Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 21, 1993 TAG: 9308210040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Do they want to elect them by popular vote?
And - not or - do they want the Board of Supervisors to appoint them?
Seem confusing? Imagine how hairy it will be if the majority of voters answers "yes" to both questions.
"We're going to have some fun," said Roanoke County Attorney Paul Mahoney.
Mahoney recently looked into the legality of placing two competing referendums on the ballot, both of which could potentially be voted into law. What he found was this: There's nothing in state code to prevent it.
Roanoke County voters, if they choose to, can push their voting levers straight through a legal loophole and become the first Virginia locality to elect two methods for selecting a School Board.
There's no legal remedy, said Audrey Piatt, director of operations for the State Board of Elections, because nobody saw it coming.
"It's never happened before to my knowledge," she said.
Piatt said if both options pass, the matter will pass to a Circuit Court judge.
If it goes that far, Mahoney hopes somebody will appeal to an even higher court - regardless of the outcome.
It would be a "friendly appeal" to the Virginia Supreme Court, he said, to prevent complications the first time the new School Board makes a controversial decision and somebody decides to question its legal standing.
"I would want a definite determination to establish the legality of the School Board so it doesn't come up later," he said.
Of course, it may never come up. Voters may choose only one of the two options.
Or, they may reject them both.
That's "a very real possibility," said Windsor Hills District Supervisor Lee Eddy, who supports the option of letting the Board of Supervisors appoint School Board members.
That option appeared twice before on the ballot and voters rejected it both times. The county's School Board is currently chosen by a judicially appointed selection committee, a system that will remain in place only if both ballot questions fail.
Eddy said he believes voters will understand the matter well enough by election day to vote only for the option they want and not inadvertently press two "yes" levers. He's helping to inform people through a 250-subscriber newsletter he publishes and will speak on the issue as election day approaches.
Catawba District Supervisor Ed Kohinke has been highly vocal on the issue of School Board selection, but intends to play a much quieter role in the months ahead.
Kohinke, who launched a one-man anti-elected School Board organization called "It Ain't Broke," said in a facsimile letter Thursday he would drop his campaign for maintaining the current system and throw his support to Eddy.
"Most of the people I have talked with this summer don't like the idea of an elected School Board," he wrote, "but they don't like the current selection method, either. . . . If change is to take place, I'd rather support an option that stands a good chance of winning in the current climate."
Kohinke had hoped for a three-part, multiple-choice ballot question that would allow voters to pick a School Board selection method in the same way they choose candidates.
No can do, said Piatt. Virginia law allows referendums that ask "yes" and "no" or "for" and "against" questions only.
Vinton District Supervisor Harry Nickens said he hopes the entire problem may be avoided.
Nickens, who led the petition drive for the elected School Board option, will ask the Board of Supervisors at its Aug. 24 meeting to withdraw the second referendum from the ballot.
"To me, it's putting forth an opportunity for confusion," he said. "It's just going to make our educational effort more difficult."
Nickens can ask for a new vote because he voted in favor of placing the supervisors' option on the ballot. He did so, he said, only because he saw it would pass and knew that losing board members don't have the right to request another vote.
But he's prepared for the worst. If both options remain on the ballot, he'll prep speakers to argue in favor of elected school boards and will distribute sample ballots to help voters understand what's coming.
They should understand one more thing, he said. If the matter ends up in court, "that would be unfortunately at the expense of the taxpayer."
by CNB