Ed. — Archived from the Sunday, Feb. 18, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — A bill seeking a charter change to reflect the new 10-district local voting system in Virginia Beach faced opposition in the House of Delegates, but not enough to deny it the two-thirds majority required for it to advance.
The bill [HB416] introduced by state Del. Kelly Fowler, a Virginia Beach Democrat who represents District 96, passed in the House by a 75-24 margin with one abstention on Wednesday, Feb. 7. The bill and a Senate companion effort would place language sought by the city in its charter so the code matches the new system resulting from a federal lawsuit and changes to state law that mean the former voting system cannot return.
“I am glad the House passed the charter change,” Fowler said in a statement to The Independent News on Wednesday, Feb. 14. “As the bill is finalized in the coming days, we await the Governor’s immediate signature to ensure Virginia Beach can move on from the frivolous lawsuits and political games that do nothing but waste taxpayer dollars.”
In committee, the bill had faced opposition from members of the GOP, including two delegates from Virginia Beach – Dels. Barry Knight, R-98th District, and Anne Ferrell Tata, R-99th District. Both mentioned litigation related to the local voting system as part of their reasoning to oppose Fowler’s bill, and Knight and Tata were among the legislators to vote against it in the full House.
Earlier, a companion bill [SB189] introduced by state Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-22nd District, seeking the charter change unanimously passed the Senate.
“We’re certainly happy with that vote, but we know there’s a long way to go for it to be an active piece of legislation,” Virginia Beach Deputy City Attorney Chris Boynton said on Thursday, Feb. 15, speaking of the bill’s passage in the House of Delegates.
The bills will now be considered by other chambers and, if advanced, go to Gov. Glenn Youngkin. As this edition of The Independent News went to press on Thursday, Feb. 15, HB416 had been referred to the Senate Committee on Local Government and SB189 to the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit against the city filed by several citizens, including former City Councilmember Linwood Branch, remained in Circuit Court this past week. The suit, which alleges the city improperly adopted the 10-district system ordered by a federal court though an appeals court later vacated the ruling that led to it. The city improperly did away with three citywide City Council seats required by the charter when it adopted the 10-1 system, as it is called, during a redistricting vote this past year, the suit alleges.
The city has noted that 2022 local elections were already underway using the new system when the appeals court made its decision that summer and the old system, a feature of which was people living outside a residency district helping select said district’s representative, cannot legally return.
Boynton said the city believes it had the authority to adopt the 10-district system last year in the redistricting vote.
Brandan Goodwin, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the suit’s future course depends upon whether the charter change becomes law. “Obviously,” he said, “until it’s signed into law, I think the suit will proceed,” he said on Thursday, Feb. 15.
Virginia Beach Circuit Court Chief Judge James C. Lewis on Monday, Feb. 5, entered an order that said the judges of the circuit have recused themselves and are asking the Virginia Supreme Court to designate a judge.
© 2024 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC