HAMPTON, Va. — With Mayor Donnie Tuck not running for re-election, two candidates are running to succeed him.
Current Vice Mayor Jimmy Gray is hoping for a promotion. "I'm running for mayor because I want to continue the great progress that we've made over my last eight years on city council with reducing crime, lowering taxes, creating new development opportunities," he said.
Former city firefighter Richelle Wallace is hoping voters will pick her this time. She ran in 2020 and lost to Tuck.
"With everything that's happened with as far as post-pandemic life, societal pressures, things of that nature, I want to make sure that our city is thriving and our people are thriving as well," she said.
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Of the six mayors races going on in the seven cities of Hampton Roads this year, Tuck is the only incumbent who decided not to run again.
Gray says he'd like to continue the momentum, but says he has his own priorities, including addressing homelessness.
"I want to improve city services. I want everyone who comes to City Hall to get a permit or a license to have a great customer experience there and that involves perhaps increasing staff members," he said.
Wallace says she believes the city should be focusing on economic revitalization and says the city should be doing more to address mental health for first responders.
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"I think we should have outlets. I think we should have mental health awareness. I think we should have our hospitals, our organizations, our city involved in different programs to assist in the overwhelming state of being that's called life," she said.
Wallace sued the city alleging discrimination over not getting a promotion as a firefighter and later settled.
"I've been there. I know exactly what it's like, so I want to make sure that all of us - if we just came together and stood up for what is right and not what is convenient, we can make a vast positive difference in the city," she said.
Gray says his eight years on the council and past experience in the city as the chief of the fire department and as an assistant city manager set him up to be the right fit.
He said he's the best candidate because of "the breadth and depth of my experience in the city of Hampton."
"I fully understand our policies and plans and projects that we have," he added.
