Tensions fly among Hopewell councilors after conflict-of-interest vote; citizens also react

HOPEWELL – An often-contentious City Council meeting Tuesday night came to an even more contentious end amid confusion over whether the final vote had happened on an ordinance that spells out protocols for city workers running for City Council and councilors applying for city jobs.

The ordinance, proposed by Ward 6 Councilor Brenda Pelham, was subjected to tense discussions among the councilors and many parliamentary inquiries Tuesday night and at council’s previous meeting on March 12. However, Tuesday’s already edgy atmosphere took a sour turn when some councilors thought a “call for the final vote” tally was the end of the meeting and began to walk away.

Mayor Johnny Partin Jr., who presided over the meeting, mistakenly declared the meeting “automatically adjourned” before the final vote was taken. Then when he tried to bring council back together for the final vote, councilors appeared confused and some citizens in the gallery became angry.

Ward 5 Councilor Janice Denton, who had walked away and was speaking with some audience members, appeared puzzled as she returned to the dais. Denton opposed the measure from the onset, questioning its timing during a council election year and had just voted “no” on the call for the final vote.

As she approached the front of the council chamber, Vice Mayor Jasmine Gore – who moments earlier noted that the final vote had not been taken – told her, “Just say no. You don’t support it. Just say no.”

Denton said she left because, “I thought it was adjourned.”

Some in the gallery did not take too kindly to the action.

Former councilor Debbie Randolph shook her head as councilors tried to regroup. "You've already adjourned," she repeatedly said.

Ed Houser, who is expected to formally announce his candidacy for the seat soon to be vacated by the retiring Denton, was more succinct in his criticism,

"This is bulls**t!" he exclaimed.

As it turned out, the vote was legal after all, thanks to a procedural move council took earlier in Tuesday's meeting. Council's playbook gives it permission to vote to either end meetings after a specific agenda point or extend the meeting past its mandated three-hour window. Before discussion on the conflict-of-interest ordinance, councilors voted unanimously to stop the meeting after their decision on the ordinance. According to the rules, that final vote supersedes any declaration or vote to adjourn

Partin later acknowledged his mistake in saying the meeting was automatically adjourned before the final vote was taken. “It was a small error,” he said.

The final vote on the ordinance was 4-3, the same as the tally just before it. Gore, Pelham, and councilors Michael Harris of Ward 2 and Dominic Holloway of Ward 7 supported it. Partin, Denton and Ward 1 Councilor Rita Joyner opposed the ordinance.

Due to ongoing problems with his health, Harris took part electronically from his residence in Tuesday’s meeting as he has done for the past several sessions.

The end of the meeting did not mean a stop to the fireworks, particularly between Pelham and Denton. At one point, Pelham told Denton that her comments about the timing of the ordinance sounded like ongoing rhetoric in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.

“Stop talking like [Donald] Trump!” Pelham animatedly repeated at Denton.

The controversy

The ordinance in question mirrors the Virginia state code on conflict-of-interest conduct when municipal employees run for council or other political office in the localities where they live and work. It also addresses councilors who apply for jobs within the locality’s government.

While the measure has been in place for several years, Hopewell’s code had been silent on it, opening up opportunities for city employees to run for council seats and councilors applying for Hopewell jobs.

That list includes Pelham, council’s senior member and a former mayor who recently retired from a position in the Hopewell school system, and Partin, who as a councilor before becoming mayor applied for the city’s public-works director position.

Proponents of the measure said having the guardrails in place keeps city employees from having voting power on city policy by which the department they work for must abide. The same would apply for councilors seeking jobs in those departments while simultaneously setting that policy.

The law states that any city employee could run for council, but if they win, they will have to resign from their paid job. In turn, councilors would have to step down from their posts and be out for a while before applying for government jobs.

Opponents claim the ordinance would scare away potential council candidates, even those who might work for the city.

The measure was addressed during council’s March 12 meeting , and actions taken then lit the fuse for Tuesday night’s showdown. On March 12, a 3-3 vote caused it to fail, but not before there was heat between Gore and Denton.

Denton, who is not seeking re-election this year, has repeatedly objected to the timing of the ordinance coming in a year when Wards 4, 5 and 6 are on the November ballot. She said council had other opportunities to address the issue during non-election years, and “now is not the right time.”

To pass it Tuesday night, Denton said, would be “a terrible misjustice” to those people already out circulating petitions and finalizing their candidacy papers.

That prompted Gore to respond, “It’s always the wrong time.”

Another tack

Tuesday night, Denton took an administrative approach in trying to get the ordinance delayed. She claimed Pelham did not follow council rules for timely submission of agenda items because she did not attach a required council action form, or CAF, with her request.

“In this particular one, no CAF was put with it. Not even a title of what we’re supposed to do. Anything,” Denton said. “I just feel like we are not following our rules.”

Pelham noted that the item was on the previous agenda "and you asked for it to be postponed.” Denton claimed to not remember that happening: “It was on the agenda?”

“You had two extra weeks to read and research it,” Pelham countered. “You say you always read the agenda. Did you read it in the last week?”

Holloway, who seconded the motion for Pelham’s ordinance, repeated comments he made at the previous meeting that some on council did not support it because they had friends or constituents in mind to succeed them.

“So many people, especially those who are seated on this council, talk about the do’s and the don’ts of specific laws, and I would hope no one is trying to change it in favor of personal parties and so forth,” Holloway said. “It kind of scares me.”

Gore used her time to remind her colleagues that the issue was more than political positioning for potential successors. It also applies to councilors interested in potential Hopewell employment.

Gore then tried to debunk social-media comments that she wanted to join the upper echelons of Hopewell government, possibly even becoming assistant city manager.

“I have a job in Richmond and I’m not trying to get out of it,” she said. “I like being on council, but I don’t think I would want to work for this council.”

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Tensions fly among Hopewell councilors after conflict-of-interest vote; citizens also react