Voting referendum
Education without the whole truth isn’t education. It’s propaganda. This November’s referendum on Virginia Beach’s City Council voting system may look simple, but only if you ignore decades of history: federal judge rulings, surveys, a citywide “education” push and even councilmembers’ cash shaping the outcome.
In 1994, voters approved ending the at-large system. By 1996, the General Assembly, led by state Sen. Ken Stolle, rewrote the referendum to ask whether residents wanted to vote for “11 councilmembers or just 5.” That sleight of hand buried the issue of equal representation. Years later, a federal judge ruled that Virginia Beach’s at-large system violated the Voting Rights Act. The referendum before us asks residents to approve what courts have already ruled unlawful.
Afterward, City Council requested a charter amendment. I carried that in the General Assembly and got it passed. Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed it, the first veto of any charter amendment in decades.
A 2023 UVA survey found nearly 80% of residents feel represented under the 10-1 system, this fact is missing from city messaging. Instead, propaganda is everywhere. The city is paying people to sit in libraries through Election Day to funnel voters to its official website, where the information is one-sided. The PAC Every Vote Counts amplifies that message with signs and more than $330,000 in spending … including $10,000 from Councilman Stacy Cummings. That’s not education. It’s corruption disguised as choice.
Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Virginia Beach
Powering Virginia
Offshore wind off Virginia Beach means reliable power for families, new jobs for our communities, and more substantial support for our military bases.
Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent support for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project is more than welcome. This project will power more than 600,000 homes, strengthen our military bases and position Virginia as a leader in securing America’s energy future.
For too long, debates over energy have been framed as either/or. Either fossil fuels or renewables. Either traditional energy or innovation. The truth is, we need it all. As Congresswoman Jen Kiggans has rightly argued, an “all-of-the-above” approach is not just good policy — it’s common sense.
Energy security is one of the great national security challenges of our time. Our adversaries are pouring billions into alternative energy to modernize their grids and reduce vulnerabilities. If we ignore clean energy, we fall behind. Offshore wind is not a luxury — it is a strategic necessity.
For Virginia, the benefits are undeniable. This project creates jobs, expands local supply chains and generates private investment in our communities. It strengthens the infrastructure that keeps our military ready and our lights on. And it ensures the commonwealth is not just a consumer of energy, but a driver of innovation.
Offshore wind is about security, prosperity, and keeping Virginia — and America — strong.
Thomas N. Turner, executive director, Conservatives for Clean Energy Virginia, Suffolk
Virginians first
As a veteran living in Hampton Roads, I know what it means to put service first. That’s why I’m so disappointed in Rep. Jen Kiggans.
Dominion is already asking the State Corporation Commission to raise our electricity bills by more than $20 a month over the next two years. Families, seniors and veterans already struggle to keep up with rising costs of living. As Kiggans always does, and despite promises to take care of her constituents, she still voted for President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” Her rubber stamp will add another couple hundred dollars to Virginians’ electricity bills over the next year.
Instead of fighting for her constituents, Kiggans always puts her loyalty to Trump first. She has doubled down on legislation that will make life more expensive in Hampton Roads.
We deserve a representative who puts Virginians and their families first, not one who willingly votes to raise our utility bills because Trump told her to.
Lt. Col. Bill Robinson, U.S. Army retired, Carrollton
