THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510100058
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
HE'LL VOTE FOR RERRAS
In a Sept. 7 Compass letter to the editor, Lewis Hurst asked voters of the 6th Senatorial District to check the facts before making any decisions. I have done that.
First, nobody is placing the blame for higher crime rates directly on Stanley Walker - but he has certainly not been part of the solution.
With Mr. Walker in office, crime rates have increased drastically. Still, Mr. Walker has repeatedly voted against Gov. Allen and Gov. Allen's crime prevention programs.
Mr. Walker voted against the funding of prison space needed to house violent criminals. Consequently, these criminals are paroled early and released. This is where Mr. Walker and Mr. Hurst have something in common. Mr. Hurst formerly had the job of releasing criminals while serving as vice chairman of the Virginia Parole Board. At the moment, Mr. Walker still has the job of sending these violent criminals to the parole board and subsequently back on the streets.
As for the funding of crime prevention programs, Mr. Walker voted against Gov. Allen's budget amendment that would send lottery profits to the localities in which the profits were generated. This money could be used to increase the police force in Norfolk.
I feel Dimitrios Rerras has shown a sincere concern for the community by being a neighborhood Block Security co-chairman. He is out in his community doing something, but I haven't seen Mr. Walker. I am sure we will see him on TV and hear him on the radio now that there is a campaign going on. We should have been seeing him for the last 30 years.
The facts I have found tell me that Dimitrios Rerras is the best choice for state Senate.
James D. Barr
Frank Street
SHE'LL VOTE FOR WALKER
This election year, let's remember what accomplishments our candidates have made toward improving educational opportunities for our children.
Sen. Stanley Walker has supported legislation that helps to prepare at-risk children for their school careers. The Commission on Equity in Public Education, of which Sen. Walker is chairman, recommended reducing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade in schools that have a high number of at risk students. He also fought to expand access to preschool programs for 4-year-olds.
If we are to break the cycle, we must start by attacking the problem. For many children, preschool is a luxury. Sen. Walker has long been a supporter of early childhood education as a means to break the cycle. Sen. Walker is chairman of the Early Childhood and Day Care Commission. He is doing something about improving the educational opportunities for our children.
Diane E.B. Gibson
Rhode Island Avenue
SMOKE HASN'T CLEARED
As executive director of the Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, I wish to alert Norfolk constituents of Congressman Bobby Scott's capitulation to the tobacco lobby since his election to Congress.
Rep. Scott is a co-sponsor of a tobacco-backed House bill that would prevent the regulation of tobacco products by the federal government (Bill No. HR 2283). He has also vocally opposed a high cigarette tax.
At a time when the tobacco industry is under criminal investigation by two grand juries for lying to the public and to Congress, at a time when smoking is blamed for one of every five deaths, at a time when teenage smoking is on the increase, the last thing we need are elected officials who sell out to the industry. Tobacco companies continue to kill because their lobbyists buy cooperation from people like Congressman Scott with cancer money and propaganda.
Perhaps the most appalling point about this is Congressman Scott's hypocrisy. As a Virginia state senator from Newport News, he fully supported the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act and voted against tobacco-sponsored legislation. He indicated a full awareness of the destructiveness of smoking. But now his district includes a tobacco-sensitive portion of the Richmond area.
Hilton Oliver
Executive Director
Virginia GASP
Virginia Beach by CNB