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<br />November 24, 2020 <br /> <br />At a Virtual Called Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, <br />there were present: <br /> <br />Mayor John L. Rowe, Jr., Vice Mayor Lisa L. Lucas-Burke, William E. Moody, Jr., <br />Elizabeth M. Psimas, Nathan J. Clark, Paul J. Battle, Shannon E. Glover, Interim City <br />Manager LaVoris A. Pace, Interim City Attorney Burle U. Stromberg. <br /> <br />20 - 293 - Mayor Rowe called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance. <br /> <br /> "Please attend a Virtual Called Meeting of the City Council to be held at <br />Portsmouth, Virginia Facebook Live, 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 24, 2020 for the <br />purpose of a Public Work Session. <br /> <br /> In addition, you may consider a motion to go into a Closed Meeting. <br /> <br />By order of the Mayor." <br /> <br /> Mayor Rowe made the following statement: <br /> <br /> <br />“In accordance with Governor Ralph Northam’s Declaration of a State of <br />Emergency due to novel coronavirus (Executive Order 51) on March 12, 2020 and the <br />Local Declaration of Emergency ratified by the Portsmouth City Council; and due to the <br />coronavirus pandemic which is continuing in the Commonwealth of Virginia, this meeting <br />th <br />of the Portsmouth City Council is being held by video conference on the 24 day of <br />November, 2020 without a quorum present in the City Council Chamber in order to reduce <br />the likely spread of the coronavirus. Each city council member is participating from their <br />home and I am in the City Council Chamber. This meeting is being held in accordance <br />with Portsmouth City Ordinance 2020-102.” <br /> <br />20 - 294 - The following items were discussed in Public Work Session: <br /> <br />1. Casino Briefing - Robert Moore, Economic Development Director <br /> <br />-Councilman Glover asked if it would be possible to obtain a list of potential <br />investors. <br /> <br /> Robert Moore, Economic Development Director, informed City Council that <br />Rush Street Gaming has agreed to provide any information it can to citizens <br />and City Council. <br /> <br />2. Portsmouth Police Department Briefing - Interim Chief Scott Burke, Police Chief <br /> <br />-Councilman Clark asked if there were any undetermined deaths in the City. <br /> <br /> Interim Chief Burke informed City Council he would provide that information. <br /> <br />-Councilman Clark asked about hiring freeze due to pending FBI investigation and <br />voiced his concern with lack of communication to City Council. He also asked if <br />the State Police Task Force would be implemented again to help with the violent <br /> <br />crimes in the City. <br /> <br />-Mayor Rowe asked that Interim City Manager Pace come back with a report on <br />whether or not there was a hiring freeze due to a pending investigation by the FBI. <br /> <br />-Councilman Moody asked that Interim City Attorney Stromberg provide a copy of <br />the agreement that was entered into to hire a particular attorney. <br /> <br /> Interim City Attorney Stromberg informed City Council he would look into the <br />reasons behind the hiring of this particular attorney and provide that information <br />at the next meeting. <br /> <br />20 - 295 - Motion by Ms. Psimas, and seconded by Ms. Lucas-Burke go into a closed <br />electronic meeting pursuant to Virginia Code subsections 2.2-3708.2 A.3 and 2.2-3711 <br />A.1 and City Council Ordinance 2020 - 102 for the purpose of discussing and considering <br />prospective candidates for and appointees to boards and commissions. <br /> <br />The motion was adopted by the following vote: <br /> <br />Ayes: Battle, Clark, Glover, Lucas-Burke, Moody, Psimas, Rowe <br />Nays: None <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />