THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060435
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 69 lines
A petition drive aimed at pressuring the City Council to help provide residents with more say in local affairs was a success, organizers said Tuesday night.
A tally of signatures on the petition was not immediately available, but citizens who stationed themselves outside polling stations reported that their neighbors needed little prodding to sign a letter to council members asking for ``advisory referendum'' power.
That would allow citizens to place questions on an election ballot - with signatures from 15 percent of registered voters - and give the public a chance to express views for or against a topic. The council would not be bound by the decision.
Chesapeake does not have referendum power now, but by collecting signatures the activists hope to persuade the city to ask the state legislature to allow it.
``I noticed a very high level of frustration with the citizens because they don't think they have enough input into local matters,'' said Gene Waters, president of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations and the petition organizer.
About 30 of the city's 45 polling locations were manned by about 60 volunteers. Chesapeake has approximately 80,000 registered voters, and Waters said he believes the signatures collected number in the thousands. The referendum supporters plan to collect more signatures later on a separate petition.
``Very few people openly rejected it; some just didn't know about it,'' said Berlyn F. Howard, who was collecting signatures at Crestwood Middle School on Great Bridge Boulevard. ``Our city charter eliminates people from the process,'' he told voters heading into the school. ``Like on the convention center, the city got one bid, they gave it all to one man, and there wasn't anything we could say about it.''
Some residents said they could not name specific issues that they wanted to have a say about, but, like Richard W. Griffin, many said, ``It will be there when we need it.''
In addition to the convention center, others named water quality, taxes, education and growth as key issues.
``On issues such as schools, I like to know that I can have a say,'' said Pam Stout, who signed the petition in the parking lot at Jolliff United Methodist Church in Western Branch. ``We didn't vote for all of the council members, and they may not represent our views.''
Steve T. Romanczyk named zoning as an issue about which he would like to voice an opinion. But, he said, ``There are a lot of issues I'd like to have a say on. The council is constantly making decisions in favor of big business. I'd like more say in school issues and decisions that affect children.''
The City Council plans to hold a public hearing on the topic Nov. 19. It remains unclear if the city will seek referendum power, although at least four council members say they support the idea.
Councilman Peter P. Duda Jr. opposes the referendum proposal because he says the council members were elected to make ``the hard decisions.''
State Sen. Mark L. Earley, R-Chesapeake/Virginia Beach, said he would introduce legislation to change Chesapeake's charter to allow for referendums if the city requests it. Even if the City Council does not ask for the referendum power, Earley said he would seek a change in Virginia law allowing it. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MORT FRYMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Nearly 100 voters waited in line about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday at the Deep
Creek Community Center in Chesapeake. Some left, saying they might
return. Activists hoped some of these voters would sign a petition
favoring an advisory refereundum.
KEYWORDS: REFERENDUM by CNB