DATE: Wednesday, November 5, 1997 TAG: 9711050470 SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3E EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 56 lines
Democrat Sharon M. McDonald, who became the first woman to be elected as the city's commissioner of the revenue Tuesday, will enter the office with plans to modernize it.
Earning 58 percent of the vote, McDonald, 42, defeated Republican Charles E. Gibson, 64, by pitching a forward-looking agenda that calls for making the office accessible by the Internet, opening satellite offices in libraries and recreation centers, and extending business hours for time-starved customers.
McDonald said she plans to run the office more like a business. McDonald said she intends to make it simpler for new businesses to obtain a license with ``one-stop'' shopping. She also pledges to make it easier for senior citizens to obtain real-estate tax relief.
After Democratic incumbent Sam T. Barfield crossed party lines to support Gibson, McDonald sharpened her campaign by turning the election into a referendum on the future vs. the past. Gibson retired from the office last year as Barfield's senior chief deputy after 36 years in the office.
``People in this city really had a choice between the past and the future, and they resoundingly chose the future,'' McDonald said while celebrating her victory with supporters late Tuesday. ``People said, `Yes, we need change. Yes, it's time for somebody with a new vision, with new energy.' ''
McDonald said she never intended to criticize Barfield personally, but stood by statements that customer service and the efficiency of the office staff needed to be improved. In particular, she was critical of the business license division, which Gibson once ran, saying that the office wasn't customer-friendly and was too slow and bureaucratic.
Gibson embraced Barfield's endorsement, but it wasn't enough to propel him into the job he said he had dreamed of holding.
McDonald, a former vice president of banks who now runs a firm specializing in conflict resolution, campaigned aggressively, with strong support from the local Democratic Party and a virtual ``who's who'' of the city's corporate and political power structure. She raised more than twice as much money as Gibson - $46,983 to $21,740, as of Sept. 30.
Her win gives local Democrats something to feel better about. They were worried about losing another of the city's five constitutional offices to the GOP. Republicans now hold the offices of sheriff, commonwealth's attorney and clerk of Circuit Court. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
TAMARA VONINSKI/The Virginian-Pilot
Sharon McDonald...
Graphic
MCDONALD 58%
GIBSON 42% KEYWORDS: ELECTION VIRGINIA RESULTS COMMISIONER
OF THE REVENUE RACE NORFOLK
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