THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606130168
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 53 lines
The City Council this week redrew a voting district line to reunite the Inlynnview section of Lynnhaven.
The neighborhood had been divided in two when new district lines were approved in February. Although the position of the lines only impacts where people go to vote and which borough a council candidate can run for, residents had objected to the split.
Last year, the General Assembly ordered the council to redraw the lines citywide to create seven districts of roughly equal population. Now, the city's seven boroughs range in population from nearly 1,000 in Blackwater to about 150,000 in Kempsville.
If voters in May had supported a modified ward system of government - where the district representatives were elected only by residents of their districts - the new lines would have had a significant impact on city politics.
But instead, voters decided to retain the current system of electing city officials, where all residents can vote for all City Council and School Board members, even those who represent boroughs. So now, candidates will be the most affected by the location of district lines.
When the council approved a new district map in February, many city neighborhoods were divided among districts. So far, Inlynnview residents are the only ones who have raised concerns about the division.
In April, two dozen residents whose homes were moved out of the Lynnhaven borough complained to the City Council. They said they were worried that their children would be sent to different schools and that their property values would fall. Although council and school officials assured them that school district lines had never been and will not be drawn to coincide with political boundaries, the residents remained unhappy.
A former Lynnhaven council member and council candidate, Al Balko, lives in the section of Inlynnview that would have been cut off from the rest of the borough. Balko, a leader of the five-year effort to reform city government, felt the lines had been drawn intentionally so that he would not be able to run again in the Lynnhaven area, where most of his supporters live.
To address Balko's and his neighbors' concerns, the City Council Tuesday moved the district boundary line south about 3,500 feet from Inlynnview Road to Wolfsnare Creek. That shift added 1,456 people to District 5, roughly the current Lynnhaven Borough, and took the same number from District 6.
Before approving the change, the council had the new map reviewed by consultants Election Data Services to make sure the shift would not dramatically affect racial balance or overall population figures in the districts. The final plan has to be approved by the U.S. Justice Department to ensure that it does not discriminate against minorities. And it must comply with the General Assembly's mandate that all districts range in population from 53,200 to 58,800.
The new district boundaries take effect for the 1998 municipal elections. by CNB