Portsmouth City Council votes to fire City Manager Tonya Chapman

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Members of Portsmouth City Council have voted to fire Portsmouth City Manager Tonya Chapman.

After Councilman Bill Moody made a motion to fire Chapman, five out of the seven city council members voted to fire her for cause. She was absent from the open session.

Chapman's stint as City Manager was brief — she had only assumed the position in June 2022 following a 4-3 vote last year to fire then City Manager Angel Jones.

"I'm disappointed that she's been fired, but I understand the process," said Councilman De'Andre Barnes, who was part of the four to fire Jones last year.

Barnes said the new city council was doing the same thing he and the three others had done last year. "When a new council comes in, they want to build their team and this is what this council has done. I'm not mad at them."

Both of the newly elected members voted to fire Chapman, including Vernon Tillage. "I think the people of Portsmouth sent a message in November and I think the city needs to start anew," said Tillage.

Mayor Shannon Glover declined to comment on the firing, calling it a personnel matter.

Barnes shared a document with News 3 he says was written by the mayor as the basis for firing Chapman. Part of it appears to have to do with gift cards.

In November, Chapman told the city council about $80,000 worth of gift cards purchased by the city with federal funds during COVID relief were unaccounted for.

In December, the city council approved spending $300,000 to audit where the gift cards were, but now Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke says the cards were not in fact missing.

"If you're running your house and you think there's some missing money and you don't know that - you don't know what's going on in your house - and that's a problem," said Lucas-Burke.

Before serving as City Manager, she was appointed by then-Governor Ralph Northam to serve as Chair of the Virginia Parole Board. She was also the Chief of Police for Portsmouth, according to her biographyon the Portsmouth government's website.

Her time serving as City Manager has been controversial. In November, she claimedtwo city leaders breached their contracts due to disrespect directed at her. She also claimed that she felt that she was being made fun of, ignored and insulted.

Mimi Terry was appointed interim City Manager. Additionally, the council chose Lucas-Burke to serve as vice mayor.

News 3 reached out to Chapman for comment, but did not hear back. Following the vote, city staff said she was not in the building.

This is a developing story.

Stay with News 3 for updates.