THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260302
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 116 lines
There's a growing movement here to allow citizens to directly elect their mayor.
Suffolk's mayor is appointed by fellow council members in a vote that follows the council installations every two years.
Having voters pick the mayor instead has been discussed for more than a decade, but the idea is generating steam as residential development booms, and a recent Hampton Roads Planning District Commission report projects that Suffolk's population will double from 55,000 to 110,000 by the year 2018.
During a council work session last week, City Manager Myles E. Standish, at the council's request, said he will study the idea and how other area cities handle the issue.
In South Hampton Roads, Norfolk is the only other city that still appoints its mayor. Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth all allow the citizens to elect their mayor. Newport News recently went to direct elections, and the city of Richmond is currently fighting for the method.
Councilman and former Suffolk Mayor S. Chris Jones said it's time to get in step with the trend.
``The experience it takes to do the mayor's job, the demand and growth; it's something (direct election) that should be considered,'' said Jones.
Suffolk Councilman Curtis R. Milteer agrees.
``It gives the people input on who will serve. It will take out all the politics, and the public would be allowed to participate,'' said Milteer.
Suffolk Mayor Thomas G. Underwood, who replaced Jones, said he has no strong opinion on the subject.
Even though Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth directly elect their mayors, those cities still have a council-city manager form of government like Suffolk's.
In such a system, the mayor may preside over the council, but retains just one vote. The position is largely ceremonial.
Although directly elected mayors may not have legislative power, they acquire a different kind of clout, said John P. Thomas, director of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.
Thomas says citizens allowed to vote for their mayor will begin to look to that person instead of the city manager as their leader.
``Even though his powers may still be ceremonial,'' Thomas said of an elected mayor, ``he'll begin to have an emerging natural power base. He'd be the spokesman for the city.''
So what difference would it make if Suffolk decides to allow the citizens to vote for their mayor?
An end to politics and back room bickering among council members, says Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, who has served under both systems.
``There isn't this horrendous maneuvering by the council as to who will be selected as mayor,'' said Oberndorf, who was Virginia Beach's first directly elected mayor in 1988. She described the previous, council-appointed mayor system as a ``bloodletting.'' And it often took years for the unhappy parties to resolve their differences, she said.
Oberndorf, who has served on Virginia Beach's council since 1976, also said directly electing the mayor gives women a better chance to serve the top post.
``I would say I would have never been elected,'' Oberndorf said of the old system.
Portsmouth Mayor James W. Holley III agrees that giving the choice to citizens can provide opportunity to more people. He said that neither he nor former Portsmouth Mayor Gloria O. Webb would have had a chance at the office if they had had to rely on an election by their peers.
Holley said he first introduced the idea of directly electing the Portsmouth mayor in 1973, contending that a black person couldn't be appointed otherwise.
``Anytime you have a system that's exclusive, they'll always allow you to be second but not first,'' said Holley, who was chosen as vice mayor in 1976.
In 1984, Holley, a dentist, was elected the city's first black mayor.
Some contend that a direct election of mayor actually impedes the chances for minorities because candidates have to depend on an at-large populace.
Paul C. Gillis, president of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP as well as head of the Suffolk chapter, says the organization doesn't support direct elections of mayors.
``The NAACP and the national chapter has taken a direct position because of Virginia's historic racism,'' Gillis said. ``It's virtually impossible to elect a mayor at-large.''
So how did Holley and Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward, both African Americans, win?
More blacks vote in Portsmouth, Gillis said. Ward was an ``anomaly.''
``It shows that Chesapeake is moving forward, but I don't think that would be good for Suffolk,'' said Gillis.
He said a number of at-large constitutional officer races in Suffolk proves that blacks would have a tough time. Issac J. Baker, who is black, was defeated in 1992 for commissioner of revenue by Thomas A. Hazelwood, who is white. Gillis, who is African-American, was defeated along with three other candidates for sheriff in 1993 by Raleigh H. Issacs Sr., who is white.
There are other issues related to a directly elected mayor, such as the effect it has on the mayor's ability to build coalitions with his colleagues.
Portsmouth's Mayor Holley admits it was tough for him to build relationships.
``They're all kind of suspicious when you're a new person,'' said Holley. ``It's my responsibility to make our council feel comfortable. . . . There has been trust; I'm a PR person.''
Holley was recalled nine years ago after being implicated, but never convicted, in a hate-mail scandal. He was re-elected mayor in May.
In Chesapeake, party divisiveness had long been the way council politics was played. The May elections split the council evenly, with four Republicans, four Democrats and one independent.
Chesapeake Mayor Ward said that allowing residents to vote for their mayor removes partisan politics.
``If you're elected, you're endeared to those people who elected you. . . . You don't have to politic with the body,'' said Ward.
Other civic leaders, including Gillis, argue that there's no need to change the charter if the mayor's authority doesn't change.
Talmadge Jones, president of the Suffolk Federation of Civic Leagues, said residents want to look toward their mayor - not the city manager - as the leader of the city. Jones and Gillis suggest that an amended charter include allowing the mayor to have full responsibility over the daily operations of government, including the power to hire and fire city staff that now resides with the city manager.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK CITY COUNCIL MAYOR ELECTION by CNB