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Chesapeake City Council appoints Debbie Ritter as vice mayor after closed session
Summary
After a closed session held under Virginia law to consider candidates, the Chesapeake City Council appointed Council Member Debbie Ritter as vice mayor by an 8-1 vote. The council certified the closed meeting and adjourned later that afternoon.
The Chesapeake City Council met in closed session and then appointed Council Member Debbie Ritter as vice mayor by an 8-1 vote.
City Attorney Lendly opened the statutory language authorizing the closed meeting, saying "a motion to conduct a closed meeting for discussion and consideration of prospective candidates for appointment, specifically regarding candidates for the vice mayor position as permitted by section 2.2-3711(a)(1) of the Code of Virginia." The council then voted to enter the closed session; the clerk recorded that the motion was adopted 9-0.
After the closed session the council returned to open session and City Attorney Lendly read a certification motion: "A motion to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed, and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered." That motion was moved, seconded and adopted by a 9-0 vote.
On the subsequent appointment, Miss Newlands moved to appoint Council Member Debbie Ritter as vice mayor; the motion was seconded by Council Member Whitaker. The clerk announced, "Motion to appoint council member Debbie Ritter as vice mayor is adopted by an 8 to 1 vote." The transcript does not record who cast the lone dissenting vote.
The meeting was adjourned later the same day; the clerk announced the meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.
What happened next: there were no additional actions or policy votes recorded in the transcript. The appointment takes effect according to council practice; no effective date was stated in the meeting record.
