PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Former Portsmouth City Manager Tonya Chapman is now asking for her full $400,000 severance payment days after beingfiredin a letter to the vice mayor and city council.
Portsmouth City Council approved Chapman's termination by a 5-2 vote with former Vice Mayor-now-Councilman De'Andre Barnes and Councilman Mark Whitaker voting against it.
In the letter dated for Tuesday, January 10, Chapman stated Mayor Shannon Glover "falsified and/or embellished information" to solicit a vote to terminate her employment with the city of Portsmouth.
Chapman continues in the letter, "my termination was false and/or blatantly misleading and not supported with evidence."
She also claims there are witnesses that will invalidate what Mayor Glover stated.
In the letter, Chapman details the false allegations by Mayor Glover.
Those allegations, Chapman says, include fiscal responsibility and abuse of power.
Chapman says, "the Mayor alleges I made a statement during the November 22, 2022 work session. He specifically stated 'You publicly stated that a pending external investigation was being conducted by the FBI, State Police and the Commonwealth Attorney’s office to investigate allegations of financial misconduct by the previous administration; however, I later admitted (to the Mayor and during a previous council meeting), that no investigation had been conducted or assigned to any external agency at that time, which further eroded the community’s distrust of city leadership. The statement put the city further at risk for lawsuits and a waste of resources.' The assertion that I later admitted to the Mayor that no investigation had been conducted or assigned to any external agency is unequivocally false. During the public work session on November 22, 2022, I informed Council that the matter relating to the gift cards, which were unaccounted for, was reported to the proper authorities."
Chapman says that upon receiving the documentation for the distribution of the gift cards, there were duplicate names and duplicate identifications.
"The Interim CFO determined that over 400 cards were distributed to individuals with the same names and over 400 cards were distributed to individuals presenting the same identification (possibly belonging to others), which equates to over $80,000. Furthermore, the policy presented and signed by the risk manager indicated that the cards would not be activated until the date of distribution; however, the majority of the cards were activated at one time during the latter part of April 2022 and have a 13 month expiration date," says Chapman.
Chapman says while in a meeting with Mayor Glover that there were two separate investigations.
"One investigation was being conducted by the Portsmouth Police Department and because ARPA funds are federal, the State Police and FBI had taken a report on the ARPA funds. At no time after November 22, 2022 did I admit to the Mayor that no investigation had been conducted or assigned to any external agency," Chapman says.
Chapman continues that the forensic audit was never completed and no city funds were spent.
"The city was in the process of presenting the scope of work to a forensic auditing firm, determining a final cost, and ensuring the proper procurement procedures were adhered to, when I was terminated," Chapman says.
Chapman says in the letter that city council adopted a request for $300,000 for "the purposes of an audit and assessment" and that she never said that the $300,000 would be used for the sole purpose of conducting a forensic audit on $80,000 worth of missing gift cards.
Chapman also mentioned that "the mayor indicated that the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report was not completed by the deadline of December 15, 2022 and the failure to complete the report by the deadline could ultimately affect the city future credit rating."
Chapman says, "the claim that the report could ultimately affect the city’s credit rating is not in his area of expertise for the mayor to determine. Furthermore, in case the report was not received by the filing date, in an effort to ensure due diligence, an extension was filed to ensure the city was in compliance."
Under abuse of power, Chapman says in the letter that she followed "normal HR procedures and practices" during the hiring of all executive level employees and all background information received was taken into consideration.
"The persons selected were the most qualified applicants for the positions. The allegation presented by the mayor that I deliberately failed to comply with the city’s HR policies and best practices are false. The Interim HR Director can verify that a background check was conducted on all new hires," Chapman says.
Chapman mentions that other allegations like technology problems and the Operation Blue Line grant were also misconstrued.
At the end of the letter, Chapman says, "During my tenure as city manager, I worked diligently to ensure the city was acting in the best interest of the citizens, I maintained fiscal responsibility, and ensured accountability. I can assure you that I was a good steward of the city’s finances. I have never misrepresented any information nor had a blatant disregard for the truth, as indicated by the mayor. The dismissal of employees was justified and properly documented."
She also says that the citizens of Portsmouth "deserve better" and they "deserve to know the truth about where 'the people’s' money is being spent."
Chapman closes the letter by saying, "As a result of the misinformation presented to Council and the egregious abuse of authority by the Mayor, I request that Council grant my $400,000 severance, as outlined in my employment agreement."
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