PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A new city manager is set to take over in Portsmouth. Council members voted to appoint Steven Carter of Albany, Georgia Monday. Carter will be the fourth person to hold the position in four years.
The decision to bring on Carter was made Monday in a four to three vote. Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke was a swing vote.
"It's about getting the right person to move our city in the right direction because we've been stagnated," Lucas-Burke told News 3 Monday. "We've had so many issues. Our citizens are crying out for something different, so we are giving them something different."
Portsmouth
Portsmouth City Council votes on new city manager
Mayor Shannon Glover and council members Bill Moody and Mark Hugel voted against the appointment. Glover said interim city manager Mimi Terry hadn't been given the full opportunity to show what she can do for the city.
"It's unfortunate because what happens is we continue to start over, and starting over there's a cost to that as well," said Glover. "By making this decision we have gone out and hired a firm that's going to bring an interim in here for 30 something days. We are going to pay that person $210 per hour of the taxpayer's money. In addition to that, we're going to bring on a new city manager at $255,000. I think it's a misuse of the taxpayers' money. I think we had the right person, and it is disheartening and disappointing, but as in all things we will continue to move forward in a positive way."
"Do you foresee that this position will continue to have high rates of turnover?" asked News 3 reporter Erika Craven.
"With the present council and the division that you saw at the meeting last night, I do," said Glover.
Watch previous coverage: Portsmouth City Council votes on new city manager
The last city manager was Tonya Chapman, who was fired in January 2023. Before that was Angel Jones, who was fired in 2022. Before Jones, Lydia Pettis Patton was city manager. She resigned ahead of her retirement.
The city's now working with Berkley Group to provide interim city manager services until Carter takes the role. According to the Berkley Group's website, Patton is executive manager at the firm, but Glover said he had not heard whether she'd be a part of the management efforts.
"I look forward to having the conversation with whomever comes here to Portsmouth because we have a lot of things on the table," said Glover. "This is our budget season. We have a lot of items on the table that are heavy lists of the city. We're looking at school budget, we're looking at infrastructure, how can we afford to give citizens tax relief, how are we dealing with the crime initiative. And how are we ensuring our employees and giving them the confidence we're going to have stable leadership."
He's hopeful council members can put aside differences to move the city in a positive direction as Carter comes on board.
Carter's preparing to take over the role at the end of April. He's a U.S. Air Force veteran with experience as city manager for Albany, Georgia.
