COURTHOUSE — Virginia Beach City Councilmember Barbara Henley, who was first elected to local office in 1978, is the longest serving member of the council in the history of the modern city.
After taking the oath for another term on Tuesday, Jan. 3, Henley noted that she would have a sum total of 40 years in office at the completion of her new term.
For now, Henley has about 36.5 years serving on the council, according to dates of elected official service maintained by the Virginia Beach City Clerk’s Office.
“It’s an honor,” Henley said during an interview, before alluding to some periods over the past four decades when she was not on the City Council.
“I think the important thing is, the times I was off, things I worked for were pretty much ignored,” she said, noting she had never intended to keep returning to the council. “And that’s why I came back.”
Henley, a Pungo farmer, now represents District 2 under the new local voting system in Virginia Beach. The district includes rural communities in the southern city and areas such as Sandbridge. It is roughly similar to the former Princess Anne District.
“Barbara brings tremendous value and insight,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said Wednesday, Jan. 4, “and nobody knows the Princess Anne District better than she does.”
As of this past year, Henley and Councilmember Louis Jones had served roughly the same number of years – 36 – though 32 years of Jones’ time in office was in consecutive terms while Henley left office twice after election defeats before running and returning again to the council.
Jones represented the former Bayside Borough from 1982 to 1986 and from 1990 to 1998 and the former Bayside District from 1998 until his death this past June. Jones died while campaigning for another term. He served for many years as Virginia Beach’s vice mayor and twice as mayor.
Henley, who became the first woman to serve as vice mayor in the 1980s while Jones was mayor, represented the former Pungo Borough from 1978 to 1990 and from 1994 to 1998 and the former Princess Anne District from 1998 to 2002 and from 2006 through 2022.
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So, if VB goes to a “ranked voting” system, (as some on council have been discussing), whereby one would need to get 50 percent of the vote, Ms Henley likely would not have made it to another re-election. She has been very resistant to any change being made to the VB voting system, being one councilperson to assertively shoot down the idea of having a referendum a few years ago. This led to the issue being taken to the state house by Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler. Ms Henley won because the race in her district was competitive with numerous candidates, but I don’t think she would have won again if the voting system had not been changed to the 19 district system. Funny, as now she strives to get it returned to the way things were done in the “good old days.” Btw, I wonder what building we will rename after her when she dies … Maybe someone should ask her if she has any preferences.
There is a typo: should have read “…changed to 10 district system…” not “19”