THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 2, 1996 TAG: 9607020236
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 67 lines
The City Council re-elected Paul D. Fraim as mayor Monday night but replaced combative Vice Mayor Paul R. Riddick with Councilman Herbert M. Collins Sr.
Riddick, showing the confrontational style that eventually cost him his support on the council, walked out of the meeting after nominating himself for mayor and failing to receive any but his own vote.
``I would like the four of you white council members to elect the person you want,'' Riddick said as he rose from his leather chair on the dais. He left council chambers before the vice mayor was picked.
The six remaining council members then unanimously elected Collins, a frequent ally of Riddick. Collins, whose suit against the city helped establish the ward system in Norfolk, said he had been prepared to support Riddick for another term as vice mayor.
Both Collins and Riddick are African American and have vigorously championed the needs of minorities and the poor. But Collins speaks more softly than Riddick and seldom attacks other council members.
``I pledge not to be small, or too parochial, but to serve the entire city,'' said Collins after his selection as vice mayor. ``We don't have time for any nonsense or any personal agenda.''
He then read a selection that preached the need for healing from ``Sugar and Spice, a Slice of Black Life,'' a book by local author Eva Chavis.
The newest member of the council, Daun S. Hester, nominated Collins for vice mayor. Hester replaces the Rev. Joseph N. Green in representing the Superward 7 at-large seat.
This was the first formal meeting of the council that included those elected in May. Councilman Mason C. Andrews was re-elected along with Hester. By city charter, the new council members are sworn in on July 1. The council then chooses a mayor and a vice mayor.
Fraim pledged as mayor to continue talking and listening to citizens and the council about what the city was doing.
``I have learned a few things about being mayor these past few years, and I hope to put that to good use,'' said Fraim, who became mayor in 1994.
Fraim and several other council members seemed alienated by Riddick's actions Monday and they were openly critical of his performance as vice mayor.
``In the position of vice mayor, you need someone who will work with other council members to find common grounds and consensus,'' Fraim said.
Fraim and Councilman G. Conoly Phillips said Riddick had a poor record of attendance at both council and committee meetings.
Riddick, in nominating himself for mayor, said he recognized that ``at this point, this may be mostly symbolic,'' but he said the city's African Americans would remain under-appreciated and ``second tier'' until the city had a black mayor.
He was qualified to be mayor, Riddick said, and he noted his high-level meetings over the past two years with department store and federal officials over the proposed MacArthur Center Mall downtown. He said the city needed someone as mayor who was authoritative and that Fraim was not standing up for Norfolk enough in the ongoing conflict with Virginia Beach over water. ILLUSTRATION: Paul D. Fraim
Herbert M. Collins Sr.
MIKE HEFFNER
The Virginian-Pilot
Council members Daun Hester and Mason C. Andrews flank Paul R.
Riddick's empty council seat after Riddick left the meeting Monday.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK MAYOR NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL by CNB