Chesapeake City Council Meeting – March 24, 2026
Chesapeake City Council Meeting – March 24, 2026
The Chesapeake City Council convened for a work session at 4:45 p.m. and a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. on March 24, 2026, in City Hall. The work session focused on the FY 2027 Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Program, presented by City Manager Chris Price and Budget Director Jonathan Hobbs. The regular meeting included a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to increase council salaries, which was ultimately denied; approval of water and sewer revenue bonds; a consent agenda with routine items; renaming of the Western Branch Trail; citizen comments; a closed meeting; appointments to boards and commissions; and new business requests.
Consent Calendar
- Approved unanimously (8–0, Council Member Whitaker absent): City Clerk Items (refund of $69,757.94 to Proprium LLC; resignations from five advisory committees) and City Manager Items (authority to apply for a FY26 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant and a $350,000 FY27 Public Safety Answering Point Resiliency Grant).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public Hearing (Item B – Salary Increase): Seven speakers addressed the council. Clifton Randolph and Jeffrey Staples spoke in support, arguing that higher compensation would allow broader representation. Eric Wray, Linda Tindell, Jennifer Economy, Brad Moore, and Vic Nicholls spoke in opposition, citing timing (economic hardship, recent state salary increases), the principle of public service, and the need to prioritize city services over council pay. Pamela Brandy also expressed opposition, noting underrepresentation of areas like Pewsville.
- Citizens’ Comments on Agenda Items: Vic Nicholls questioned verification of board appointee residency and conflicts of interest. Pamela Brandy requested completion of the Pewsville bike trail and proposed naming it after Rochelle Amia “Purple Lady” Perchet. Rogard Ross, chair of the Bicycle/Trails Advisory Committee, supported the ordinance changes for committee membership and the trail renaming, and urged completion of the trail extension to Suffolk.
- Non-Agenda Comments: Gary Catlin spoke on sex trafficking and child exploitation in South Norfolk. Vic Nicholls criticized government overreach and suggested red-light cameras for traffic enforcement. Casey Stallworth proposed a historical marker for the Maroons of the Dismal Swamp and a Maroon Legacy Festival. Ana Ruby voiced concerns about women’s health and safety following issues at Chesapeake Regional Health Care. Brad Moore praised the Historical Services Division’s Women’s History Month events and announced upcoming Liberty Tree dedications. Pamela Brandy raised erroneous utility tax charges from the City of Suffolk and requested a Pewsville city park transfer.
Discussion Items
- FY 2027 Operating Budget and CIP (Work Session, 4:45 p.m. – 6:02 p.m.): City Manager Price outlined the budget framework, emphasizing no real estate tax rate increase, no new fees, and adherence to council’s strategic priorities. The proposed budget maintains the $1.01 per $100 real estate tax rate. Key investments include competitive pay (general wage increase, step increases for sworn public safety, market adjustments), a fire safety officer pilot, staffing for the Cuffy pool, and a drop-in summer recreation program. Unfunded items include Fire Station 1 replacement, Greenbrier Library replacement, Centerville Park community center, and over $166 million in unfunded CIP requests. Budget Director Hobbs presented revenue projections, including a 3.3% increase in real estate tax revenue ($421.7 million), a 1.1% decline in personal property tax revenue, and a 5.9% increase in sales tax. The city’s operating budget grows 4.1%; the school budget grows 1.3%. The five-year CIP includes $81.5 million for school replacements (Carver Intermediate, Chesapeake Career Center) and new funding for Fire Station 14/5th Precinct, police evidence storage, and Deep Creek Park expansion. City Manager noted potential impacts from state legislation on collective bargaining, prevailing wage, paid family medical leave, and cannabis control, which could cost tens of millions annually.
- Public Hearing Item B – Salary Increase Ordinance: After public testimony, Council Member Smith moved to withdraw the ordinance. Council Member Newins offered a substitute motion to deny. Extensive discussion followed: supporters (Smith, West) argued that the $25,000 salary (unchanged since 1996 except for a $2,000 increase) limits access for working-class residents; opponents (Newins, Whitaker, Ward, King, Ritter) cited timing, the principle of public service, and the need to prioritize citizen needs. Council Member Ritter noted that Chesapeake has the lowest tax burden in the region and that the salary increase funding ($450,000 total) could instead fund four police officers or firefighters. The substitute motion to deny passed 9–0.
- Regular Agenda Items:
- Item 3: Resolution for water and sewer revenue bonds up to $17,928,123 – approved 8–0.
- Item 4: Ordinance amending Bicycle/Trails Advisory Committee membership requirements – approved 8–0.
- Item 5: Resolution renaming Western Branch Trail as “Dr. John de Triquet Memorial Trail” – approved 9–0. Council members paid tribute to the late Vice Mayor Dr. de Triquet.
- Closed Meeting (7:59 p.m. – 9:15 p.m.): Council held a closed meeting to discuss opioid litigation, real estate acquisition in Great Bridge, and candidate interviews for boards and commissions. The closed meeting was certified 9–0.
- Appointments to Boards and Commissions: Approved unanimously (9–0): Daniel Stahler (Health and Well Being), Angela Corprew (Behavioral Healthcare), Drew Overton (OPEB Finance), Pamela Brandy (Hampton Roads Disabilities), Oran Crowson and Larry Hill (Emergency Planning), Jeffrey Spencer (SPSA), Charlotte Worley (STOP Inc.), Samuel Warren and Shayla Spencer (Toll Facility Advisory Committee).
Key Outcomes
- Salary Increase Ordinance Denied: The substitute motion to deny the ordinance increasing mayor and council salaries passed 9–0. The item will not be reconsidered without a new public hearing.
- Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds Approved: Resolution authorizing up to $17,928,123 in bonds for capital improvements passed 8–0.
- Bicycle/Trails Committee Membership Changes Approved: Ordinance amended to facilitate recruitment, passed 8–0.
- Western Branch Trail Renamed: Resolution naming the trail after Dr. John de Triquet passed 9–0.
- Consent Agenda Approved: All items (refund, resignations, grant applications) passed 8–0.
- Closed Meeting Certified: Motion to approve certification passed 9–0.
- Appointments Approved: All 12 appointments to boards and commissions passed 9–0.
- New Business Requests: Council Member Smith requested study of five pilot programs: summer youth employment (250 positions), increased community agency payments (to $1 million), increased homeless program funding, increased Chesapeake Cares Clinic funding, and a “Fun Fridays” recreation program. Council Member Newins requested funding for two additional Fire Shift Safety Officers and a Community Programs Specialist. Vice Mayor Ritter requested a meeting with Dominion Energy about LED lighting on South Military Highway and consideration of grant funding for on-demand ride programs to the Chesapeake Cares Resource Center. Council Member Bunn announced that Chesapeake received the Local Government Champion for Clean Energy Award. Council Member King requested investigation of maintenance concerns at 254 Coventry Close. Council Member Ward requested an update on speed monitoring on Camelot Boulevard. The City Manager will provide cost estimates and potential trade-offs for these proposals.
- Next Steps: Budget work sessions will continue through May, with opportunities for public input. The final budget adoption is scheduled for May.
Meeting Transcript
I want to welcome everyone to our workshop, a work session on uh March 24th, 2026. We have one of the most interesting topics and probably the most important topics that we will discuss. Mr. Manager, we appreciate you presenting it. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to express my appreciation to council, certainly for dedicating so much time to this very important topic. But before we begin, I just want to say thank you to uh Jonathan and his entire team in the budget department. So for those council members that have been with us for some time or have you know participated or watched the process over the years, we get better at this every year. And council challenges us every year to improve transparency, to improve our outreach and accountability. And every year I think we get better at that. So I hope you'll see that continued trend of improvement, but just want to thank the entire team because this really is a year-long effort. It's not just, you know, sort of what we see in the March to May time frame, but they they they really start working at this almost as um when we when we put the finishing touches on the budget in May. They're at work for next year. So thanks everybody for their time and and attention to this. So what we're gonna do today is go through the framework of how we make decisions and um starting with uh our vision, what we're trying to achieve, and and our guiding principles, including council's budget guiding principles, sort of the guardrails that we look at as staff before we begin putting pen to paper on the budget. Um we're gonna give you an update on how we're making progress on City Council strategic priorities. We touched on this a little bit at your last retreat, but um we're making some significant progress in some areas. We still have some work to do in other areas, so we'll discuss those. We'll go through the budget process and how we really uh make these decisions. We call it aligning our resource um decisions to our strategy so that people can see that we're very purposeful about what we're trying to achieve. Um we're gonna talk about how we allocate resources to achieve your desired outcomes. So making Chesapeake an exceptional place to live, learn work, farm, and play, and all the things that we want to achieve to make that happen, how we determine which resources will be available for each of those outcomes. I'm gonna turn it over then to Jonathan, who's gonna go through the numbers and and all the charts and graphs so people can uh really um have an illustration of how their money is being used. Um we'll talk about um the resources, of course, and and and uh um how they're allocated throughout the budget. I do want to close with uh some issues on the horizon, and the big one for me this year is impacts of state legislation. This was a general assembly session, like none that that I've seen in my career. And you know, it's not it wasn't just budget stuff, but a lot of things will have budget impacts, and so for those that are gonna have budget impacts now and in the future. I want to spend um some time talking to the council a little bit about that and get any direction from from council on how to proceed there. And then, of course, we'll go through the next steps and cloth closing thoughts, particularly on how people can continue to engage in the budget process. I won't read this vision. We we talk about this a lot, but I mentioned it earlier. Our goal, we have 4,000 team members here in the city, and we're laser focused every day on trying to make Chesapeake an exceptional place to live, learn, work, farm, and play. Um we we use the vision to guide all of the choices that we make, including those that that you're gonna see today. How we make decisions, we ask each of our team members to use three basic principles. If you're making a choice, and we use this choice in making our budget decisions, will our choice help make Chesapeake an exceptional place? Will it provide outstanding service to council, our community, our customers, and each other, and will it be fiscally responsible and sustainable? So it's based on our vision, it's based on our values, and it's based on um council's budget guiding principles. Um vision for the community and also from uh uh practices of good governance. We want to have accountability, economic prosperity, connectivity, cultural diversity, environmental responsibility, and safety and security, and so you'll see resources allocated to achieve and advance all of these outcome areas. This is a graphic that we use throughout the organization to really keep all of our decision making framework in one place. So on the outer band, you can see the outcomes I mentioned that we're trying to achieve. On the middle circle are the anchors we use to make our decisions. And then in the middle, this is our basic mission as a city, providing infrastructure and services to benefit the community and helping council and the community make choices, address needs, and pursue opportunities. That's what we're all about. So what are those budget guiding principles that I mentioned? Number one, this is when I I, by the Code of Virginia, I'm charged with proposing a budget, and I'm free to propose whatever budget that I believe meets the needs of the community. On top of that charter for the city and the general uh provisions in the Code of Virginia, council has given us budget guiding principles. And those principles are that we do not increase the real estate tax rate. So when I'm presenting a budget to you, it's based on the previous year's real estate tax rate.
openpublica.com