Latest news with #JohnZirkle
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Warner hears about challenges to Oceanfront economy
VIRGINIA BEACH (WAVY) — Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) listened Friday morning to the challenges facing restaurants, hotels and attractions that make up the local tourism economy as part of a roundtable discussion on the stage of the city's newest attraction, The Dome. Previously: Virginia Beach tourism fuels $3.8 billion into local economy, report finds The head of the Virginia Beach Hotel Association, John Zirkle, reminded Warner about a successful Memorial Day weekend, with on tap this weekend, and the the following weekend. It highlighted a subsegment of Oceanfront tourism — sports tourism. 'This whole notion of sports tourism didn't exist 20 years ago,' Warner told the panel and about 100 invited guests. Mike Mauch, head of the , made his pitch to Warner. 'If there's any possible way to find funding mechanisms to help us to provide an even more broad spectrum of sports tourism, that would benefit the entire city,' Mauch said. Zirkle cited 2023 figures, the latest available, about tourism overall: 14.1 million visitors to Virginia Beach with an economic impact of $3.8 billion. However, he said tariffs are making towels, sheets and blankets more and more expensive. 'We need some help with getting the tariffs under control,' Zirkle said. 'The back and forth is causing huge delays in shipping. It's causing huge price increases.' And then there's an 80% funding cut for what's known as , the marketing of destinations in the U.S. to international tourists. 'As we look at international travel declining, whether it's Canadian or other countries that are off, it's really important that we get that [funding] back,' said Eric Terry, head of the . North End native and landscape architect Billy Almond of the Resort Advisory Commission talked about resiliency. 'In my lifetime, I have seen the beach change dramatically,' he said. 'All the sand that we put at the south end is on 89th Street. We have a huge resource that needs to be studied and protected.' 'That's something I can take on,' Warner told reporters afterward. 'Unfortunately, there are efforts in Washington right now to cut out all resiliency funds. That makes no sense. If the beach erodes away, then a lot of this economy is going to be in real trouble.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Decision on Virginia Beach 10-1 voting system may go to the voters
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Voters may get to decide if Virginia Beach should change the way it elects city leaders. In November, neighbors could be asked if they should keep the new voting system or go back to the old one. But many argue the old system gives fewer opportunities to minorities. Some argue the old voting system helped the city is rural communities have a say in who runs Virginia Beach. Though years of court action allege it hurts Black, Asian and Hispanic voters. The history of this issue goes back by more than half a century. For decades, Virginia Beach city leaders were elected on what is called a 7-3-1 voting system. This was established in the 1960's allowing the mayor and three city council seats to be voted on at-large. Candidates for the other seven seats had to live in the district they ran to serve though anyone could still vote for them. In recent years, this was criticized for undermining the voting power of racial minorities. After a lawsuit accused this system of violating the Federal Voting Rights act, a federal court ordered the city to use a 10-1 voting system. This requires a candidate to live in the ward they're running for. Only people who live there can vote for them. The mayor still runs at-large. In the following election, three Black council members were voted in said to be half as many Black council members as there were elected in the previous 60 years. Now some council members are proposing an idea to let the voters decide if they should keep the 10-1 system. This brought a heated discussion from neighbors on Tuesday night's city council meeting. 'I found a few things interesting,' said John Zirkle of Virginia Beach, in reference to a survey taken about the voting system issue. 'The survey had 2,100 participants. Of those 450,000 some residents… But when you look at the breakdown to how they got those results, it raises some questions.' 'I've seen this system grow from what it was in 1975 to what it is now,' said Andrew Jackson of Virginia Beach. 'The diversity is overwhelming, beautiful. A lot of cities never get to where you are.' Council members voted 7-4 to move forward with putting this issue on the ballot in November. This would ask voters if they want to keep the new system. If it passes, it would later need to be approved by Commonwealth lawmakers and the governor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
