Norfolk planning director no longer works for city following allegations of ethical misconduct
Norfolk’s planning director quietly separated from the city last month after a national organization for city planners revoked his credentials for what it said were ethics violations.
The city, through its spokesperson, declined to say whether Planning Director George Homewood was fired or resigned.
According to a statement from the American Institute of Certified Planners Ethics Committee, Homewood was stripped of his credentials from AICP and Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners. The committee said Homewood had violated the organization’s ethics code when he harassed “professional planners who were members of the (American Planners Association) Virginia Chapter.”
Efforts to contact Homewood for comment were unsuccessful.
City spokesperson Chris Jones said Homewood’s last day working for the city was Jan. 13. Jones said he could not comment further because of the city’s policy against discussing personnel matters. An exemption to the state’s Freedom of Information Act gives government bodies the option of not sharing personnel information with the public, though they are legally free to do so.
According to Norfolk’s website, Paula Shea is now serving as acting director of the planning department.
APA’s ethics committee wrote in a statement that Homewood’s “wrongful acts” included “inappropriate conversations with some of the planning professionals … while conducting business as a Virginia Chapter board member.”
Most of the incidents involving Homewood took place during meetings with other Virginia professional planners or at events the state chapter sponsored, according to the committee. The statement went on to say that “many” of these planners have withdrawn from Virginia chapter activities.
“The fact that most of these (inappropriate) conversations occurred while conducting business as a Virginia Chapter board member makes them as equally ‘wrongful’ as if they had happened in a professional workplace where a formal complaint process would have been in place,” the statement said.
According to a release from the organization’s Women and Planning Division Executive Committee, the group has zero tolerance for “all forms of harassment,” including violence, intimidation, inappropriate conversations, unwanted contact and misogyny.
“NO ONE should be forced to endure the viciousness and trauma of harassment in professional settings,” the statement says. “We also stand in awe of the personal and professional fortitude demonstrated by the impacted individuals. Their acts of bravery resulted in the perpetrators of this harassment being held accountable for their reprehensible choices and actions and stopped the cycle of harassment before it could impact anyone else.”
Homewood had worked for the city since August 2011. He became planning director in 2014. He also served as president of the the Virginia chapter of APA.
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
