DATE: Sunday, July 27, 1997                 TAG: 9707270101

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NIA NGINA MEEKS 
DATELINE: STAFF WRITER  VIRGINIA BEACH      LENGTH:   33 lines

BEACH SCHOOL BOARD EXPECTED TO WRANGLE OVER FIVE APPLICANTS

Come Monday night, the School Board should have a new face.

By law, the board has to appoint a candidate to finish the term of former Pungo representative Paul J. Lanteigne. It is mandated to select someone within 30 days of a vacancy. Lanteigne resigned June 30.

The board is expected to wrangle behind doors at a special Monday meeting, then emerge with a nominee and a public vote.

Most of the five people seeking the seat have little political experience, excepting a civic league seat or PTA post. What they do have is a stated commitment to the children in the district's schools.

The appointee will hold the seat until June 30, 1998. An election will be held in May and the Pungo seat, as well as Bayside, Blackwater, Lynnhaven, Kempsville, Princess Anne, Virginia Beach and two at-large posts will be up for grabs.

Most of the terms were abbreviated, two years instead of four, because they were appointed. Others are short because the lines separating the city's seven boroughs have been redrawn, forcing new elections next year when the new system goes into effect.

Just two members of the board - at-large representatives Neil L. Rose and Rosemary A. Wilson - are seated through 2000.

No matter who fills the lone vacant seat, the candidate will not possess Lanteigne's standout quality: an experienced relationship with the City Council. As a former councilman, he often was a philosophical go-between for the two bodies, particularly during budget season - for better or worse, depending on who's talking.

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