Big money
Signs are popping up all over Virginia Beach exhorting people to oppose the 10-1 voting system to protect their right to vote. George Orwell would be impressed by this Newspeak.
Beach voters will choose between the 10-1 system: 10 districts electing their own member of council and all voting for mayor. Or the 7-3-1 system, seven districts electing a member of council, three council members elected at-large, and all voting for the mayor.
In 2005, I ran for office in Virginia’s 14th Senate District, which is roughly the same population size as Virginia Beach. I learned that it is impossible to mount an effective campaign to that many voters without big money backing. You simply can’t knock on 100,000 doors to make your case to each family individually. In Virginia Beach, big money is the developers and the resort area.
In the 7-3-1 system, the mayor’s office and the three at-large seats are simply out of reach for non-establishment candidates, and the remaining seven seats are almost twice as large as in the 10-1 system.
In the at-large districts, all big money has to do is to dominate the advertising and maybe token fund a few spoiler candidates to split the anti-establishment vote. You might as well just let the Chamber of Commerce select the city council and save the cost of the election.
If you have any doubts about the dominance of big money in the 7-3-1 campaign, who do you think is paying for all those signs?
William D. Tabor, Virginia Beach
College boards
Re “Panel rejects more Youngkin selections for college boards” (A2, Aug. 30): One has to question the motives of Democratic state Sens. Aaron Rouse, Louise Lucas and Mamie Locke, and why they continue to reject honorable Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees to college and university boards.
We remember Lucas’ actions at the Confederate monument protests in downtown Portsmouth. It seems that Rouse, Lucas and Locke love to stir up controversy rather than stand together as Virginians and promote our values as decent human beings. College and universities should base entrance, not on athletic abilities, but on academic achievement.
Having taught public school for 40 years in Virginia Beach, I’d love to know the factual SAT and academic records of these three people who are constantly bringing Virginia down in such a negative way with their constant bickering.
Robyn Johnson, Virginia Beach
National attention
Re “Myth of redemption” (Your Views, Aug. 28): The writer faults Norfolk State University for hiring Michael Vick to run its football program because of his past involvement in dog-fighting crimes. I have a different view.
The leadership of NSU has decided that the university must expand its football program to achieve a more national stature. The belief, I would guess, is that by achieving more national attention, the college will draw more recruits to its overall programs and will expand its base of potential donors. If we concede the soundness of this effort, then it follows that NSU should reach out for the best individual to lead its football program. Vick certainly qualifies based on his experience, his demonstrated leadership and his ready access to rising football talent. It is hard to see how the administration could have made a better choice.
Vick has paid fully for his past mistakes, not only in prison time, but also, as the letter writer acknowledges, by impressive acts of humanistic behavior. There is surely no risk that any of his players will somehow be led to embrace a career in dog fighting. We will know in a few years whether his appointment will lead NSU to a successful program. If he does, its administration will have chosen wisely in this hire. If not, his past will have had nothing to do with it.
Stephen Middlebrook, Virginia Beach
