for School Board. We, as professional educators, know that Sandra Bowie is dedicated to provide the children of Virginia Beach with quality education. Her personal experience at all levels - pre-school through college - has provided her with a strong background, which will benefit the children.
Linda Durkee
April 29 Rose can right schools
With the problems that beset it this year, the Virginia Beach school system now has the opportunity to right itself by having Neil Rose elected to the School Board. Neil combines the attributes of being well educated, business minded, hard working and in tune with the needs of our city's schools. Neil graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in finance, an important tool that would be quite useful in leading our school system. He also has a law degree from the University of Virginia and a master's degree in taxation from Georgetown University.
Neil uses his spare time immersing himself in activities centered around his children, including sports and school activities. His children are in the Virginia Beach Public School system, and he and his wife were both products of public schools.
This is a critical time for our school system. As a parent of a child in the Virginia Beach City Schools and of a child entering next year, I not only want, but demand the best for my children. By electing Neil Rose, we in Virginia Beach will receive the best leadership possible for our schools.
Philip L. Russo Jr.
April 23 Focus on these issues
During the 1994 School Board campaign, in response to a March 12, 1994, Virginian-Pilot article, I and four fellow candidates outlined the real issue of the campaign in ``Another View'' later that same week. As the city prepares for another School Board election, the issues we outlined in 1994, which are quoted verbatim below, continue to be the real issues upon which the public should focus. These issues are as follows:
1. Safe Schools: Children need a safe and secure environment to learn. At present a great deal of violence and disruptive conduct occurs in the city's schools that goes unreported by the news media. We believe the current discipline plan must be strengthened and consistently and uniformly enforced in order that students desiring an education can receive one. Alternative programs should be established for violent and/or habitually disruptive students.
2. Curriculum and Instruction: The school curriculum has become increasingly watered down and social promotion has become the norm. The ``one size fits all'' instructional policies favored by the school administration seriously deprive students of all exceptionalities of the differentiated curriculum and/or specially trained teaching staff they require. We believe the rigor of the curriculum must be increased for all students and the varying needs of all students must be recognized. Similarly, properly trained and certified teachers must be provided to meet these differing needs. The typical classroom teacher is not trained to be or capable of acting as a special education teacher/counselor for emotionally disturbed/gifted education teacher all at the same time.
3. Parental Involvement: Much is said about the critical need for parental involvement to ensure a quality education. In practice, the school system often is not ``parent friendly.'' We believe that parental involvement in all aspects of public education must be increased. School Board and school planning council meeting times and agendas must be revised to facilitate parental attendance and permit parents to present questions and comments and receive timely answers. Experimental instructional programs and curricula must not be implemented without prior parental input and involvement.
4. Responsible Budget Policies: We have very serious concerns about the school administration's current budget and spending practices. Purchasing and contracting practices appear to favor the vendor rather than the school system. Opulent new schools are constructed at needlessly excessive costs. The technology, parity and renovation spending proposals appear grossly inflated (e.g. of $61 million budgeted for parity, $10 million will be spent on newer schools that do not need renovation; $550,000 to $650,000 is budgeted for each elementary school to purchase computers). Such practices must be reviewed and revised to restore common sense and fiscal responsibility to the city's public schools.
Special interest groups will no doubt again try to distract the public from a serious debate of these issues with allegations of ``religious right,'' ``single issue advocates,'' ``elitist'' and other labels. We as a city cannot afford to be fooled again. The above issues and the questions of fiscal and instructional accountability they encompass are the only legitimate issues.
Michael B. Hamar
Editor's Note: Hamar ran unsuccessfully for the School Board in 1994 and is a member of the Virginia Beach Republican City Committee. Don't trust Kids First
I am amazed at the cynical Beacon ad run by the ``Kids First'' group. They have accused the Virginia Beach Education Association of being responsible for every problem that has faced Virginia Beach education as well as ``problems'' that are no more than differing education goals.
On May 3, 1994, six candidates endorsed by the VBEA won election and joined five School Board members who had been appointed by the City Council. The six new board members were not even part of the process that had produced the budget that eventually created the shortfall. That budget was in place when they joined the board.
For the Kids First group to lay the blame for the shortfall and all other educational problems at the feet of the VBEA shows a stratagem that needs to be scrutinized.
First of all, who is Kids First? Although they have a very lofty name, we have never, neither in the last election, nor in the present campaign, been informed of the membership it represents. We did, in the last election, get a hint when at the very last moment, their candidates were given a huge campaign contribution by Pat Robertson. In addition, their ad in The Beacon attacks Goals 2000.
Who is the VBEA? We know their members well! They are the teachers in our schools! They are our friends and neighbors. They care about our children. They try to teach them the basics, as well as how to cope with a difficult changing world. They are not perfect, but as a city we can be proud of the quality of our teachers and educational system, in spite of our recent financial problems.
I submit to the Virginia Beach voters that the goals of the VBEA are the goals of all of us. Preparing our children for future jobs, teaching them discipline and getting the parents and community involved in the schools. I feel comfortable that the candidates they support share those goals! If Kids First hopes to attract support from the community, they should be willing to identify their members, their agenda and their expertise. If not, they should stay out of the Virginia Beach School Board elections.
Ruth Minieri
April 14 by CNB