THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605030476
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and a handful of other political hopefuls have won endorsements from two professional and political organizations as races for City Council and School Board vacancies wind down.
Oberndorf got the nod from both the Tidewater Association of Realtors, a Southeastern Virginia trade association with more than 2,500 members, and the Citizens Action Coalition, a 12-year-old political organization that publishes a monthly newspaper and keeps its total membership secret.
Nine others - either sitting council members, council candidates or School Board hopefuls - were accorded endorsements of one or the other of the organizations.
In addition to backing Oberndorf, the Realtors are endorsing Councilman Harold Heischober for an at-large seat and former Councilwoman Reba S. McClanan for the Princess Anne Borough seat now occupied by Robert K. Dean.
Councilmen John A. Baum, representing the Blackwater Borough, and Linwood O. Branch III, representing the Beach Borough, were endorsed by the Realtors. Both are unopposed.
The Realtors association made no endorsements in the School Board races.
The Citizens Action Coalition, a group organized in the 1980s to fight uncontrolled residential growth of Virginia Beach, announced its backing of Dean and resort hotel operator Richard P. ``Rick'' Anoia, who is challenging Heischober for the at-large council seat.
School Board candidates getting the nod from the Citizens Action Coalition include:
George T. Coker, a computer analyst and former Vietnam prisoner of war, for a two-year, at-large seat.
Lawyer Stuart R. Gordon for a four-year, at-large seat.
Ben A. Krause, an investment executive, for the Lynnhaven Borough seat.
KEYWORDS: ENDORSEMENTS ELECTION VIRGINIA BEACH
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