Hopewell councilor used city card to buy almost $700 in food. What was it for?
HOPEWELL – A city councilor already under public fire involving allegations of mishandling a GoFundMe account for a murder victim’s family now is under scrutiny for another controversy, this time involving his use of the city clerk’s credit card for a catering purchase.
In records obtained by The Progress-Index, Ward 7 Councilor Dominic Holloway charged almost $700 in food to cater what was coded in Hopewell’s invoicing system as "funeral catering.” It was later classified as "Funeral Catering-Public Event Sponsored by the City."
It does not appear there was a city-backed event on that date, but there was a funeral for a Hopewell murder victim officiated by Holloway in Petersburg.
The expense has also drawn the attention of Hopewell Mayor Johnny Partin Jr. who, according to an email to city clerk Brittani Williams, was withholding sign-off on the purchase due to his own questions.
When first asked by The Progress-Index to clarify the credit card charges, Holloway responded, “That is incorrect” that the food charge was for the funeral. When asked repeatedly to explain where the food went to, he declined to answer.
Validated documents tell the story
The Progress-Index was first made aware of the challenged expense in August after receiving copies of receipts from the purchase and documents showing how the purchases were recorded in the city’s invoicing system. The newspaper verified their validity through contact with the Hopewell city administration.
On June 30, two separate food purchases were charged on the clerk’s credit card for $622.38 and for $68.14 at Mr. B’s, a home-cooking restaurant in the village of Chester that was formerly located in Hopewell. The $622.38 was for bulk orders of 150 pieces of fried chicken and 50 pieces of baked chicken at $2.25 per piece; four containers of macaroni and cheese at $15.99 per order, and four containers of green beans at $12.99 per order.
That totaled, with taxes, $599.88. A receipt shows the city's Mastercard swiped for $622.38. The $22.50 difference between the total and the swiped amount was not accounted for in the documents The Progress-Index received.
A second purchase of $68.14 was made for additional macaroni and cheese “as [Holloway] felt he hadn’t ordered enough initially," according to a statement made by another city employee that was included in the records.
In Hopewell, councilors are allowed to use the city clerk’s credit card for purchases as long as those purchases are used for community-based activities or improvement projects. The purchases are reimbursed using “ward funds” that each councilor has at his or her disposal to sponsor activities and fund certain projects within their districts.
Harvey Butler, the owner of Mr. B’s, recalled the transaction for The Progress-Index as a “walk-in order” on June 30. He said the people who placed it were "a man and a woman."
Butler said his restaurant does not deliver, so he told the customers they would have to pick it up. The next morning, “two women came and picked it up,” he said.
Because of the non-delivery service, there are no records of where the food order went.
That same day, mourners gathered in Petersburg for the funeral of William Jamal “BJ” Claiborne. Claiborne was shot June 24 in the parking lot of Langston Park Apartments in Hopewell and died later at a local hospital.
Claiborne’s online obituary said the service would be held at 11 a.m. July 1 at Faith & Hope Temple Church of God in Christ in Petersburg, with the burial in Dinwiddie County. Holloway, an elder at Word of Life Center in Hopewell, officiated the service, which was livestreamed on the funeral home’s YouTube channel.
There was no mention of any post-service get-together at the conclusion of the funeral, which is still posted on the channel.
Training led to questions about the purchase
Williams, who is new to the city clerk’s position and was undergoing training at that time, submitted the credit-card reconciliations to the MUNIS system, according to a statement from another city employee that was received by The Progress-Index with the other records. In that statement, the employee who was assisting in Williams’ training said they noticed the high price tag on the June 30 receipts and thought “there might be a possible explanation, like an accidental swipe, stolen card or other approved use.”
A couple of weeks later, the employee wrote, they asked Williams about it. She said the purchase “was for funeral catering paid for by Councilor Holloway using his ward funds.” The reconciliation was coded for Ward 7, Holloway’s district.
Once it was submitted, a hard copy of the reconciliation was placed in the mayor’s inbox for his approval, along with a reconciliation for a separate, unrelated purchase.
The day after it was submitted, according to the employee’s written statement, she was told by another associate they had spoken with Williams over the phone earlier “could hear Dominic Holloway yelling at Brittani, instructing her to modify the description and the code on the credit card reconciliation as he directed.” Later that day, a new invoice was submitted with the classification, “Funeral Catering-Public Event Sponsored by the City,” and classified for Ward 6 instead of Ward 7.
A copy of the ward-funds request document must be submitted to the clerk, who then sends it to the city attorney. The city attorney checks it to ensure compliance and approves it.
A copy of the reconciliation was put in Partin’s inbox showing the amount, the credit-card number, the total of $690.52 and the coding for the purchase.
On Aug. 9, according to emails The Progress-Index received in a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, Williams asked Partin if he had signed off on the reconciliations she had included with his agenda packet. “I need them signed as soon as possible as they were requested by the progress-index [sic],” she wrote.
‘Did the city sponsor a funeral and pay for food?’
The following morning, Partin replied that he had signed one of the reconciliations.
“The 2nd recon is in there, too; however, I have returned it because I have a couple of questions,” he wrote in the email. “What is the Funeral Food/City Sponsor Event? Did the city of Hopewell sponsor a funeral and pay for food for the funeral?”
When the city initially questioned Holloway about it, he provided a post on his Facebook page dated June 25 advertising a “Stop the Violence” event for 4 p.m. July 1 in the community room of 4105 Old Iron Court. The flier noted four homicides had taken place in Hopewell so far in 2023 (there actually were five because Claiborne’s killing occurred the day before the Facebook posting), and “we are reminded of their tragedies.”
The flier says food was going to be served.
Hopewell Heights Apartments is at the address on the flier.
The Progress-Index went to apartment management to confirm the event happened. Apartment management showed a Progress-Index reporter the calendar for the community room and there was nothing listed for an event on that date. The management also showed their calendar for several days prior to July 1 to show that no one had contacted them about scheduling the event.
The privately held apartment complex is surrounded by the Piper Square affordable-housing community. Mark Starling, executive director of the Hopewell Redevelopment & Housing Authority, told The Progress-Index that he was unaware of anyone from the city requesting permission to host a city-sponsored event there, which they are required to do. Piper Square’s community center currently is closed for renovations.
The post with the flier is no longer on Holloway's Facebook page.
Since that time, the city has not gotten any more responses to questions about where the food went. Partin, the city’s mayor, is particularly upset about that.
"I have not received satisfactory information on this request and will not sign the statement until I get more information,” Partin said in an email Sept. 11 to The Progress-Index. “I have told the city clerk what her and Councilor Holloway's options are. I have not heard from either of what they are planning to do.”
Meanwhile, Holloway has remained mostly silent on the issue despite The Progress-Index's repeated efforts to contact him.
When The Progress-Index told Holloway the newspaper had copies of all the documents, including receipts, Holloway initially asked for the source. That request was denied. He was asked directly if the charge was for the funeral.
He then replied, “It was not, and that information isn’t correct.”
The Progress-Index immediately asked for clarification after his answer, and this time, Holloway did not respond.
A few days ago, The Progress-Index sent Holloway an email to his official council address to again offer a chance to comment about the purchase. He texted to us that he had “clearly responded” from his cell number, adding, “Why are you now emailing me through the city’s email?”
That was his last response.
A question of accountability, a history of controversy
Hopewell’s “Rules for City Council” spell out expected behavior of council members during meetings or any other time they might be acting as a representative of the city. Councilors are told to “use their public office for the public good, not for personal gain.”
Councilors are expected by the rules to self-police, meaning they are obliged to report to their colleagues and/or the proper authorities any possible violations of the code of conduct. Hopewell’s council does not have the specific power to censure its members for perceived wrongdoing.
Questions over the credit card are the latest storm Holloway has found himself navigating.
Brionna Taylor, the mother of eight-year-old P’Aris Mi-Unique Angel Moore who was shot to death Dec. 30, 2022, is suing Holloway for allegedly taking $5,600 from a GoFundMe account he established for the family. Taylor claims he used that money without her knowledge to pay overdue child support he owed to a woman. Holloway denies the allegation.
The case is set to go to trial Oct. 25 in Hopewell General District Court. A judge has given Taylor until Sept. 22 to file her actual claims of mismanagement and Holloway until Oct. 10 to file his grounds for defense. Should either fail to meet the deadline, the other party has the right to ask for judgement without presenting evidence.
Because Hopewell City Council approves local funding for the court, Judge Craig Dunkum of Henrico General District Court has been brought in to hear the case.
Shortly after the GoFundMe lawsuit was filed, a Chester woman sued Holloway for $4,000, claiming the money was a loan to Holloway to pay campaign fines before taking his council seat. Holloway claimed the money was a gift, not a loan, and therefore was not expected to be paid back.
Last month, a judge dismissed the case after the plaintiff did not show up in court for a preliminary hearing. The plaintiff, Britney McDaniel, told The Progress-Index she plans to refile.
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: $700 food purchase on Hopewell card by councilor Holloway is questioned
