DATE: Friday, October 24, 1997              TAG: 9710230011

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:  114 lines

PILOT ENDORSEMENTS SIX HOUSE SEATS

In six races for the House of Delegates, we favor candidates who have made a commitment to fund education before cutting taxes, who have the experience to represent their district and who, if given a seat in Richmond, will use it to improve life in Hampton Roads.

76th District: Suffolk has the good fortune to have two good candidates to choose between. Democrat Michele Degnan is a tough-minded, career teacher who would put education first and, to her credit, has denounced promises to cut the personal property tax as dishonest smoke and mirrors.

Republican S. Chris Jones is the more experienced candidate with long council service and a stint as mayor to his credit. He's endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate James S. Gilmore III's no-car-tax proposal - if education needs can be met first. In our minds, that's a very big if.

But our fears are allayed by the fact that Jones has shown himself to be both a friend of education and a parsimonious public servant. He thought Suffolk schools could be built cheaper than originally suggested and was vindicated by the results.

Jones has been an exemplar of regionalism in his backing of SPSA and his important role in pushing through a regional jail. He's a strong proponent of the Urban Partnership and a foe of the Dillon Rule and independent-cities structure, both of which hamstring Virginia localities. His style has been to build consensus.

For these reasons, we give the nod to Jones. But Degnan is a quality candidate with much to offer. We hope her first try for office won't be her last.

79th District: This seat, mainly in Portsmouth, has been open since the appointment of the incumbent, Billy Moore, to a judgeship.

Johnny S. Joannou, a Portsmouth resident most of his life, represented the 79th District from 1976 to 1984 and later served eight years in the state Senate, before being redistricted out of a job. Clearly, he knows the ins and outs of legislative committees and what needs to be done to serve his district.

His vow of support for education is convincing. A lawyer, he played a part while in the legislature in the enactment of several anti-crime measures. Unlike his opponent, he believes Virginia is a relatively low-tax state and favors reducing the car tax only if revenue remains after education needs are met.

D.R. ``Dan'' Evans, the Republican contender, is a small-business man without previous elective experience. He has made unrealistic supply-side tax cutting and anti-government rhetoric the heart of his campaign. Joannou is the better choice.

86th District: Two outgoing, civic-activist candidates - Republican Beverly ``Bev'' Graeber and Democrat Don Williams - are competing for the 86th District seat occupied for 26 years by Democrat George H. Heilig Jr., who died a few weeks ago. We tilt toward Graeber.

Williams, a former president of Tidewater Builders Association, has served on a slew of city boards and commissions, but Graeber's experience as an elected school board member and borough counciler in New Jersey gives her the edge.

Graeber is more disposed than Williams to believe that continuing economic growth will generate sufficient state tax revenue to phase out the car tax. But Graeber does not favor phasing out the car tax if the result would be to shortchange education, for which she is a passionate advocate.

She recognizes that K-3 education is crucial and that children with learning disabilities require special attention early. She would strengthen technical-vocational training to equip more youths with marketable job skills. As with Chris Jones, we are taking Graeber at her word, that she won't support tax cuts until necessary education improvements are funded.

Unfortunately, whatever the outcome of the race, neither Graeber, age 61, nor Williams, age 55, is likely to stay in the legislature long enough to gain the influence that Heilig accrued by rising to senior positions.

87th District: Republican Thelma Drake, a real estate professional, toppled veteran Democratic Del. Howard Copeland to win this seat two years ago. Energetic and personable, Drake is the only nonlawyer and only Republican in the Norfolk legislative delegation. She is seeking re-election against Democrat Todd M. Fiorella, a young trial lawyer.

Drake was active in PTA and Ocean View anti-crime/civic-improvement efforts before running for office. She has learned her way around the General Assembly, though the issues she concentrates on are often more appropriate to a city council.

And Drake buys too readily into the rosy Gilmore tax-cutting scenario, as she did into the unrealistic tax-cutting platform of state Republicans two years ago. Her supply-side faith that economic growth will generate abundant tax revenue for public purposes troubled us in 1995 and does now.

Fiorella's family roots are deep in Ocean View. He takes a cautious view of the state's fiscal prospects. He favors investment in public education from the early years through graduate school. Police, firefighter, teacher and labor organizations back him. His fiscal prudence commends him for office. We favor Fiorella.

88th District: As the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Thomas W. Moss Jr. is in a powerful position to protect the interests of Hampton Roads. No freshman delegate would bring matching clout to the legislature.

Moss successfully battled to restore funds for the long-sought Tidewater Community College campus in downtown Norfolk after Gov. George F. Allen cut them. He was instrumental in winning a boost in state funding for Old Dominion University in 1997.

Moss co-patroned the bill creating the community-college system. He has fostered growth of the port of Hampton Roads, Eastern Virginia Medical School and the state road network and has worked to safeguard the environment.

Moss' opponent, G. R. ``Bud'' West, a training and development manager, is nominally backed by the Republican Party, though it did not pick him to run. There is scant possibility that 88th District voters will replace Moss with West, and they shouldn't.

100th District: Republican Robert S. Bloxom, who has served the Eastern Shore for 20 years, has earned another term in Richmond.

Widely respected as a hard-working, honest lawmaker, Bloxom serves on several key committees, including appropriations, agriculture, labor and commerce, and Chesapeake and its tributaries. Bloxom is in touch with the unique needs of the Eastern Shore and is widely respected there as a good public servant.

Bloxom's opponent, Dr. Richard Andrews, is a dedicated physician, treating migrant workers on the Eastern Shore. He is running as an independent. While we admire Andrews' work and the gentlemanly campaign he has run, we believe the incumbent can best represent the 100th District in Richmond. KEYWORDS: ENDORSEMENT GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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