Ed. — From the Sunday, Aug. 27, print edition.
COURTHOUSE — The Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 15, adopted a 10-district local voting system that was first used here in 2022 after changes to state law effectively ended the city’s former voting system and a federal judge found that the old way of selecting local leaders here was discriminatory.
The city will now select 10 of its 11 council members from districts in which only residents of each district vote on that district’s representation. The mayor, who is the 11th member of the City Council, is still selected citywide. Members of the School Board are expected to be selected using the same districts, as in 2022.
The 10-district system, which includes three districts meant to give minority citizens a better opportunity to elect candidates of their choice, was used in 2022 after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson ordered its design by a court-appointed special master and its implementation. That election led to a more diverse council while changing the political landscape of School Board elections.
The city appealed the decision, and an appeals court said Jackson’s order had been made moot by changes to state law. However, it remanded the case back to the judge – and noted the plaintiffs might have amended claims.
At that point last year, the city had no time to change the system because the election was underway with candidates lined up, and Virginia Beach conducted that local election under the court-imposed 10-1 plan. This year, after a divided council funded a public engagement process about local voting, it was clear that voters favored the 10-1 system — and, as the city’s lawyers advised the council this summer, the federal court still was closely watching what the city of Virginia Beach meant to do.
The City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 15, voted, 10-1, to pass a redistricting measure adopting the districts as designed by the special master and to adopt the 10-1 system itself. City Councilmember Barbara Henley, who represents District 2 and has criticized what she has called a lack of public input, was the lone vote in opposition.
“We’re happy we’ve reached a conclusion in a cordial manner after looking at the options,” said City Councilmember Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond, who represents District 4, following the meeting at City Hall. “As you can see, the 10-1 got a 10-1.”
The former voting system in Virginia Beach featured a mix of seven residency districts and four-at-large, or citywide-seats, and voters throughout the city cast ballots for district seats whether or not they lived inside the district. The new system faces some additional steps in Richmond, but the vote by the City Council signals an end to years of conflict while avoiding possible renewed litigation had the city done otherwise.
Mayor Bobby Dyer on Thursday, Aug. 24, said the city will work with its local delegation to the Virginia General Assembly to seek a change to the city charter, which contains language about the former voting system. The city has said it could also seek a general law change in Richmond.
But the 10-1 system is the city’s local system going forward, Dyer said, while noting that the city is playing the hand it was dealt by the courts and changes to state law.
“At this point, we just have to accept this,” Dyer said. “It’s up to us as leaders to make sure it works for the benefit of the public.”
Dyer said he plans to soon meet with School Board Chair Trenace Riggs to discuss the 10-1 system and School Board elections, which by charter have and presumably would continue to mirror council elections.
“They don’t elect their chair,” Dyer said. “That’s the wrinkle we have to overcome.”
The School Board chairperson is selected by members of the board from among their ranks, rather than by direct citywide election, which is how voters choose the mayor. Potentially, a single at-large, or citywide, seat on the School Board could be on the ballot in 2024, when the office of the mayor is scheduled to be on the ballot under the city’s staggered local election schedule.
“The School Board is waiting to hear from the city to see how we need to work together on this and how it will effect School Board elections,” Riggs said Thursday, Aug. 24.
The plaintiffs in the federal suit, Latasha Holloway and Georgia Allen, were represented by the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization. Annabelle Harless, the center’s legal counsel for redistricting, said the decision to retain the 10-system will mean better representation for citizens.
“On behalf of our clients, this is a huge win, but it’s also a win for all of the voters in the city of Virginia Beach,” Harless said during an interview on Thursday, Aug. 17. “All of the voters deserve to have their voice heard on matters that affect their everyday lives from the City Council. The vast majority of the public also supported keeping the 10-1 system, as we saw with 81 percent of respondents saying so on the validated statistical survey that the city conducted.”
“It is a historic moment,” Allen said on Thursday, Aug. 24. “I’m glad things worked out for the best. I’m grateful.”
City Councilmember Chris Taylor, who represents District 8, noted during an interview that he hadn’t supported going forward with the public engagement study earlier this year. There was insight delivered by the study, he said, but the support had been clear.
Taylor said the city might be further down the road had it acted earlier.
“Ultimately,” he said, “I think we got exactly what the citizens were asking for.”
The city can now move toward a 2024 election, and Taylor said Virginia Beach already has seen the impact of the system following the 2022 local elections, in which five new members joined the council.
“It did bring about a lot of change,” he said.
City Councilmember Rocky Holcomb, who represents District 1, said he supported moving forward with the 10-1 system because public engagement showed support for it, noting that the people had spoken and he was there to represent them.
Following the Tuesday, Aug. 15, meeting in which the council made its historic vote, Gary McCollum, a community leader who has advocated for the new system, offered, “Now we’ve got to just make sure they follow up in Richmond.”
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