Hampton City Council Ceremonial Session: Spotlight on Living with the Water and Alumni Recognition - September 24, 2025
Hampton City Council Ceremonial Session - September 24, 2025
Mayor Jimmy Gray called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers. The ceremonial session included the scheduled 'Spotlight on Living with the Water' and featured remarks from distinguished Hampton City Schools alumni. The raw transcript provided contains unrelated content (a cooking segment and a pedestrian safety documentary), which appears to be from a different source; the summary below is based solely on the portions identifiable as part of the meeting.
Ceremonial Items – Spotlight on Living with the Water
- The agenda listed 'Spotlight on Living with the Water' as the ceremonial item, but the transcript does not capture any discussion of this topic. It is possible that this portion was not recorded or was omitted from the provided transcript.
Mayor’s Remarks
- Mayor Jimmy Gray delivered a public service announcement encouraging men to undergo regular PSA testing for prostate cancer, emphasizing early detection.
Recognition of Distinguished Alumni
- A Hampton graduate and founder/general manager of YLS Incorporated (a landscape installation company) spoke about his education at Francis Asbury Elementary and Jones Junior High, and how Hampton City Schools prepared him for college and business. He expressed gratitude for the community and the mentoring of Coach Mark Vandefoort.
- Christopher Matton, a 1995 graduate of Phoebus High School and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, discussed his academic journey (UVA, Cambridge, MIT) and credited formative experiences at Phoebus: the Center for High Technology robotics program, the science fair, and the New Horizons Governor's School mentorship at NASA Langley. He urged current students to take advantage of teachers’ willingness to help.
- Margot Lee Shetterly, a 1987 graduate of Phoebus High School and author of Hidden Figures, reflected on the solid education and diversity she experienced in Hampton schools. She described her career path from investment banking to internet media to writing, and noted that her book’s success will allow her to write another book.
Key Outcomes
- The meeting adjourned after the ceremonial items. No votes or formal actions were taken.
Meeting Transcript
We before we break. I'm gonna take the carrots. They need a little bit longer time to cook. And put them in. Uh here we go. And a little baile. Pop the top on. And we're gonna let that sit. One good thing about family favorites is when you're getting ready, they invite the entire family. You want a dish that not just stretches. In the last few moments, I want to show you something. We're gonna do some rice. We're gonna start it off here and get it done. You're gonna turn it on high. Stirring the rice. One cup of rice, two cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Soon as the water starts to boil, we'll pop the we're gonna keep the lid on. The water starts to boil, turn it off, let it sit. Perfect rice every time. One cup of rice, two cups of water. It's a one-to-two ratio. One to two ratio, and we're gonna bring them on back. Take them on out. Take them on out. Oh yeah. See how all that's married up? One big happy family. That's why I call it a family favorite. Oh yeah. We are having something fun in here today. Listen, let's listen. At this point, remember I told you when the rice is doing this right here, when it's bubbling, when it's doing all this great stuff in the pot. You give it a quick stir. Turn it off, leave the lid. That's it. Turn it on lead the lid. It's gonna once it gets done, it's gonna soak up all the water all by its lonesome, and when it gets finished, it's gonna be absolutely perfect rice. You won't have to worry about it. So we leave that alone. Now, in this, you see the beautiful steam and everything in this beef stew that we've started, and I say started because beef stew, this is gonna take a little bit longer than 30 minutes. So we're just showing you the whole process to get to all the greatness on the end. Now, what I'm gonna do right now, I'm gonna add in my tomatoes that are chopped up. Oh yeah. Drain the water off these potatoes. Once we get all the water drained off the potatoes, bring them over here, get them started. Right like that. Oh yeah. Then always stir, get everything in there. See how all that's married up?
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