Virginia Beach City Council
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
FoundedJanuary 1, 1963 (1963-01-01)
Leadership
Bobby Dyer, Republican
since November 20, 2018
Structure
Seats11
Political groups
Officially nonpartisan
  •   Republican (5)
  •   Democratic (6)
Length of term
4 Years
Elections
Single-member districts
Last general election
November 8, 2022
Next general election
November 5, 2024
Meeting place
Virginia Beach City Hall
Virginia Beach Municipal Center
Virginia Beach, VA
Website
https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/city-clerk/city-council/
Constitution
Charter of Virginia Beach

The Virginia Beach City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Virginia Beach and its more than 450,000 citizens. It has 11 members that serve four-year terms and are elected on a staggered basis. General elections are held the Tuesday following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years. All registered voters are eligible to vote for all members of City Council. Three Council Members and the Mayor serve "At Large" with no district residency requirement. All other Council Members are required to live in the districts they represent: Bayside, Beach, Centerville, Kempsville, Lynnhaven, Princess Anne, and Rose Hall. The Council holds regular meetings on alternate Tuesday evenings on the second floor of the Virginia Beach City Hall.[1]

History

Direct election of Mayor, 1988

Starting with the fall 1988 election, the city's mayor was chosen directly by voters. Previously, the mayor was appointed from among city council members elected to represent the city's various boroughs. In that election, Meyera Oberndorf became the city's first female mayor and first to be directly elected.[2]

Election at large from districts, 1998

In 1998, Virginia Beach abolished its system of boroughs from which seven council members were elected and formed in their place seven new districts including Centerville, Kempsville, Rose Hall, Bayside, Lynnhaven, Beach, and Princess Anne. Candidates were required to be residents of the districts for which they ran, but all voting was at-large.[3]

Elimination of at-large elections for districts: Holloway vs. City of Virginia Beach, 2020-22

On October 6, 2020, a trial began in federal court in Virginia Beach between residents Latasha Holloway and Georgia Allen and the City of Virginia Beach. Filing their lawsuit in 2017, the residents alleged that the city's process for electing members to the city council violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The lawsuit claimed that the system unlawfully diluted minority voting strength and denied minorities an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.[4] That same day, the city council cancelled their regular meeting after council member John Moss tested positive for COVID-19.[5] Two days later, it was announced that, due to the ongoing pandemic, council meetings would now be held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.[6]

In 2021, Virginia passed HB 2198, which prohibits local governments from using at-large voting for district elections.[7]

Later in 2021, the trial court found that the city's at-large voting system violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of the Black, Asian and Hispanic minority groups, and ordered that the city adopt a different voting system.

The city worked with a special master, who developed a 10 district ward system, plus one at-large contest for Mayor, late in 2021. Ward candidates would be elected only by voters in the ward. The court ordered the adoption of that system.[1]

In 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in a 2-1 opinion that because HB 2198 had already prevented the city from conducting any future City Council elections under the electoral system that Plaintiffs challenged, that the case was moot, and overturned the district court's ruling.[8] The timing was such that the 10-ward system would still be used in 2022. In the future, it could be modified, but would have to meet both the requirements of both HB 2198, and the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, which prohibits at large election systems if those systems impair the ability of minority groups to either elect candidates of their choice or to influence the outcome of an election.[1]

Current council

District Councilmember[9] Took Office Party
(Officially nonpartisan)[10]
At Large (Mayor) Bobby Dyer (Mayor) 2018 Republican
1 Rocky Holcomb 2021 Republican
2 Barbara Henley 2007 Democratic
3 Michael Berlucchi 2019 Republican
4 Amelia Ross-Hammond 2023 Democratic
5 Rosemary Wilson (Vice Mayor) 2001 Republican
6 Worth Remick 2023 Democratic
7 Sabrina Wooten 2018 Democratic
8 Chris Taylor 2023 Republican
9 Joash Schulman 2023 Democratic
10 Jennifer Rouse 2023 Democratic

Past councils

1963-1998

Year District[11]
At Large
(Mayor)
At Large
(A)
At Large
(B1)
At Large
(B2)
1
Bayside
2
Blackwater
3
Kempsville
4
Lynnhaven
5
Princess Anne
6
Pungo
7
Virginia Beach
1963 Mayors chosen internally from
among council members
Lawrence E. Marshall James E. Snyder Swindell Pollock James E. Darden S. Paul Brown Kenneth N. Whitehurst W. H. Kitchin, Jr.
1964 Earl M. Tebault
1965 A. L. Bonney
1966 G. Dewey Simmons, Jr.
1967 J. Curtis Payne
1968
1969
1970 Clarence A. Holland Donald H. Rhodes F. Reid Ervin Floyd E. Waterfield, Jr.
1971 Robert H. Callis, Jr.
1972 John A. Baum
1973
1974 J. Henry McCoy, Jr. John R. Griffin
1975
1976 Roger L. Riggs
1977
1978 Donald W. Merrick J. Curtis Payne Barbara M. Henley
1979
1980 Reba S. McClanan W. H. Kitchin, III
1981
1982 Louis R. Jones H. Jack Jennings
1983
1984 Robert E. Fentress
1985
1986 John Moss Albert W. Balko
1987
1988 Meyera Oberndorf
1989
1990 Robert W. Clyburn James W. Brazier, Jr. Paul J. Lanteigne
1991
1992 Robert K. Dean Linwood O. Branch, III
1993
1994 Louisa M. Strayhorn W. W. Harrison, Jr. Barbara M. Henley
1995
1996 Reba S. McClanan
1997
1998
Year At Large
(Mayor)
At Large
(A)
At Large
(B1)
At Large
(B2)
1
Bayside
2
Blackwater
3
Kempsville
4
Lynnhaven
5
Princess Anne
6
Pungo
7
Virginia Beach
District

1998-2022

Year District[11]
At Large
(Mayor)
At Large
(A)
At Large
(B1)
At Large
(B2)
1
Centerville
2
Kempsville
3
Rose Hall
4
Bayside
5
Lynnhaven
6
Beach
7
Princess Anne
1998 Meyera Oberndorf Harold Heischober Will Sessoms Margaret L. Eure A. M. "Don" Weeks Reba S. McClanan Louis R. Jones W. W. Harrison, Jr. Linwood O. Branch, III Barbara M. Henley
1999
2000 John A. Baum Robert C. Mandigo, Jr.
2001 Rosemary Wilson
2002 Ron Villanueva Peter W. Schmidt James L. Wood Richard A. Maddox Jim Reeve
2003 Harry E. Diezel
2004 Bobby Dyer
2005
2006 Bill DeSteph John E. Uhrin Barbara M. Henley
2007
2008
2009 Will Sessoms Glenn Davis
2010 Rita Sweet Bellitto
2011 Prescott Sherrod
2012 John Moss
2013 Amelia N. Ross-Hammond
2014 Brad Martin Shannon Kane
2015 M. Ben Davenport
2016
2017 Jessica P. Abbott
2018 Bobby Dyer Sabrina Wooten
2019 Aaron Rouse Michael Berlucchi David Nygaard
2020 Guy Tower
2021 Rocky Holcomb Linwood O. Branch, III
2022 Delceno Miles
Year At Large
(Mayor)
At Large
(A)
At Large
(B1)
At Large
(B2)
1
Centerville
2
Kempsville
3
Rose Hall
4
Bayside
5
Lynnhaven
6
Beach
7
Princess Anne
District

2023-Present

Year District[11]
At Large
(Mayor)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2023 Bobby Dyer Rocky Holcomb Barbara M. Henley Michael Berlucchi Amelia N. Ross-Hammond Rosemary Wilson Worth Remick Sabrina Wooten Chris Taylor Joash Schulman Jennifer Rouse

Election results

2020 general election

2020 Virginia Beach City Council Election, At-Large (A)[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Rosemary A. Wilson[lower-alpha 1] 108,723 53.89
Nonpartisan Brandon C. Hutchins[lower-alpha 2] 71,577 35.47
Nonpartisan Nadine Marie Paniccia[lower-alpha 3] 20,820 10.32
Write-in 649 0.32
Total votes 201,769 100
2020 Virginia Beach City Council Election, Centerville District[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Sabrina D. Wooten[lower-alpha 2] 102,645 44.90
Nonpartisan Eric V. Wray, II[lower-alpha 1] 84,098 54.81
Write-in 542 0.29
Total votes 187,285 100
2020 Virginia Beach City Council Election, Kempsville District[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Jessica P. Abbott[lower-alpha 4] 116,971 62.38
Nonpartisan William J. "Bill" Dale[lower-alpha 2] 70,030 37.35
Write-in 498 0.27
Total votes 187,499 100
2020 Virginia Beach City Council Election, Rose Hall District[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Michael F. Berlucchi[lower-alpha 1] 106,091 57.53
Nonpartisan C. Conrad Schesventer II[lower-alpha 2] 50,986 27.65
Nonpartisan Garry B. Hubbard[lower-alpha 2] 26,578 14.41
Write-in 752 0.41
Total votes 184,407 100

References

  1. 1 2 3 "City Council :: VBgov.com - City of Virginia Beach". Virginia Beach Government. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  2. Matray, Margaret (March 14, 2015). "Former Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf dies". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  3. "Charter of Virginia Beach". Virginia Legislative Information System. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  4. Harper, Jane (October 6, 2020). "Trial challenging Virginia Beach's at-large council voting system begins in federal court". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  5. Skelton, Alissa (October 6, 2020). "Virginia Beach council cancels meeting after member tests positive for COVID-19". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  6. Skelton, Alissa (October 8, 2020). "Virginia Beach City Council moves meetings to Convention Center due to pandemic". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  7. "HB2198 > 2021 session". lis.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  8. "Latasha Holloway v. City of Virginia Beach, No. 21-1533 (4th Cir. 2022)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  9. "City Council Members :: VBgov.com - City of Virginia Beach". Virginia Beach Government. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  10. "Our Campaigns - United States - Virginia - Counties - Virginia Beach - Virginia Beach City Council". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 "History of Council Members :: VBgov.com - City of Virginia Beach". Virginia Beach Government. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "2020 November General Official Results". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved November 5, 2020.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 This candidate is affiliated with the Republican Party
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 This candidate is affiliated with the Democratic Party
  3. This candidate is not affiliated with any party
  4. This candidate is affiliated with the Libertarian Party
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