THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080402
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10C EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The new School Board majority is likely to focus more on quality schools and education than on the budget crisis that has plagued the district in the past year.
Voters went for the tried and true in the council elections, returning the mayor, the at-large council member and two unopposed incumbents. They also brought back a former councilwoman.
Voters made only one change to the City Council Tuesday - returning longtime council member Reba S. McClanan to the position she left four years ago.
McClanan took a clear lead over Robert K. Dean, who succeeded her in the Princess Anne Borough seat when she stepped down to run an unsuccessful mayoral bid in 1990.
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf easily won re-election Tuesday to the post she has held for eight years, defeating political newcomer Robert F. Yurina by a 4-to-1 margin.
And longtime council member and former mayor Harold Heischober also captured a strong lead in the race for the at-large seat against hotelier Richard P. Anoia, and civic activists Robert C. Spadaccini and Louis M. Pace.
Beach Borough Council member Linwood O. Branch III and Blackwater Borough Council member John A. Baum were unopposed.
McClanan, 58, was exuberant but tired Tuesday night after learning of her victory. Because she served on council for 12 years, her election is not expected to shake up the 11-member body, but she was known for challenging council priorities and city employees.
``It's a very different council from the one I was on before,'' said McClanan, ``but I think a lot of the business people have realized that I'm not the ogre they thought I was.''
Dean, 55, who often brought stuffed pigs to council meetings to complain about overspending, was upset Tuesday after his loss.
He said McClanan was more organized and won key votes by posting lawn signs.
``I just could not bring myself to litter the landscape with signs,'' said Dean, an ardent environmentalist. ``I tried to get elected on deeds, not signs. It didn't work.''
Oberndorf, 55, on council since 1976 and mayor since 1988, was almost tearful when she learned of her re-election Tuesday.
Oberndorf, celebrating at the Sheraton Oceanfront, said her win was even sweeter because she had campaigned so little. She is battling breast cancer and decided to focus on getting healthy rather than getting re-elected.
``I didn't use poll workers. I didn't have signs,'' she said. ``Literally, I had to depend on having built a reputation people recognize and then support.''
Some voters thought Oberndorf had been in office for too many years, but said her weak competition kept her margin strong.
``I wouldn't turn out Meyera,'' said Jane West, outside the Kmart at Kemps River shopping center. ``She'd have to kill someone.''
``I think Meyera's been there too long, although I wasn't particularly happy with the guy who was running against her,'' voter Joe Perrotta said.
Yurina, 33, a gunsmith, said his first campaign won't be his last.
``If there's another unopposed spot in the future, I'd step in the race again,'' he said Tuesday night in a ninth-floor suite at the Surfside Inn Econo Lodge.
In the at-large race, Anoia took a distant second place to Heischober, Spadaccini followed in third and Pace brought up the rear.
At Heischober's victory headquarters, the Upper Deck night spot at the Oceanfront, a well-wisher told the 13-year council veteran: ``It looks like you'll be in politics as long as you want to.''
Heischober, 76, smiled. ``I enjoy myself,'' he said. MEMO: Staff writers Lori Denney, Jo-Ann Clegg, Debbie Messina, Paul Clancy and
Bill Reed contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: D. KEVIN ELLIOTT, The Virginian-Pilot
Reba McClanan laughs with friends while awaiting election results on
Third Street. McClanan took a clear lead over Robert K. Dean to win
the Princess Anne Borough seat, which she held for 12 years before
stepping down to run for mayor in 1990.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH MAYOR'S RACE ELECTION RESULTS
VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL RACE by CNB