PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Portsmouth City Council has chosen its new city manager.
Steven Carter has been named the Portsmouth city manager in a 4-3 vote Monday.
Carter is from Albany, Georgia, and is replacing Interim City Manager Mimi Terry. He is the fourth to have this seat in just a few years.
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This appointment comes after the last city manager, Tonya Chapman, told city council that $80,000 in gift cards purchased by the city with federal funds were missing in November 2022. She was fired in January 2023.
Before Chapman, Angel Jones served as city manager. She was also fired in 2022 during a heated council session, after which she sued the city alleging public corruption.
An outside firm, Korn Ferry, helped in the national 90-day search.
It cost the city about $66,0000 and brought forth three qualified candidates, including interim city manager Mimi Terry. However, some members of the council chose to go with a new face.
Watch previous coverage: Portsmouth City Council votes to remove new city assessor less than a week after appointing him
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Shannon Glover voiced his opinion on the vote.
"I'm absolutely disappointed in my colleagues," said Mayor Glover. "Once again, we have chosen to overlook a qualified professional who is in the position doing the job of moving our city in a positive direction and making progress."
This decision came after a 90-minute closed session and Glover says it didn't come easily.
"There were four members, but the majority of the council decided it was the direction that which they chose to go," said Mayor Glover.
Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke said there simply were stronger candidates.
"I have enjoyed working with Mimi Terry over the time frame that we had but comparing them to the other two candidates that we interviewed with the city manager’s experience, they just outweighed her," explained Lucas-Burke.
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Lucas-burke says she was the tie-breaking vote as there were three votes to keep Terry as city manager and three votes to choose someone else. She says she received some backlash for not picking Terry.
"It's not about Women's History Month and appointing women," said Lucas-Burke. "It's about getting the right person to move our city in the right direction because we've been stagnated we've had so many issues our citizens are crying out for something different so we are giving them something different."
She says Portsmouth has been plagued by crime, and housing issues and thinks Carter will propel the city into a new chapter.
"Carter comes to us with a strong IT background and he's been a city manager in Albany Georgia over ten years so we have somebody who's coming with real-life city management experience," Lucas-Burke said. "That's what we need to move our city forward."
Watch related story: Portsmouth City Council changes policy for removing members from meetings
Despite any disagreements surrounding this decision, council members have agreed to help set Carter up for success.
It is not just the city manager position that has driven controversy in Portsmouth, however. In January, council members voted to rescind the appointment of the city assessor less than a week after his appointment.
The former interim city assessor was removed from her position while the city attorney investigated "undisclosed allegations" made against her.
Carter will begin as city manager on April 22 with a starting salary of $255,000.
