THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506100264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Is this city ready for a Green?
Mark A. Yatrofsky, a local environmental activist, has filed to run against Del. Tom Moss - speaker of the House - as an Independent candidate.
He joins Republican Jay Sherrill as challengers to Moss, a Democrat, in the 88th District.
Yatrofsky, a 46-year-old systems analyst with a local bank, said he will emphasize issues, including environmental subjects, that the other major political parties don't.
The Democratic and Republican parties, he said, typically give voters ``a consistent choice of lesser evils.''
``The real needs of the people are not being met within the two-party system,'' Yatrofsky said. ``There are real community needs not being met. There are homeless, people going to bed hungry, and politicians don't want to talk about those issues.''
He said he is running as a member of a loosely affiliated local group of people who consider themselves members of a budding Green Party. They are part of the Green Party of Virginia.
Earlier this month, three candidates in Northern Virginia declared their candidacies in legislative races as Green Party members.
The Green parties began in Europe and have periodically achieved some legislative strength in Germany and other countries. The parties usually place a high priority on environmental protection and repair, and say lifestyles and consumption must be moderated to become less environmentally destructive.
In the United States, Green parties have emerged in several states but have been less successful than in Europe.
Yatrofsky said he has been a community activist his entire adult life. In recent years, he said, he has been active in the Sierra Club and previously in the American Civil Liberties Union and the Cousteau Society.
In his campaign, he talks not only of improving the environment but also of raising the minimum wage, creating universal health care coverage and getting rid of the state's right-to-work law which, unions argue, inhibits organizing.
Yatrofsky is a veteran of the Navy. He settled in Norfolk after he left the Navy in 1972 following a four-year stint. He is a high school graduate and has completed the equivalent of two years in college, he said.
The deadline for filing as a candidate in the race is June 13. ILLUSTRATION: Mark A. Yatrofsky, a 46-year-old systems analyst with a bank,
said he will emphasize issues, including environmental subjects,
that the other major political parties don't.
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE GREEN PARTY HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE by CNB