Influential Virginia Beach business groups lobby city to restore at-large council seats
VIRGINIA BEACH — Three Oceanfront business associations have joined forces to oppose the city's current district-based election system and to request the return of at-large representation on the City Council.
The presidents of the Virginia Beach Hotel Association, Virginia Beach Restaurant Association and Atlantic Avenue Association sent a letter to the City Council Monday in an effort to discourage members from pursuing a city charter change that would eliminate the opportunity for voters across the city to elect representatives.
The associations says they want a system that would allow citizens to be more involved and have more representation. They suggested implementing three or four at-large seats, while keeping district-based representation for the remaining seats and the mayor elected at-large.
"Citizens should have a voice in the district they work in as well as the district they live in," the letter said.
The charter amendment is included in the city's draft legislative agenda, which is a list of requests presented to state legislators each year before they head to the General Assembly in January.
The City Council held a public hearing on the charter change this week and will discuss the draft agenda on Tuesday during a work session. A vote on the final agenda is scheduled on Nov. 12.
"We should definitely take the progress that we've gained out of this 10-1 system, but somehow there needs to be a little bit of balance back," said Mike Mauch, president of the restaurant association.
Under the city's current election system, voters can only elect the representative of the district in which they live and the mayor. The system was implemented in 2022 after a federal judge deemed the previous at-large system illegal because it diluted minority voting power. But the city charter has not yet been amended to reflect the current system, and such a change requires state approval.
The city charter currently provides for seven residence districts and for three members and the mayor to be elected at-large. The Virginia Beach School Board is elected by the same system as the City Council.
The proposed amendment would allow the city charter's text to formalize the so-called 10-1 system currently in use, which includes a 10-member City Council with each member elected only by residents of their district and a mayor elected by voters across the city. Virginia Beach made the same request at this year's General Assembly. The governor ultimately vetoed it citing a pending lawsuit.
This year's election is continuing as planned with the 10-1 system, which the council authorized in 2023 when it adopted a redistricting ordinance . Five council seats and mayor are up for election.
At the public hearing in Virginia Beach earlier this week, several speakers urged the council not to move ahead with the charter change request at this time and to instead pursue a referendum.
"I don't know why each of you can't stand up in integrity and put an end to the charade that has gone on for the last couple of years," said Tim Ritter, owner of Fun Family Xperience Theatre in the resort area. "It can be put forth in a referendum, put to the people and put through the normal process of changing a charter."
State Sen. Aaron Rouse, a Democrat from Virginia Beach who served on the City Council, spoke at the meeting about how he was among the council members who backed a request for a referendum on the election system in 2020. Six of the 11 council members at that time voted against the request.
A 2023 public survey found broad support for the 10-1 system and for a ballot referendum on the local election system.
Rouse, who carried the charter change bill in the Senate this year, said power brokers in the resort area who want control and influence oppose the 10-1 system.
"It comes down to money," said Rouse. "The status quo wants to be able to have more than one representative who represents the Oceanfront."
Under the current system, the Oceanfront is divided into two election districts , 5 and 6. District 6, which encompasses 17th Street to the North End, is not up for election. But District 5 is shaping up to be the most expensive council race in the city. Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson faces a substantial challenge from business owner L.G. Shaw. Wilson has raised nearly $264,000 as of Sept. 30 while Shaw has collected $128,000 — according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
The Virginia Beach Hotel Association has been a prolific donor in local elections over the years, VPAP data shows.
Mauch owns a restaurant on Atlantic Avenue and believes the district-based system doesn't provide enough representation for small business owners.
"A lot of people put a lot of stock into their own district and don't think about the city as a whole so it stifles business a little bit," he said.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit challenging the validity of the city's district voting system is moving forward in court.
Former Councilman Linwood Branch and several other residents contend the city "illegally manipulated the Virginia Beach electoral system by eliminating three at-large seats that are expressly established under the City Charter," and deprived the rights of voters, according to the lawsuit.
In August, a Circuit Court judge authorized a trial to determine the Virginia Voting Rights Act's impact on the city's election system. A date for the trial hasn't been scheduled yet.
If the lawsuit is still pending when the General Assembly reconvenes Jan. 8, it seems Virginia Beach could have a replay of last year's fight on its hands.
"I don't think the circumstances have changed," said Brandan Goodwin, attorney for the plaintiffs.
With a trial pending, a charter change request could face even more roadblocks in Richmond, Goodwin said.
