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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hopewell commonwealth's attorney finds legal fault with council's firing of city manager
As dust continues to stir on last week's firing of Hopewell's city manager and city clerk, the city's top prosecutor warned in a letter to City Council that the motion to terminate Dr. Concetta Manker may have been made improperly, and because it was, Manker should still be in office. Citing Rule 36 of Robert's Rule of Order, Commonwealth's Attorney Rick Newman said the motion made at the May 1 meeting did not follow the direction about either the time frame for making the order or the authenticity of the motion made by Ward 4 Councilor Ronnie Ellis. According to the code, which Hopewell follows for the conduct of its meetings, Ellis should have been disqualified from making the motion to reconsider because he did not take part in the original vote on Feb. 13 to oust her. Ellis walked out of that meeting, and the final vote was a 3-3 tie allowing Manker to keep her job. Newman's opinion is the latest in council's controversial decisions to oust Manker and City Clerk Brittani Williams without cause. The separate 4-3 votes fell along council's racial lines and prompted loud charges of racism since the votes to terminate were made by white councilors and did not specify reasons. Addressing reconsideration motions, Robert's 36th rule of order spells out the following about reconsideration motions: "It can be made only on the day the vote to be reconsidered was taken, or on the next succeeding day, a legal holiday or a recess not being counted as a day." The governance code also says the motion "must be made by one who voted with the prevailing side." In tie votes, the motion can be reconsidered, but it still must follow the rule's time and member restrictions, Newman said. In a tie vote, anyone on either side can ask for reconsideration. "Councilor Ellis was not qualified to make the Motion to Reconsider,' he stated in his message. 'Councilor Ellis left the meeting before the original motion and vote to terminate was made. 'In my opinion, the matter taken up concerning the city manager was untimely, made by an improper party, and therefore illegal,' the message read. 'It would be my further opinion that Dr. Manker is still the City Manager because your actions are null and void.' City Attorney Anthony Bessette, who attended the May 1 meeting, was not asked to, nor did he interject, to offer his opinion about Robert's Rule of Order. 'What I am most concerned about is that while I understand you may be trying to change the course of this great city, I feel that your actions have accomplished nothing more than placing another arrow in Dr. Manker's quiver to sue the city as well as each of you individually,' Newman's message concluded. Richmond man faces murder, gun charges in the shooting death of a Petersburg woman in Hopewell Newman's letter was the third of a series he has written to council about firing council-appointed employees such as Manker or Williams. The first was prior to the February meeting when Newman recommended that Ellis, Vice Mayor and Ward 7 Councilor Dominic Holloway recuse themselves from motions to fire Manker because of conflict-of-interest issues. Ellis should not vote, Newman said, because he is a city employee as well as a councilor, and any action could be construed that he was acting as the 'boss' of Manker who in turn is the supervisor of all city employees. Joyner and Holloway were recommended to not take part because at the time, Manker had filed official complaints against them. The second message was sent April 30, the day before the meeting in which Manker and Williams were fired. In it, Newman warned against the possibility of Ellis making the motion to reconsider because 'I feel certain that Councilor Ellis would have a conflict of interest. He asked council to postpone the meeting until he could get a requested opinion from state Attorney General Jason Miyares about Ellis' issue. Newman said by law, he was bound to enforce Virginia's conflict-of-interest laws, the violation of which is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and could result in Ellis' removal for malfeasance in office and a $250 fine. 'As you can see, violating the conflict-of-interest statutes has severe consequences,' he wrote, and I don't want anyone to run afoul of the law.' As of Monday, all councilors who voted to fire Manker and Williams – Ellis, Joyner, Mayor Johnny Partin Jr and Ward 5 Councilor Susan Daye – have maintained public silence about the decision. Partin told The Progress-Index after the May 1 meeting nothing would be said because the terminations are a protected personnel issue. At that same meeting – after the Black councilors left the dais – council chose Michael Rogers as interim city manager. Rogers, an employee of the advisory firm Rober Bobb Group, is a former interim city manager in Charlottesville and also worked in Petersburg. No interim was named to fill Williams' spot. Instead, deputy clerk Sade' Allen will run the office until a replacement is named. In the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget council is deliberating now, Allen's position will be unfunded. That means that as of July 1, 2025, the deputy clerk position will be eliminated. Cops: Woman killed Saturday in Hopewell's Thomas Rolfe Court area had 'apparent head trauma' One of the core issues for the public upheaval over Manker's and Williams' firings hinges on the point of 'termination without cause.' To terminate without cause means that the employee is being let go for reasons unrelated to their work performance as long as there is no wrongdoing or employee misconduct. Virginia is one of several 'work at-will" states where an employer can let an employee go without specifying a reason, and that can also apply to workers in the public sector, according to the state code. However, any employee who signs a contract with a governing body may have an 'out' from the at-will requirement if the contract specifies specific terms of employment. The Progress-Index has requested copies of Manker's and Williams' contract through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Both Manker and Williams maintain they were never given any formal annual evaluations of their performances by council. Williams said at the May 1 meeting that she has received numerous positive emails from council members complimenting her for the job. 'So, I got this office in shape so y'all could bring someone else in?' Williams angrily asked at the meeting. She got no response. Hopewell new restaurant: Authentic Mexican, Central American, Italian cuisines, view video Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell commonwealth's attorney opines about city manager firing
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Decline to opine: Virginia attorney general will not weigh in on Hopewell firings issue
Virginia's attorney general will not intervene in the question of whether a Hopewell city councilor's vote to fire the city manager earlier this month represented a conflict-of-interest because he is a city employee. Hopewell Commonwealth's Attorney Rick Newman confirmed last week that Attorney General Jason Miyares would not offer an opinion on the vote by Ward 4 Councilor Ronnie Ellis. Newman had asked council to delay any action on the future of Dr. Concetta Manker until Miyares could opine on Ellis' ability to vote. A spokesperson for Miyares neither confirmed nor denied there was any action on Newman's request. 'We receive many requests for opinions, and there are numerous grounds upon which we will decline to issue a formal opinion in response,' Shaun Kenney said in an email last week to The Progress-Index. 'We do not comment on specific requests.' According to Virginia law, local prosecutors are one of several Virginia officials permitted to ask for opinions from the attorney general. More: Hopewell commonwealth's attorney finds legal fault with council's firing of city manager Newman had said he thought Ellis – a battalion chief with the Hopewell Fire Department – would be in conflict because of his day job. As the department's second-in-command, Ellis could be called upon at any time to step in for the fire chief who is traditionally appointed by the city manager. Because of that possibility, he still could be considered as a direct report to the city manager. Ellis did not take part in the first effort last February to oust Manker, which failed on a 3-3 vote. However, on May 1, Ellis made the motion to reconsider the termination, which appears to violate Rule 36 of Robert's Rules of Order that only persons who voted on the prevailing side (or any side in the matter of a tie vote) could make the motion. Ellis made the motion May 1 to reconsider the termination and also joined three others on council in the 4-3 vote that let not only Manker go but also fired Brittani Williams as city clerk without cause. Rule 36 also says that any vote reconsideration can happen 'only on the day the vote to be reconsidered was taken, or on the next succeeding day, a legal holiday or a recess not being counted as a day.' Two-and-a-half months passed between the first vote and the reconsideration. The move has generated a great deal of blowback from citizens and some councilors for what they say are an underlying racist tone of the vote – Manker and Williams are Black; Ellis, Mayor Johnny Partin Jr., Vice Mayor Rita Joyner and Ward 5 Councilor Susan Daye are White. More: Tempers, tensions, racism, lawsuits dot Hopewell City Council agenda. How it played out Manker and Williams are expected to file lawsuits over the firings. Ward 7 Councilor Dominic Holloway has also vowed to bring court action. Two protests over the decision were held last week in front of the Municipal Building in downtown Hopewell. One of the groups who protested – the Virginia Party for Socialism & Liberation, whose presence startled many in this somewhat conservative city – is planning another rally May 27 to coincide with the next Hopewell City Council meeting. Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia attorney general stays out of Hopewell firing decision
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hopewell council's marathon closed session fails to oust city manager from her position
HOPEWELL – A move to fire City Manager Concetta Manker failed on a tie vote Wednesday night after one City Councilor, apparently tired from the marathon closed session that preceded the action, walked out of the city council chambers without voting. The 3-3 vote fell strictly along racial lines. Councilors Michael Harris, Yolanda Wyche Stokes and Dominic Holloway – all Black members – supported keeping Manker, who is Black. Mayor Johnny Partin, Vice Mayor Rita Joyner and Councilor Susan Daye voted in favor of termination. Ward 4 Councilor Ronnie Ellis, a battalion chief with the Hopewell Fire Department, left the chambers without voting. Had he cast a ballot, his vote could have been considered a conflict-of-interest because of his city employment. More: Hopewell council asks for clarity from city attorney on treasurer's office duties Tensions hung heavy over the council chambers almost from the start of the meeting and only intensified as the night wore on. Raised voices could be heard coming from the off-chambers meeting room, and after more than two and a half hours behind the door, councilors emerged to cast a quick and terse unanimous vote to go back into closed session until the issue was resolved. Shortly before the meeting was to hit its four-hour mark, councilors returned to the dais. Ellis gathered his belongings and walked out of the chamber under the glowering stare of Partin. Once Ellis was gone, Partin asked for a motion to terminate Manker 'without cause' and offer her a six-month severance package plus benefits instead of the 12-month clause that was in her original contract. Before the vote was taken, Holloway indicated he was ready to vote but not before insinuating that some of his colleagues had already made up their minds to get rid of Manker before the meeting. 'Even in deciding personally for myself, I still feel there were certain decisions made and brought up in discussion before coming to this council meeting,' he said. Following the meeting, Partin refused to comment on the decision. Asked if there were any specific issues that led to the motion or if council would consider revisiting the matter at a later date, he replied to both questions, 'I can't comment on that because it's a personnel matter.' Other councilors left the meeting without commenting, either. Harris and Stokes took part in the meeting remotely. Manker, who did not attend the meeting due to illness, told The Progress-Index she 'was not provided the courtesy to be told' in advance that her contract and possible termination were the reasons for the special meeting. More: Pharrell Williams musical 'Golden' about his life canceled, filmed partly in Hopewell Manker, Hopewell's former information technology director, has been city manager in Hopewell since 2022, the first 11 months as interim after March Altman left to take the Petersburg city manager's job. She faced criticism from some on council for the way she managed the yearlong $3 million contract with the Robert Bobb Group to reboot Hopewell's flailing fiscal-management system and the back-and-forth with city treasurer Shannon Foskey over a plan to transfer accounting duties from Foskey's office to the Hopewell finance department. That led to a standoff between Foskey and the city where Foskey blocked Hopewell's access to its bank accounts and only reinstated it after council and administration forced her hand. Foskey wound up being arrested on an embezzlement charge for blocking the access, but some on council claimed Manker overstepped her authority and sought the criminal charge without council signing off on it. Manker also has faced criticism from Joyner, the vice mayor and one of three votes in 2023 to not give Manker the job full-time. Joyner publicly questioned Manker's ability to perform as city manager without any prior municipal administration experience, and she also sent an email – a copy of which was obtained by The Progress-Index through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act – telling a constituent she hoped to garner enough support from the three people elected to council last November to push for Manker's ouster. Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell City Council fails to fire city manager Concetta Manker
