Eleven candidates vying for a seat on the Portsmouth City Council say battling high crime, improving public safety and luring more businesses and jobs to lower residents’ tax burden are the biggest issues for the city at this time.

In November, incumbents Christopher Woodard Jr., Paul Battle and Bill Moody will be on the ballot, hoping to retain their three at-large council seats. Woodard was appointed in 2021 to fill Mayor Shannon Glover’s seat when he became mayor, and then he won his subsequent election. Battle is seeking his second term, and Moody is pursuing his seventh.

But eight challengers also competing for those three seats say new blood is needed to bring in fresh ideas and clean up a public perception they say has been marred by a string of controversial meetings and decisions over recent months.

Those decisions include the abrupt firing of the city manager in a 4-3 vote this summer and subsequent meetings that included hours of personal attacks and bickering.

Moody, 73, reversed an earlier decision to not seek reelection because of those decisions. He also condemned the council’s denial of two economic projects that he says would have contributed substantially to the city’s tax base: a storage facility on Effingham Street and a 60-unit addition to the Harbor Vista apartment complex on Crawford Street.

Moody said those decisions, which he said “blindsided” him and other council members, have left him “very disturbed and concerned with the dysfunction and embarrassment” regarding the majority that made them, including his opponents Battle and Woodard. Moody points to his more than 20 years of experience and record as a councilmember as the reason to reelect him. He wants to change the current majority he describes as “anti-development.”

But Woodard said it’s about bringing in “quality developments” that put Portsmouth first by bringing in tax dollars and jobs. He and Battle both say the city already has multiple storage facilities, and both voiced health concerns in the 4-3 denial this summer as the facility would have been located on an Environmental Protection Agency superfund site.

Both also denied the second phase of apartments at Harbor Vista in 2021. But Battle said the decision just stalled the permit as such development shouldn’t be rushed until there’s a consensus for how the city’s waterfront should look.

As a public school teacher, Woodard’s priorities include continuing to fully fund and support the school system, investing in public safety and encouraging “innovative ideas that will enhance traffic and increase revenue.” The current council has supported pay raises for city and school employees, bonuses and other incentives to attract police officers and offer financial aid to residents struggling from the impacts of the pandemic.

Woodard also referenced council’s movement on the issue of crime, noting that the police department is in the process of deploying more cameras throughout the city. He also said City Manager Tonya Chapman, whom he supported in her 4-3 appointment vote, has experience tackling this issue with her decades of experience in law enforcement. Council members have also been discussing the use of shot-spotting technology, which helps detect gunshots and alert law enforcement agencies for faster response times.

Moody said the use of technology can help plug the hole felt by staffing shortages in the police department.

Battle said he wants the city to work for everyone and that his record of giving to the community speaks to his integrity. He agrees that the current council is making progress toward lowering crime. And his connections throughout the community make him an ideal person to be at the table when it comes to working on economic development deals, he added.

Two Portsmouth School Board candidates are running for City Council, including Vernon Tillage Jr., who’s also the top fundraiser. He’s reported more than $30,000 in donations since the start of the year.

Tillage, a 28-year-old community affairs coordinator with Virginia Natural Gas, is in his first term on the School Board. While he wasn’t initially planning to run for council this year, Tillage said the council needs leaders with integrity, adding that a lack of strong leadership can result in a lack of respect at the regional level.

Tillage pointed to the city’s aging and deteriorating infrastructure as a top priority. As a former legislative aide, he wants to draw on that experience in helping the city compete for grant funding and other initiatives that will help to alleviate the costs.

Alongside Moody throughout his campaign has been Nathan Clark, a first sergeant with Virginia Marine Police who served one four-year term on City Council until the 2020 election. Following the firing of City Manager Angel Jones, Clark said he decided to run another time after being asked by multiple residents. He’s also looking to draw on his more than 20 years of law enforcement experience to help the city tackle staffing issues with public safety workers, including officer salaries.

Clark said the benefit, if elected, is that he’ll “hit the ground running” since there’s no learning curve for him.

Mark Hugel, who currently serves as vice president of CACI International, said he has more than 40 years of experience in leadership positions, including 32 in the U.S. Navy. Good leadership, he said, comes from agreeing on a shared vision and what the city’s priorities should be. The city’s leaders need to be strategic and collaborative in working toward economic development, safe streets and a quality education, Hugel said.

Those decisions must also be guided by and communicated with the community, which Hugel said is currently not happening.

Sharon Anderson, a retired educator, also said more communication and collaboration is needed from the City Council. If elected, she wants to unify the council and help the city thrive.

Anderson said the council needs another strong woman, too.

Community activist Lakesha “Onyx” Hicks also said the city needs a strategic approach to supporting the numerous grassroots organizations that are working to address the issue of violence and socioeconomic issues. But that also includes vetting organizations that seek funding and ensuring they’re seeing measurable impacts for the communities they’re serving, she said.

Hicks said the city lacks recreational options for youth and that improving the city’s appearance can help bring in more businesses and jobs that spur economic growth. She’s looking to bring her experience working on legislation and with contracts in the private sector if elected.

Hicks is vice president of Portsmouth’s chapter of the NAACP.

LaKeesha “Klu” Atkinson is vice chair of the School Board and a community activist. The 39-year-old says if elected, she’ll advocate for measures that fund schools and help improve them, in addition to funding the grassroots organizations working to tackle violence. She currently serves on the boards of nonprofits Stop the Violence 757, Access College Foundation and STARBASE Victory.

Candidate Ronald E. Diggs is looking to draw on his management experience from a 28-year career with Ford Motor Company to help lead the city if elected. Apart from addressing basic needs like infrastructure, Diggs sees a need to address panhandling by figuring out what those individuals’ needs are and how they can be connected to jobs.

Donna Sayegh, 81, is another candidate. She’s a mediator with The Dove of Peace Ministry and has been attending and speaking out at City Council meetings over the last decade.

This week, the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Steering Committee, an influential political organization in the city’s Black community, endorsed Tillage and Hugel for City Council.

Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com