Portsmouth council directs staff to prepare collective-bargaining ordinance after work session

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Portsmouth City Council announced April 7 that it will move forward with a draft ordinance to allow collective bargaining for city employees and has asked the city manager and staff to prepare the ordinance for later council discussion.

City Manager Steve Carter, who led the work-session presentation, framed the meeting as informational and said no final decision was expected that evening. "The purpose of this particular discussion is, we're not trying to make a decision here tonight. We're just trying to pass out some information," Carter said. After a closed-session consultation with legal counsel, Mayor John Glover told the public the council had "decided to move forward with the collective-bargaining ordinance, and we will hand it now over to the city manager and his staff to bring back the ordinance, for discussion."

The work session reviewed background, statutory authority and local experience. Carter noted the General Assembly authorized local collective-bargaining ordinances in 2020 and said Portsmouth took early steps — adopting a resolution in September 2021 and voting in November 2023 to continue exploring an ordinance. Attorney Derek Challenger referenced the controlling statute cited in the meeting as "40.1 dash 57.2," and reminded council that the law prohibits an ordinance or resolution from restricting the governing body's authority to set the budget or appropriate funds.

Council members debated likely benefits, costs and practical scope. Vice Mayor Moody and Councilman Tillich said a local ordinance could improve long-range budget forecasting and employee recruitment; Tillich asked for realistic cost estimates after earlier, widely varying figures were circulated. Carter said his research suggested initial implementation costs — staff positions, training and process setup — would likely be "somewhere between a million, a million 2" dollars annually, excluding any contractual raises or changes negotiated later. Council members also referenced a much larger figure previously circulated — "15,000,000" — and said they wanted grounded, locality-specific numbers.

Several councilors and the city manager emphasized that the draft ordinance on the table would cover city employees only; a council exchange made clear school employees would not be included under a city ordinance and would require action by the school board. When asked "Schools too?" a council member confirmed schools would be separate.

Council discussion also touched on regional examples. Carter and others cited Alexandria, Richmond and Falls Church as Virginia localities that have taken steps on collective bargaining; Councilman Tillich and others said staff should gather case studies from comparable jurisdictions and outside Virginia where useful. Councilors raised both the accountability that collective bargaining can create and the fiscal risks if pay commitments cannot be sustained during economic downturns. Councilman Hubert pointed to Fairfax County’s reported budget shortfall projections as an example localities must study when weighing multi-year pay commitments.

Procedure: Vice Mayor Moody moved the council into closed session under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act exception for legal consultation (cited in the meeting as "Virginia code sub section 2.2 dash 37 11 a 8"); the motion was seconded and passed on roll call. After the closed session, the council certified the closed meeting and Mayor Glover announced the council’s decision to proceed with the ordinance and directed the city manager to return with the draft for discussion and next steps.

Next steps: The city manager and staff will prepare the ordinance and supporting materials for public discussion and later council action. Council members requested further data on local cost experience, templates used by other Virginia localities, and clearer budget forecasting tied to different ordinance frameworks.

Votes and formal actions taken at the meeting will be entered into the council record when the ordinance returns for consideration.