COURTHOUSE — Concern recently arose about about legislation that could lead to the use of prompt special elections to fill vacancies in local Virginia Beach city offices rather than members of a body selecting a temporary appointee to serve until a special election is held on the next general election day.
As of this writing, the fate of the effort remained unclear as the work of the Virginia General Assembly continued in Richmond. A house bill [HB1528] introduced by state Del. Kelly Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, was said to be scheduled for committee on Friday, Feb. 3, but it had not been docketed, which meant it may not be heard at all or advanced to the full House of Delegates. This edition of The Independent News went to press the night before. A companion bill [SB1524] by state Sen. Aaron Rouse, a Democrat who until December served on the Virginia Beach City Council, had passed committee.
Whatever the fate of the bills, the mechanics of how robustly measures effecting city government are supported or not has shown continuing tensions among members of the City Council, some of whom demanded better communication during a special meeting this past week at City Hall.
“We have an issue with communication here,” said City Councilmember Sabrina Wooten, who represents District 7. She and two colleagues, Jennifer Rouse of District 10 and Chris Taylor of District 8, called for the special meeting held on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
Some were concerned about a comment about a bill by Debra Bryan, the city’s director of legislative affairs. Bryan noted that the measure passed the council last year on a 6-5 vote to be included in the city legislative agenda — essentially a stated list of city priorities for state action — but it has not been considered by new members of the council.
However, City Manager Patrick Duhaney clarified that this was a response to specific questions by lawmakers, and Bryan and staff had supported the bill in the Senate and would do so with the House of Delegates unless directed to do otherwise by the council.
Taylor said constituents had reached out to him after the bill seemingly was put on hold on Friday, Jan. 27, during a Counties, Cities and Towns Committee meeting in Richmond.
“The subcommittee recommended report, 9-0,” state Del. Joseph McNamara, a Republican, said during a committee meeting in Richmond. “Since that time, it’s come to my attention — I think several people have been contacted — this may not be the will of the City Council within Virginia Beach. While we try to determine that, I would recommend we pass this by for the day.”
It is not certain who, if anyone, from the council reached out to undermine the bill.
“The current council has not discussed the bill or voted to change the policy,” Taylor said, noting that such a discussion might have come up during a recent City Council retreat. That had not happened.
“I was taken aback when I learned there was now Del. McNamara stating that the concern was they’re receiving phone calls and there was some doubt that the current City Council still supported this when we hadn’t discussed it and been together for two full days,” Taylor said.
Jennifer Rouse said the meeting had been called due to ambiguity about what led to the bill being delayed in Richmond.
“The request was to have a moment to discuss because there seemed to be a lot of confusion around the bill with no opportunity for the body to meet,” Jennifer Rouse said.
The City Council last year included language used later in the bills as part of the legislative agenda. On this item, introduced by former Councilmember John Moss, the council was divided in its November decision, advancing it narrowly, 6-5. But that still means it passed, and it was the stated position of the local body — and presumably could have support for a needed city charter change through action by state lawmakers.
“So how does the committee chair come to the decision that we don’t support it?” Taylor said during an interview on Thursday, Feb. 2. “That was the purpose of the meeting. Everything else was deflection. … We have a cultural issue. We have a communication issue. No one is talking.”
City Councilmember Michael Berlucchi, who represents District 3, said members of the council should be careful about making accusations without any proof and essentially presenting rumors as real.
“It’s pretty disturbing to have us sitting here responding to gossip,” said City Councilmember Barbara Henley of District 2.
Berlucchi, who first came to the council as an appointee, said special elections are preferable to appointments when vacancies occur and noted that he supported including the measure in the legislative agenda.
“However, we have to make sure that it’s operationally practical,” he said.
He asked whether concerns about language in the bill had been addressed.
Christine Lewis, director of voter registration and elections for the city, in an email on Friday, Jan. 27, raised concerns about language in the bill that could mean a special election could be called within a week of primary election – when the city’s election machines would not be available for use because they must be maintained until after a period for a potential recount has passed.
In the email, Lewis called that language “very problematic and impossible to implement.” According to the city staff, elections officials had not been asked to vet the language this past year.
The bills that would make prompt special elections the standard for filling vacancies on the City Council and School Board seemed to be alive in both houses of the General Assembly this past week, though, again, their ultimate outcomes were uncertain as this edition went to press. Fowler on Thursday, Feb. 2, said during an interview that she would offer a substitute bill with language to address concerns raised by elections officials.
“I think it will end the appointment pipeline,” said Fowler, who has said some are trying to “back room deal” away HB1528.
As for the fate of the bill?
“I think it’s going to die,” Fowler said. “I think the bigger picture here is trying to lift the veil.” Late that afternoon, Fowler said the chair of the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns had not docketed the bill, which meant it likely would not be heard. In a post to social media, Fowler urged people to reach out to members of the committee and ask them to hear it.
During an interview following the special meeting, Mayor Bobby Dyer said the city needed to fix the process that led to uncertainty about whether the bill would be able to work given concerns expressed by elections officials. But, he said, if it passed in the General Assembly, there would still be time to address language.
City Councilmember Joash Schulman, who represents District 9, said he agreed with colleagues who said members of the council can pick up the phone to address issues.
“We are a new body,” Schulman said, “and we’ve got some road left to travel with one another. And the public is expecting a lot from us, and we have a lot of responsibility to deliver and find ways to work together, certainly not against one another.”
He noted that, especially under a new district voting system, it is important to have voters pick their own representatives.
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