Campaign deadline in Suffolk approaching

SUFFOLK

Two of the city's long-serving political leaders are opting not to run for re-election this year.

City Council member Joseph Barlow and School Board Vice Chairman William Whitley - both serving the Chuckatuck Borough - said they are calling it quits.

Voters in the city's Chuckatuck, Cypress, Holy Neck and Suffolk boroughs will choose representatives in November. Tuesday is the deadline to declare candidacy.

Barlow joined the City Council 10 years ago when he was appointed to finish Del. Chris Jones' term. He was again appointed in 2005 to finish Dana Dickens' term and was elected to his first full term in 2006. Before his run on council, Barlow spent 15 years on the School Board beginning in 1973.

"I'm old enough to be retiring," said Barlow, who turns 82 this summer. "I'll miss it, no question about that. Hopefully I've been helpful."

A former teacher and administrator, Whitley has served on the seven-member School Board for 18 years. It's time for someone younger to take over, the 77-year-old said.

"I have been involved with the Suffolk school system for 51 years," Whitley said.

So far, auto salesman and Economic Development Authority member Mike Duman is the only person to file for the Chuckatuck council seat.

John Yeates Middle School teacher Linda Bouchard, who retires at the end of the month; Dorothy Bland Gamble, a teacher at Chesapeake's Indian River High; and community activist Mary Hill have filed for the Chuckatuck Borough's School Board opening.

As for the other open council seats, Cypress Borough incumbent Charles Brown is running unopposed.

Councilman Jeff Gardy will seek re-election in the Holy Neck Borough against J.B. Varney, who will retire in two weeks from teaching and coaching at King's Fork High School. Holy Neck voters have never elected a council member for two consecutive terms.

Councilman Charles Parr, the Suffolk Borough representative, will defend his seat against retired naval inspector Alvin Copeland, who runs Copeland's Barbershop.

For School Board, incumbent Michael J. Debranski is the only person who has filed in the Suffolk Borough. Debranski, a former Suffolk teacher and administrator, joined the board in 2006.

Planning Commissioner William Goodman hopes to unseat board Chairwoman Lorraine Skeeter in the Cypress Borough. A former air traffic controller, Goodman is a substitute teacher. Skeeter works for the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project and has served on the board for 17 years.

In Holy Neck, Bill Owen plans to challenge Enoch Copeland, a retired educator who was elected to the board in 2006. Owen, a former Nansemond-Suffolk Academy headmaster who also worked in the city's public schools, has submitted a declaration of candidacy but is not yet certified to run.

Marjon Rostami, (757) 222-5563, marjon.rostami@pilotonline.com

Hattie Brown Garrow, (757) 222-5562, hattie.brown@pilotonline.com