THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 1996 TAG: 9602240300
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB AND TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf filed for re-election Thursday for a third term as mayor and a sixth on the City Council.
Oberndorf, 55, said she wants to stay on council so that that she can continue working on the goals she and the council have set for the city.
``Obviously I'd like to be there when we drink our first cup of water from (Lake) Gaston,'' she said Friday. ``Almost everything I said I believed in or wanted to see happen is beginning to come into fruition now.''
Oberndorf, who lives in the Carolanne Farms neighborhood, is also president of the Virginia Municipal League; vice-chairman of the advisory board for the National League of Cities; and a member of the advisory board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and chairman of the International Affairs Committee.
She said she's fortunate to have a husband who supports her volunteer work.
``I'm very grateful for the opportunity to serve,'' she said. ``I know it is not a privilege, but it is something that must be carefully recognized, so that I don't ever think it's a matter of right.''
No one else has announced an intention to run for the mayor's seat. Lou Pace, a citizen-activist, has filed for an open at-large seat.
The deadline for candidates in the municipal elections is March 7. In Virginia Beach voters will select four city council members as well as the mayor and seven school board members.
In Portsmouth, James C. Hawks announced that he would run for a third term on the City Council. He is running on a ticket with the current School Board Chairman J. Thomas Benn III, who announced at the same time.
The ticket has been endorsed by the Portsmouth Committee, a local political action committee, made up of business people and the city's movers and shakers.
``We have the same vision and we view issues through a similar lens,'' Benn told a group of supporters on Friday. ``It's exciting to dream of the positive impact Benn and Hawks will have on this community.''
Hawks said his eight years on the council during tough times will give the pair an edge in the race.
``The success and setbacks give me invaluable experience,'' Hawks said. ``I believe the next four years will offer more opportunity for renewal than the last eight years.''
Mayor Gloria O. Webb, Councilman Cameron C. Pitts and challenger Rafiq Zaidi have also announced they are running in the election. Portsmouth will select three council members, a mayor and five members of the school board in May. ILLUSTRATION: Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf: ``I'd like to be there when we drink
our first cup of water from (Lake) Gaston.''
KEYWORDS: MAYORAL RACE CITY COUNCIL RACE by CNB