My latest op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot Wednesday with the above title. I do my writing on Sundays and I had something else in mind for this week’s column until I opened Sunday’s paper and ran across this article in the Compass. This part caught my eye:
Mayor Paul Fraim hosted a luncheon for Ward 7 council candidate Angelia Williams recently at the Town Point Club.
It was billed as a chance to get to know Williams, a real estate agent who faces three other candidates in the November special election.
Among the 50 or so to attend were W. Sheppard Miller III, chair of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority board; Norfolk attorneys Vincent J. Mastracco, Jr. and Peter G. Decker III; and Thomas G. Johnson, III, senior vice president of S.L. Nusbaum Realty.
Williams is emerging as the establishment candidate. She has endorsements from Fraim and McCabe, who have contributed to her campaign.
Winn has also endorsed her and spoke briefly at the luncheon. Del. Paula Miller, D-Norfolk, has contributed as well.
Earl Fraley Jr., a member of the Planning Commission, has been endorsed by Riddick.
Ingleside Civic League head Phillip Hawkins Jr. and Jimmy D. Wilson, a former Norfolk State University administrator, are also running in the special election.
First, I found it curious that the major endorsements of Hawkins – by Daun Hester – and Wilson – by Del. Algie Howell – were not mentioned. Hmmmm. Second, I’ll be curious to see if this “meet and greet” event translates into dollars. If so, the monied interests in Norfolk will once again choose the representative, voters be damned.
Hester’s endorsement, by the way, is below the fold.
September 23, 2010 Contact: Daun Hester
(757) 892-4167
dshester@verizon.netDaun Hester Endorses Phillip Hawkins, Jr.
In Special Election for Norfolk City Council – Ward 7Norfolk, VA – Citing feedback from community leaders and weeks of personal deliberation, former Vice Mayor and Councilwoman Daun Hester is announcing that she will endorse Phillip Hawkins, Jr. in the Superward 7 race for Norfolk City Council. Hester served as the Superward 7 representative for 14 years.
Hesterʼs announcement comes following a series of meetings and interviews with the four candidates for the Superward 7 council seat. The meetings included representatives from the Ward 7 Civic Leagues as well as other community leaders associated with civic endeavors and initiatives.
“I asked community leaders from across Superward 7 to join me in a discussion of the challenges and opportunities we face,” Hester said. “That conversation led to identifying a series of questions which were then posed to each of the candidates in four separate sessions with the group.”
The process included posing the same 10 questions to the four candidates running for the Superward 7 seat. Participants listened to candidates respond but agreed before hand not to ask follow-up questions or make comments during the meetings. They did however complete a post interview survey which included their impressions of the candidates’ answers and some key characteristics.
“After listening to my neighborsʼ thoughts and ideas and hearing what the candidates had to say, I decided to give Phillip my full and public support,” Hester stated. “His ratings on the post-interview survey were consistently the highest among the other candidates. My opinion of his positions and his ability to lead are in agreement with my neighbors.”
“I consider Phillip to be a person of high integrity who is articulate, open-minded and committed to his community and our city,” Hester continued. “I consider him to be uniquely qualified in representing the citizens of Ward 7 at the council table and working to address the many challenges our neighbors face.”
According to Hester, Hawkins is the only candidate with a plan that will move Superward 7 forward and the attributes and experience she believes are necessary to serve well, including…
- A clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges in Superward 7.
- Existing civic and community relationships with leaders across the city.
- Collaborations with civic league presidents across the city to discuss and implement ideas that will make a difference for the citizens they represent.
- A working knowledge of the issues faced in Superward 7 at the grassroots level.
“Phillip has given generously of his time on behalf of his city. He has a great deal of knowledge regarding city issues and he frequently attends meetings around the city to increase his understanding and share knowledge. He has consistently participated in city council meeting, speaking before the city council expressing the views of his civic league and himself,” Hester said.
A lifelong resident of Norfolk, Hawkins attended Norfolk public schools and is a graduate of Norfolk State University receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in General Business, with honors, and a Masters of Arts in Urban Education. He is an educator by profession, teaching pre-K at Berkley/Campostella Early Childhood Education Center in Norfolk, as well as a community and civic leader. Hawkins serves as president of the Ingleside Civic League and is an active member of numerous volunteer organizations including The Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men, the Norfolk Branch Chapter of the NAACP, the United Way of South Hampton Roads’ Project Inclusion, the Virginia Education Association and the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life.
Hawkins has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work as an educator and civic leader. In recent years he was named Teacher of the Year at the Berkley/Campostella Early Childhood Education Center twice and given a Volunteer Appreciation Award from the City of Norfolk.
He is a member of the Norfolk State University Alumni Association, serving in leadership positions for several committees. He is also an active member of the Olive Grove Baptist Church. He is a Bible School Teacher and participates in numerous ministries on behalf of his church including the Tutoring and Mentoring Ministry, Young Adult Choir Ministry, Men’s Day Ministry and the Youth Department.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
isn’t it interesting that Barclay Winn who ran against Bob Keogh, as the “anti-establishment” candidate, without support of folks like Mayor Fraim and with support of folks like Shep Miller, is now backing the “establishment” candidate, along with Mr. Miller.
I guess once you become established your roots are in your past. Ah, but that is just the cynic in me, I’m sure.
I have met a couple of the candidates, heard about the others, look forward, even though I can’t vote, to learning about all of them. This is still my home and I am still hopeful that the voters will choose the best of the candidates.
But that is the Polyanna in me. Should I know better?
In your article you noted my uncle Joseph Jordan’s election to City Council in 1968. For those who may not know, Joe Jordan vigorously opposed Norfolk’s return to a ward system. He felt the NAACP lawsuit amounted to political segregation (note: Jordan was a NAACP lawyer who fought to break down segregation laws), electoral laziness, and the drastic reduction of Black political power and influence. He also believed that wards, especially race-based ones, made political manipulation easier. “That’s my real concern with the NAACP. It represents the approach of lazy politicians who are unwilling to work and utilize the strength that we have but wish to simply take advantage of the limited resources which exist,” he said in an 1991 interview. In an earlier interview with Dr. Tommy Bogger he said, “Well, we like to simplify it and say that there’s this group and there’s that group, and you can work for that group and you can’t work for this group and so forth. All right. That isn’t the way it is. Sometimes the most conservative folk are the ones you can work with best, depending upon the issues. Sometimes the most liberal folk are your problems. You know, that’s your benefactor. If the liberals had continued to pursue their agenda, Dr. Robinson would have hung me or I would have hung him. Literally we would have destroyed each other. They felt that they knew who our leadership should be and that they had earned the right to the support of the black community. I have said to the liberals, if you’re a real liberal, you’re not there to help me to create you as my leader. You are there to work with me to create the best leadership, period; and I’m not talking about leadership from this side of town, you see. You should be ready to support the best person for mayor no matter whom it is, you see. So wise politics for the black community is maintaining its block voting and using the strength of that to influence whomever the majority may be, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re liberal or conservative, you see.”
Norfolk’s race-based ward system has rewarded residential segregated housing patterns and politically segregated Blacks into 3 wards. All members of council no longer need the votes of all people to get elected thus lessening rather than strengthening accountability.
I am not naive about money and elections, but I also can count who turns out to vote no matter the election. The ward system has increased the ability of money to influence ward elections, divided the black vote more than organize it, and reduced voter turnout as focus shifted from power & influence to “representation.”
Oh, one last note… Norfolk is already a majority-minority populated city however Norfolk’s eligible voting population is not near 50-50.
I don’t believe that the ward system has divided the black vote. Lack of leadership has divided the black vote.
I also don’t believe the ward system has increased the ability of money to influence election; in fact, I’d say just the opposite. Just look at Virginia Beach where all of the candidates run at large. Typically, the only people who win are those who have large sums of money. And we know how well that has worked for the black community there.
There are issues with the ward system, just as there are issues with an at-large system. Neither is perfect. But if you think the accountability to voters is better in an at-large system, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Anytime you increase the number of voters to whom a representative is accountable, you decrease the effectiveness of voters.
As for the majority-minority population: according to this, Norfolk has not gotten to a minority majority.
You both make some good points.
Rodney, thanks for the history lesson from your Uncle. I think that in a perfect world his thoughts would be the thoughts of all. Unfortunately, the world ain’t perfect,so we have to deal with less than perfect solutions. I hope some day we get to the point where we will vote for the best candidate, not the party, the color of the candidate, or fall for the lies told.
Vivian, change effectiveness of voters to influence and you are correct. The old all politics are local and that can mean local to ward, to city, to state.
Looked at the numbers you referenced and if whites are less than 50% of the population of the city, doesn’t that support Rodney’ point?
Norfolk’s ward system is based upon racial segregation. The fact that we’ve decided that racial segregation is a reasonable tradeoff concerns me greatly.
In the at-large system for a city of Norfolk’s size, every candidate needs your vote.
It would be good if we could put some metrics/measures behind “what has worked for the black community,” and then evaluate against it.
The ward system has divided the Black vote by concentrating the Black vote in my opinion.
As for Virginia Beach, that’s a different animal. If Blacks in Norfolk were 20% of the population as is the case in VB, I would see the potential for wards.
Again, Norfolk’s system is based upon racial segregation, and that TO ME is a fundamental flaw. Suppose Norfolk does become or is majority Black but you have 80% of the Black population concentrated in certain neighborhoods. Do you keep the “Black wards” fewer because they are easier to gerrymander?
According to your census link, Norfolk IS majority-minority. The white population is 49%; the “minority” population is 51%.