THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080399
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10C EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Voters Tuesday overwhelmingly supported the current system of electing City Council and School Board members.
By a 2-to-1 margin, residents said they wanted to keep the at-large system - in which the voters select all 22 members of the City Council and School Board. The new system would have created seven ``wards,'' where candidates for City Council and School Board could get votes only from the residents of their district, instead of citywide.
``I think the voters are saying they're satisfied with the system now,'' Delceno C. Miles, vice president of Citizens for Accountable Government, which supported the current system, said Tuesday night.
``Wards are not what Virginia Beach needs right now,'' said Miles, who also was elected without opposition Tuesday to the Blackwater Borough seat on the School Board. ``What we need are elected officials who are willing to work together and not have a system that encourages petty politics.''
Voter Louis Noah from the Newpointe neighborhood said he went to the polls mostly to vote ``yes'' to keep the current system.
``I like being able to vote for all of them instead of just a certain number,'' Noah said.
Sandra Haney, of the Lake Edwards area, voting in the same precinct Tuesday, said she voted ``no'' because she wanted to have closer contact with her elected officials. She doesn't like the at-large system where you ``vote for all these people you might never see again.''
Opponents blamed the loss Tuesday on the way the City Council worded the ballot question. Voters who wanted a change had to vote ``no.''
Maury Jackson, who has led the effort to change the system, said the council skewed the outcome to support the status quo.
Jackson and others who fought for a change did win a part of their battle. Responding to a 1994 referendum, the General Assembly last year required the City Council to redraw voting district lines to equalize the populations of the seven boroughs.
The new districts, which will take effect in 1998, will include about 56,000 people each.
The ballot question was only advisory, but the council members - most of whom prefer the current system - are expected to support its conclusion. MEMO: Staff writer Debbie Messina contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: WARD SYSTEM VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL ELECTION
RESULTS by CNB