Days after hiring, Portsmouth council to vote on rescinding city assessor appointment

PORTSMOUTH — City Council members are expected to take a vote today on whether to rescind the appointment of the new city assessor, whose hiring was announced just last week.

The council voted 4-3 last week to hire Anthony George as the city’s next permanent city assessor, with a $130,000 salary and an April 1 start date.

The vote to rescind George’s appointment is listed on the agenda following a special closed meeting called Monday. The agenda gives no indication of the reason for the vote.

The three who voted last week against George’s appointment — Mayor Shannon Glover and council members Bill Moody and Mark Hugel — were unsuccessful in deferring the appointment, citing additional concerns that the city attorney was tasked with looking into.

Though not disclosed at the meeting, issues raised about George’s previous management in other offices in Washington, D.C., and Fulton County, Georgia, were detailed in a 2012 Washington Post article, which states concerns about his attempts to lower property values without justification led to his termination in Georgia. He also was the subject of a federal discrimination lawsuit brought forward by several female appraisers, according to the news report.

Also at last week’s meeting, council members appointed a new interim, Victor Edwards, to replace outgoing interim city assessor Janey Culpepper after council members raised allegations of unspecified questionable behavior made against her. Culpepper had held the interim role since March.

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