Passes by Petersburg council incumbents do not hinder group's online candidate forum

PETERSBURG — They might have been out of sight, but the City Council incumbents were not out of mind during an online candidates' forum Monday night.

Mayor Sam Parham (Ward 3), and councilors Howard Myers (Ward 5) and Arnold Westbrook Jr. (Ward 7) did not respond to invitations from the Petersburg Association of Neighborhoods/Watch, the group who organized the event. Coordinators noted at the top of the two-hour Zoom stream that the candidates "who you see here tonight responded" to the Sept. 28 invitations.

Their absences did not stop challengers from pleading their cases, though, particularly when one of them was asked about term limits. Parham is running for a third term; Myers is seeking his fourth.

"In light of the leadership we have now, I would say my answer would be a resounding 'Yes,''' said Michael Storrs, runing against Parham.

The challengers also shared their feelings on recent reports of council not acting when Petersburg knowingly sent out real-estate bills that were incorrect because the city miscalculated property assessments. A city spokesperson blamed the error on Commissioner of the Revenue Brittany Flowers' time out for illness and the inability to get everyone together to discuss the issue.

All of the candidates chided council and city administration for not taking more responsibility after the issue was raised at a council meeting by a private citizen. Ward 1 challenger Marlow Jones was very succinct in his reaction.

"They need to fire somebody and keep on firing everybody until they get it right," Jones said. "If you're messing up, you've got to go."

Added Ward 7 challenger Elsie Jarmon, "This is a situation where we need to look at whether the person or persons are capable of doing the jobs they were hired to do."

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Ward 5 challenger Michelle Murrills stated her opinion in the Zoom chat. Like her counterparts, Murrills called on council to come forward and be held accountable.

"City Council needs to come forward, tell everyone what happened, and do what it takes to make sure it never happens again," she wrote.

The challengers were also asked their opinion on whether Petersburg should change its government structure from a city manager to a "strong" mayor directly elected by the people. Citing the recent "Partnership for Petersburg" initiative, Murrills commented that Gov. Glenn Youngkin "treats [Parham] like a strong mayor" already, even though in reality, he is just one of seven councilors elected by wards.

"He has been presented as a strong mayor," she said. "If we're going to have it like that, we should have [the position] voted on by the citizens of Petersburg."

Jarmon said she saw the situation as "six of one, half-dozen of the other." While she said she likes the current council-manager form, she can see how Petersburg would want to directly elect its mayor. However, she said, whoever is elected has to be devoid of self-interest, meaning they have the good of the city at heart rather than their own political ambitions.

Storrs liked the idea, sayng that would give citizens "power" to decide who their mayor should be. Jones liked it as well, but like Jarmon, he worried about the issue of pushing one's personal agenda ahead of the city's.

"Either way, accountability has got to be at the helm," Jones said.

Jones is one of two candidates for the seat being vacated by the retiring Treska Wilson-Smith. His opponent, Chioma Adaku Griffin, did not participate.

Some School Board incumbents were also no-shows for the forum, even though they had confirmed they would attend. Ward 3's Kenneth Pritchett, who also serves as the board chairman, was the only incumbent in the meeting. He is one of two incumbents running unopposed — Ward 1's Steven Pierce is the other. Ward 7's Adrian Dance did not take part, but challenger Ronnie Watson did.

Ward 5's Lois Long is running for council. The two candidates running for her seat, Unique Luna and Joyce Proctor, took part. Long was not at the forum, but she did host her own Facebook chat at the same time the forum was going on.

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The School Board candidates fielded questions ranging from Petersburg's lagging behind in education advancements to the merits of home-schooling. Luna said the school system needs to address issues within the public-school system that could force a parent to consider home-schooling.

Citing recent reports of weapons at Petersburg High School, Pritchett said Petersburg needs to step up its "conflict resolution" programs to show kids that violence is not the answer to solve problems.

Watson, on the subject of charter schools, noted the concept but said, "We have to get our public schools squared away first."

Proctor was asked about a comment a former school superintendent made about the city needing a $20 million capital-improvement project to address reversing the wear-and-tear of time on school buildings. She said City Council, which approves all school-related capital projects, needs to be "educated" further on what the needs are before they vote, and that falls on School Board and school administration making sure it is clear where the dollars are going.

"You certainly can't have a bake sale to fix that," she said.

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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 Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg councilors pass on participating in online candidate forum