PORTSMOUTH, Va. — New faces are coming to Portsmouth city leadership following Election Day and the announcement of new hires among city staff.
City Manager Tonya Chapman announced the hiring of three employees. Among them is Brian Donahue who is now the director of economic development after serving as the interim for the past ten months. His salary is $145,000.
Del. Cliff Hayes (D-Chesapeake) has been hired as chief information officer with a salary of $131,000.
Sunshine Swinson was hired as deputy city manager with a salary of $150,000, a city spokesperson said.
Swinson is named in a lawsuit filed last month by former City Manager Angel Jones. In the suit, Jones alleges Swinson's brother, Eugene, bribed Vice Mayor De'Andre Barnes in an effort to get Sunshine hired as city manager in 2021.
Eugene didn't respond to a request for comment for News 3 on Wednesday. Barnes has previously described the allegations in the suit as "fairytales."
At the time, a source told News 3 Sunshine was under consideration to become city manager. Then, allegations from her past surfaced, including one that said she faced felony welfare fraud charges from Suffolk for incidents in 2017.
Since then, a court clerk in Suffolk Circuit Court tells News 3 she entered into a plea agreement to drop the charges down to misdemeanors and she faces sentencing in 2024.
Chapman defended the hiring in a statement to News 3. She said the charges are from five years and saying Swinson has worked to rectify them.
"I am a firm believer in second chances, Ms. Swinson is well qualified for the deputy city manager role due to her experience and education, and I am confident she will excel in this role," Chapman said in a statement.
In addition, two new faces will join Portsmouth City Council next year. Vernon Tillage and Mark Hugel won in the Nov. 8 election. Both had the endorsement of the MLK Leadership Steering Committee, an influential group that's been endorsing candidates in the city for more than 30 years.
"We knew that we needed to get those two persons in and that they would bring balance to the city council and ew believe that they would work with the persons who are already there," said Rev. Milton Blount, the group's president and senior pastor of New Mount Olivet Baptist Church.
Bill Moody was also re-elected to the city council.
The group is hopeful the city is turning the page and putting recent drama in the rearview mirror.
"It's really about a unified Portsmouth coming together, working together. The city council, along with the mayor, working with the city manager and everybody working together as one, as a team to make Portsmouth a better city," said Blount.
