Hampton City Council Work Session - July 9, 2025: SWaM Initiative, Public Art, and Police Briefings
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Hampton City Council Work Session – July 9, 2025
The Hampton City Council held a work session on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at 1:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting included presentations on the Small, Woman, and Minority-Owned (SWaM) Business Initiative, the Hampton Public Art Initiative, and the Hampton Police Division's crime data and resources. Council also entered closed session to discuss appointments, real property acquisition, and legal matters. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM.
SWaM Business Initiative Update
- Availability Study Findings: Trinity Williams of Griffin & Strong, P.C. presented results of an Availability Study covering fiscal years 2018–2022. The highest MWBE (Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprises) availability was in construction (8.21%) and architecture/engineering (8.17%). A master outreach list was created, though self-identified firms were excluded from the availability analysis.
- Policy Review & Barriers: Interviews with city and schools staff revealed consistent barriers to MWBE participation, including contract sizing, bonding, and insurance requirements.
- Procurement Oversight Committee (PPOC) Update: Leonard Sledge, Chief Economic and Community Development Officer, recommended sunsetting the current PPOC and establishing a new SWaM Business Committee. The proposed seven-member body must include at least five SWaM-certified business owners, would report annually to Council and the City Manager, and be staffed by Economic Development.
- Staffing Realignment: A staff recommendation would reallocate one of three small business positions from Economic Development to the Procurement Office to enhance SWaM participation in city contracting. City Manager Mary Bunting confirmed this is budget neutral.
- Quote Requirements: Lin Whitley, Director of Procurement, reviewed Hampton’s quote requirements compared to neighboring localities. For purchases under $5,000, Hampton requires two quotes with at least one from a woman- or minority-owned vendor (if feasible). Higher thresholds require more quotes. Councilmember Martha Mugler suggested aligning language with state code (using “if available”) to avoid delays.
- Council Discussion: Council raised questions about including veteran- and disabled-owned businesses (Vice Mayor Brown), the impact of COVID-19 on bid response dips (Councilmember Mugler), and the feasibility of SWaM-only requirements. Staff noted existing state code allows expansion to include these groups.
- Council Concurrence: Council unanimously concurred with the staff recommendation to establish the new SWaM Committee and proceed with the staffing realignment.
Hampton Public Art Initiative Briefing
- Background: Director Terri Vander Vennet reported that City Council allocated $250,000 for public art by FY2026. The Hampton Commission on the Arts is developing a solicitation process, with a goal to finalize by September 2025. $50,000 of the total was set aside for potential pilot projects.
- Proposed Parallel Path: Staff proposed launching one or two pilot projects (e.g., wind turbine blade benches, murals, sculptures) this summer to test internal processes and provide immediate visual impact, using a portion of the $50,000.
- Councilmember Mugler’s Concerns: Mugler, who is the council liaison to the Arts Commission, objected to moving forward with quick-win projects before the Commission reconvenes in September. She stated the subcommittee has completed its process work and is ready for the creative phase, and that proceeding early would undermine the Commission’s role.
- Council Discussion: Mayor Gray and other members (Bowman, Ferebee, Campbell, Brown) expressed support for waiting for the Arts Commission to complete its work. Mayor Gray noted that the Capital Improvement Plan includes $100,000 annually for public art, allowing for larger future projects.
- No Formal Action: Council did not take a vote; staff will take feedback to the Arts Commission subcommittee. Councilmember Ferebee suggested the Commission phase its recommendations to begin projects before cold weather.
Hampton Police Division Crime Data & Resources Briefing
- July 4th Safety: Chief Jimmie Wideman Jr. reported that the department successfully managed safety for over 30,000 attendees at Fort Monroe and Buckroe Beach, including a gubernatorial visit.
- Crime Data (2023–2025 YTD): Violent crime stood at 175 incidents. Homicides primarily involved known individuals (acquaintances, friends, domestic). No murders occurred until April 2025 due to proactive holiday deployments and the Bold Blue Line partnership. Sexual offenses totaled 27 cases, mostly known suspects or historical reports.
- Property Crime: Burglaries are trending down; larcenies and motor vehicle thefts have increased. A 92% recovery rate for stolen vehicles was noted, well above the national average of 32%. Hyundai and Kia thefts were targeted through steering wheel lock distributions and public awareness campaigns.
- Bold Blue Line Partnership: With Virginia State Police, joint patrols from January to June 2025 resulted in 113 felony arrests and 39 firearms recovered. Chief Wideman noted the partnership allows pursuit across jurisdictional lines and provides a force multiplier.
- Proactive Strategies: The Real-Time Information Center monitors high-risk areas with deployable cameras. Community engagement includes “Coffee with a Cop” in targeted neighborhoods, revitalization of neighborhood watch programs, and a nightclub task force in downtown.
- Pedestrian Safety Campaign: In response to increased pedestrian accidents on Mercury Boulevard (especially between Armistead and King Street), the department will distribute awareness pamphlets and biodegradable reflective belts to homeless individuals and seniors.
- Council Recognition: Councilmember Bowman commended the department’s performance despite staffing shortages. City Manager Bunting clarified that Hampton has never defunded its police department and that staffing challenges are national in scope. Council praised the chief and officers for their work.
Key Outcomes
- Council concurred with the staff recommendation to create a new SWaM Business Committee and realign one staff position to Procurement (budget-neutral).
- No action was taken on public art pilot projects; staff will relay Council’s preference to wait for the Arts Commission’s completed process in September.
- Council expressed support for the Police Division’s strategies and investments.
- At 3:01 PM, Council unanimously approved a motion to enter closed session (6-0) to discuss appointments, real property acquisition, and legal matters. The closed session was certified and the meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM.
Meeting date: July 9, 2025. Council members present: Mayor Jimmy Gray, Vice Mayor Steven L. Brown, Councilmembers Randy C. Bowman Sr., Carolyn S. Campbell, Michelle Taylor Ferebee, and Martha M. Mugler. Councilmember Hope L. Harper was excused.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and uh welcome to the Hampton City Council work session. Uh Madam Clerk, will you call to roll, please? Councilman Bowman. Present. Vice Mayor Brown. Here. Councilwoman Campbell. Present. Councilwoman Ferraby. Present. Councilwoman Harper. Councilwoman Muggler. Present Mayor Gray. Present. With that, we have several presentations on the agenda this afternoon. And so I'm going to ask the city manager to uh introduce the first one. So thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council Members. We're glad to have with us today. Um Griffin and Straw, which is the group that we contracted with to do an availability study to help us advance our SWAM goals. And when I'm for the public SWAM stands for small minority and women businesses, they're here to present their findings. But first, I'm gonna have our uh director of community or chief economic development and community strat community development strategist, Leonard Sledge, come up and introduce the team and let you know because we're gonna cover both the availability study and some recommendations on how to uh revamp and re-energize our procurement oversight committee as well. So it's a it's a combined presentation between Leonard and Griffin and Strong. Thank you, ma'am. Uh good afternoon, Mayor Gray, distinguished members of City Council, City Manager Bunting, City Attorney Signor. My name is Leonard Sledge, and I have the privilege of serving as Chief Officer for Community and Economic Development for the City. We have with us today Miss Trinity Williams, who is the project management coordinator for Griffin and Strong to the City Manager's point. Uh we contracted with Griffin and Strong to conduct an availability study for the City of Hampton, and Miss Williams will be going through the results, the findings from that availability study. And once she concludes her presentation, I, along with Carl Dartree, excuse me, Lynn Whitley, and Ben Maydorf, we will share an update on the purchasing and procurement oversight committee and recommendations moving forward with regard to that and our swam goals in the city. So without further ado, just like to bring up Ms. Williams. Thank you. All right, good afternoon, everyone. Again, I'm Trinity Williams. I'll be doing the presentations for the findings of the availability study. So for the agenda today, we'll discuss a little bit about Griffin and Strong, the objective of the study. We'll also briefly discuss the technical approach and then we'll go into the policy review as well as the as the quantitative findings, and then we'll have a QA as well. All right, so a little bit about us. A little bit about our team. The study provides a statistical support for the availability of these firms within the industry category and the relevant geographic market area as well. And really when we're looking at ready, willing and able firms, we do have a criteria for that that I wanted to briefly discuss. So we generally look at whether the firm does business with the industry within the industry category from which the city makes certain purchases. So here is our technical approach. So we started the study by doing a policy review where we conducted several interviews with the city school, city and city school staff. We also did a deep dive into the purchasing and procedures of the city and city schools. We collected and cleaned the data. We actually also started the study by doing data assessments, meetings with the city staff and the city school staff just to get a better understanding on how the data is kept for the study. We conducted the availability analysis. We also did findings and best practices, and then we had a final report consisting of all of this information. So for the policy review, again, we conducted policy interviews with city staff and city schools, specifically with finance, procurement, economic development, and legal.
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