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<br />January 3, 2023
<br />
<br />At a Special Called Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, there
<br />were present:
<br />
<br />Mayor Shannon E. Glover, William E. Moody, Jr., Lisa L. Lucas-Burke, Dr. Mark M.
<br />Whitaker, De’Andre A. Barnes, Mark A. Hugel, Vernon L. Tillage, Jr., City Manager Tonya
<br />D. Chapman, City Attorney Lavonda Graham-Williams.
<br />
<br />23 - 04 - The Mayor called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance:
<br />
<br /> Please attend a Called Meeting of the City Council to be held in the City Council
<br />Chamber, 801 Crawford Street, 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 3, 2023, for the purpose of
<br />a Closed Meeting.
<br />
<br /> By order of the Mayor."
<br />
<br />23 - 06 - Motion by Mr. Moody, and seconded by Ms. Lucas-Burke, to go into a closed
<br />meeting pursuant to Virginia Code subsection 2.2-3711 A.1 for the purpose of discussing
<br />and considering:
<br />(A) appointments and assignments of City Council members to City Council and liaison
<br />positions;
<br />(B) the performance of the City Manager and
<br />(C) the performance of the City Assessor.
<br />
<br />The motion was adopted by the following vote:
<br />
<br />Ayes: Barnes, Hugel, Lucas-Burke, Moody, Tillage, Whitaker, Glover
<br />Nays: None
<br />
<br />Motion Ms. Lucas-Burke, and seconded by Mr. Moody, pursuant to Virginia Code
<br />Section 2.2-3712(D) certifying that, to the best of the Council Members’ knowledge:
<br />
<br />1. Only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting
<br />requirements under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and
<br />
<br />2. Only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the
<br />Closed Meeting was convened were heard, discussed, or considered in the
<br />closed meeting just concluded by the City Council.
<br />
<br /> The motion was adopted by the following vote:
<br />
<br />Ayes: Barnes, Hugel, Lucas-Burke, Moody, Tillage, Glover
<br />Nays: Whitaker
<br />
<br />Councilman Whitaker asked that the following statement be placed in the minutes:
<br />
<br />“Per my statement at the January 3, 2023, Special Meeting called by the Mayor
<br />regarding my dissenting vote on the Certification of the Closed Meeting motion, my vote
<br />of “no” was based on the following reasons.
<br />
<br />According to the motion to certify the closed meeting, Section 2.2-3712(D) of the Code
<br />of Virginia, as referenced in the motion of certification, requires Council to certify that
<br />“only public business matters exempted from open meeting requirements under the
<br />Virginia Freedom of Information Act … were heard, discussed, or considered in the
<br />closed meeting just concluded.” During the closed session, Council discussed issues
<br />which were in violation of the Portsmouth City Charter and the Portsmouth City Council
<br />Rules of Order and Procedure, and Section 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia (Closed
<br />Meeting Authorized for Limited Purposes - Virginia Freedom of Information Act.)
<br />
<br />Section 3.11 of the Portsmouth City Charter prohibits Interference by Council Members
<br />with subordinates of the City Manager regarding hiring and firing decisions. It appears
<br />this section was violated when Councilman Hugel presented information that a certain
<br />city employee hired by City Manager Tonya Chapman was “under qualified” for the
<br />position. Although Councilman Hugel presented this information during the discussion
<br />of the job performance of City Manager Tonya Chapman, there was no documentation
<br />substantiating his statement. It was purely his opinion on the hiring decision of the City
<br />Manager Chapman. Evaluation of this employee is for the City Manager to conduct not
<br />
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