DATE: Thursday, November 20, 1997           TAG: 9711200484

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                      LENGTH:   63 lines

3RD DISTRICT'S BORDERS ARE EXAMINED

All 11 members of Virginia's congressional delegation stand behind a plan to compact, but not radically change, the boundaries of the 3rd Congressional District.

A General Assembly subcommittee heard testimony at a hearing Wednesday night at Woodside High School on drawing new borderlines for a sprawling district which now represents parts of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

Earlier this year, three federal judges deemed the spindly shaped district to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The current district stretches some 220 miles, as far south as Portsmouth and as far north as Essex County.

U.S. Rep. Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott, who has represented the district since 1992, called the congressionally endorsed plan a bipartisan compromise which would not drastically alter the makeup of other contiguous districts.

``The plan also keeps four congressional representatives in Hampton Roads,'' Scott, a Democrat, said, citing the special federal military needs of the region.

Many speakers, calling for limited change, pointed out that the General Assembly will reapportion the entire state after the year 2000 census. In fact, this plan would reconnect eight localities which are currently divided among congressional districts, only dividing one additional municipality.

The original district was approved by the General Assembly in 1991, with the thought that it should be a black-majority district drawn to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act.

But the U.S. Supreme Court has since ruled that geographic compactness of a district should be a greater priority in redistricting over its racial composition.

The incumbant-endorsed plan was not suitable to several other speakers from both sides of the political spectrum.

``We should create a district for. . . a political minority,'' said Arthur A. Levisi, a former Norfolk Republican Party chair. ``But race cannot be the sole reason.''

Levisi said Norfolk and Virginia Beach should each anchor their own districts. ``Cities like Norfolk,'' he said. ``should not be divided.''

He called for Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampton to be united in an ``urban-core'' district, due to their similar constituencies and interests. The Eastern Shore, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake could be in a separate district, Levisi said.

But speakers like Denyse Ricks said they worried about any new plan diluting the power of African Americans in congressional districts. Scott was the first black U.S. representative elected in Virginia this century.

Others called for ignoring race as a factor when designing congressional districts.

The state's congressmen presented a proposal to the General Assembly earlier this month that would only stretch from Portsmouth to Richmond and would reduce the district's black population from 64 to 53 percent.

Rep. Owen B. Pickett, D-2nd District, said earlier this week that the plan was ``acceptable.'' That plan would consolidate all of Virginia Beach in his district. Part of the city is now in the 4th District.

The General Assembly must rework the district's borders before next year's congressional elections. The process, led by the House Privileges and Elections Committee, will examine proposals submitted to the state.

The committee has another scheduled public hearing on the 3rd Congressional District's redrawing for Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. in House Room D, General Assembly Building, 910 Capitol St., Richmond. KEYWORDS: REDISTRICTING CONGRESSIONAL RACE

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