Portsmouth City Council elects Bill Moody vice mayor, ratifies liaison roster and adopts 2025 meeting calendar

Portsmouth City Council on Jan. 2 elected Councilman Bill Moody as vice mayor, ratified a slate of council liaison and board appointments and adopted its 2025 meeting calendar, city officials said.

The actions came during the council's annual reorganization meeting, which opened with roll call, a brief closed session for personnel and appointment matters and returned to public session for formal votes. The council approved nominations for a wide set of external boards and internal liaison roles, confirmed a calendar of regular meetings for 2025 and recorded a public comment urging the council to preserve a public forum by holding community meetings in months when regular council meetings are reduced.

The votes followed procedural motions and roll-call confirmations. The council first moved into and later certified a closed session pursuant to Virginia law to discuss appointments, assignments and city council performance. After returning to open session, members unanimously approved the vice mayor nomination, the liaison assignments and the 2025 calendar.

The liaison ratification lists are extensive and assign council members to…