Virginia Beach Elections

I admit I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the elections coming up Tuesday in Virginia Beach. But during a little trip into “Downtown Virginia Beach” (the Pembroke area) last week, I was amazed at the number of signs I saw. I’ve seen a few TV ads and several of the candidates are advertising on pilotonline.com. I really love that, unlike Norfolk, so many people are running in Virginia Beach – definitely democracy in action. With that in mind, here is a run down of the Beach candidates for city council and school board, with links to their bios and answers to the Pilot’s questionnaire.

CITY COUNCIL

District: At Large (2 seats) Pilot story
H. T. “Howie” Carr, Sr. – police captain
Glenn R. Davis, Jr. – telecommunications executive
Bill R. DeSteph, Jr. – marine technology executive
Bill M. Griffith, Sr. – construction manager
Ben A. Krause – retired naval officer and financial adviser
French Donald Mackes, Jr. – computer systems analyst
Bill P. Oberndorfer III – bankruptcy consultant
Samuel G. “Sam” Reid – city schools carpenter
Stanley E. Stem – com­puter network administrator
Ron A. Villanueva* – government contractor

District 4: Bayside (1 seat)
Louis R. Jones* – funeral-home owner

District 5: Lynnhaven (1 seat)
Bob D. O’Connor – retired computer programmer
James L. “Jim” Wood* – commercial builder

District 6: Beach (1 seat) Pilot story and another
Rick W. Kowalewitch – surf shop owner
Richard A. Maddox* – Dairy Queen owner
John E. Uhrin – property management officer

District 7: Princess Anne (1 seat)
Barbara M. Henley – farmer
J. M. “Jim” Reeve* – business owner

SCHOOL BOARD

District: At Large (2 seats)
Gregg A. Benshoff – fire captain and paramedic
Todd C. Davidson – pastor
H. T. “Butch” Grant, Jr. – retired teacher
Carolyn D. Weems* – advertising business owner.

District 4: Bayside (1 seat)
Dan Lowe* – retired military

District 5: Lynnhaven (1 seat)
Emma Davis* – retired teacher and administrator

District 6: Beach (1 seat)
Jane S. Brooks* – homemaker
Patricia G. Edmonson – program manager

District 7: Princess Anne (1 seat)
Lyndon S. Remias – internal auditor
Lois S. Williams* – chief executive of consultant agency

* – indicates incumbent

Although the candidates run for seats to represent certain districts, they are elected city-wide. A majority of the candidates support ward elections, similar to Norfolk. I can only assume that it is because they are elected city-wide that the Pilot had unopposed candidates answer the questionnaire, something that they did not do for those running unopposed in the Norfolk council elections.