"Two years ago, David RePass went to a Charlottesville Democratic Party meeting to choose City Council candidates. He left thoroughly confused."

"'I have a Ph.D. in political science, and I couldn't understand what was going on,' said the retired University of Connecticut professor."

"RePass is the chairman of a newly formed city group called Democrats for Change, which is - among other things - demanding that the party reform its nominating system."

"The group will run City Council candidates for the Democratic nomination in the spring, RePass said."

"'If we lose, that's the end of it,' he said. 'We will not be running any independent candidates. We are Democrats.'."

"No candidates from the group have come forward yet, RePass said."

"The Democratic nomination carries a lot of weight in Charlottesville: Every Democratic nominee has won a seat on Council in the 1990s."

"Peter McIntosh, the only non-incumbent considered likely to run for the Democratic nomination so far, said he would endorse change. 'There are a lot of people who are confused and befuddled by the process,' he said."

"Charlottesville's five councilors serve, four-year terms. Three seats are open in the May election. Incumbent Meredith Richards said she expects to run for re-election; Councilor Maurice Cox said he is 'seriously considering a run'."

"Mayor Virginia Daugherty said she would not seek re-election."

"Little is known about the Democrats for Change. Members have withheld their stances, saying that they will hold a news conference on Thursday to reveal an extensive multi-point platform."

"The group would not even allow Councilor Blake Caravati to attend its meeting earlier this week at the Village School."

"Group leaders say they have enlisted 70 members, some of whom have been advocates of Charlottesville's reversion to town status, while others have been opponents of the construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway."

"A group member who insisted on anonymity said Friday that Democrats for Change supports cooperation between Albemarle County and Charlottesville, without specifically delineating any attitude on reversion."

"The organization also maintains that the city should have a comprehensive transportation plan before undertaking any road building, such as the Meadowcreek Parkway, the member said."

"In addition, the group supports the direct election of a mayor, the source said."

"While RePass would not detail the group's platform, he did say that the simplification of the Democratic nomination process is a key goal."

"The nomination process currently consists of Democrats attending a mass meeting, also called a caucus, and electing 100 delegates to a nominating convention about a week later. These delegates then select nominees for City Council."

"In order to attend mass meetings, city residents must be registered to vote and pledge that they will vote for the Democratic nominee in the council election."

"The process, which has been in place for at least 30 years, came under fire two years ago as being too complex. The reason for the scrutiny of the procedure, Democrats say, is the large number of confused newcomers at the last convention, which was attended by about 700 people."

"One of the biggest faults with the system, critics say, is that caucus participants often vote for delegates who do not vote the way they would."

"Because two or three seats are always up for grabs in City Council elections, it is difficult for mass meeting participants to find delegates who match all their candidate preferences."

"City Democrats said Friday it is likely that the current system will be scrapped for a new plan; the question now is which plan to choose."

The Clock is Ticking on Democratic Reform

Democratic Breakfast: Baughan Roemer, Tom Vandever, Dave Chapman, David RePass

"At the end of August, the party formed an 11-member committee to study changing the process. At a Democratic Party breakfast two weeks ago, two members of the committee - RePass and former city Democratic chairman Tom Vandever - presented differing versions."

"Vandever, a former mayor of Charlottesville, proposed to have participants of the mass meeting vote for specific candidates. The candidates would then choose delegates who would vote for them at the convention. The more votes councilors received at the mass meeting, the more delegates they would be allowed to bring with them to the convention."

"At the convention, the delegates would vote for the candidates who appointed them. If no candidate receives a majority of the first-ballot vote at the convention, Vandever's proposal would call for run-offs until such a majority is reached."

"Vandever said that the plan is better than the current system because it allows for a more direct election of candidates, reducing the reliance on delegates."

"[The] RePass plan, which he admitted is unlikely to be endorsed by the party's rules committee, would eliminate delegates and conventions altogether. Under his system, candidates who receive at least 40 percent of the caucus vote would automatically win nomination. Run-off balloting would then be conducted to fill any remaining slots."

"The former political science professor, who moved to Charlottesville over two years ago, said his system, unlike the proposal Vandever supports, is simple and fair."

"'Why not trust the people who come to the caucus?' he asked. 'Why not have a process that the people can trust?'."

"Rather than staging conventions, RePass said, Democrats should emphasize garnering more party activity at committee meetings, which he says are infrequent. The 100-member Democratic Committee sets the rules for the party in the city."

"But Vandever criticized [the] RePass proposal, saying it would allow a candidate to be nominated who does not have a majority of the vote. He also said that [the] RePass plan would take too long, and that many caucus participants would leave before the final run-offs were completed."

"Finally, Vandever said conventions should be maintained because they heal divisions created from nomination races, garner publicity and give delegates a week for reflection."

"Members of the rules committee have said they are likely to recommend a nomination model that is similar to Vandever's proposal. The recommendation will then go to the Democratic Committee, which is expected to vote on changes after the new year." (Davide Dukcevich, The Daily Progress, December 4, 1999)