"During a Tuesday meeting to discuss city issues, the League of Women Voters of Virginia heard different options about how Charlottesville should elect its School Board members.

The City Council faces a difficult decision in selecting an option, as was evident when the Election Study Task Force that was organized to research the choices could not reach a consensus on a most appropriate option.

Charles Weber, a member of the task force, outlined for members of the League the choices that the council is mulling over in electing city board members.

On May 2, Charlottesville voters chose three members to fill at-large seats, and now the council will hold public hearings to gauge how residents want to elect board members by holding public hearing, the next to take place Monday.

On Aug. 7, the task force recommended two voting options: the residential-district model, with all seven members elected at large and four required to reside in each of the four city wards; and the ward model, with three members elected at large and four voted on only by residents of each ward.

Weber, the chairman of the city’s Republican Party, told the League that he favors the ward model because it would allow those four members to become more intimate with the issues of their wards and would eliminate some of the politicking that may arise from a solely at-large election.

He said that electing seven board members at large is a disadvantage to voters who do not learn much about their candidates.

Speaking about those on the task force who said the at-large option puts more power in the voters’ hands, Weber said: “It’s not a true virtue at all if you don’t know anything about the candidate come Election Day.”

In a phone interview after the meeting, Tom Vandever, who also served on the task force and was elected to the City Council twice using at-large voting, said Weber’s argument that the ward option would rid School Board elections of politicking is “ludicrous.”

By changing the School Board elections to the fall and requiring candidates to register by June, Vandever said candidates now have more time to present their ideas to voters.

“In a city with 40,000, it is not difficult to get your ideas out to the public,” said Vandever, a former campaign manager for city Democrats. He favors the residential-district model.

School Board elections are non-partisan by law, meaning candidates cannot signify party affiliation on ballots. They can, however, receive support from political parties and other community groups, Vandever said, and he did not see any problem with that, while Weber insinuated that an at-large election causes more politicking.

Vandever said, however, that political affiliation is not all that a candidate should rely on.

“Giving a name does not get at the issues,” he said.

Weber said he expects the City Council to continue hearing public opinion and then vote on which option to implement. He does not anticipate that the public will directly vote on the issue.

The City Council will further discuss the differing models of electing School Board members at its next meeting, 7 p.m. Monday." (Matt Deegan, The Daily Progress, September 27, 2006)