Portsmouth has paid nearly $900,000 in severance to departing employees over last 5 years
PORTSMOUTH — Around a dozen city leaders and employees in Portsmouth have collectively received almost $900,000 in severance payouts after parting ways with the city over the last five years.
Portsmouth has recently seen high turnover in top positions, including three city managers and four police chiefs over the past four years, in addition to shakeups in the city assessor’s office.
Records obtained by The Virginian-Pilot from a Freedom of Information Act request revealed Portsmouth has authorized $896,318 in severance payouts to 11 top city employees who have parted ways with the city since 2019. Two city officials received severance twice after leaving city government and then returning to it.
In a city weary of high turnover, residents often voice concern about the fiscal impact and perceived instability, sometimes deeming city leadership a “revolving door.” But leaders say severance agreements can also benefit a city situated in a region where surrounding municipalities frequently try to lure top talent away from each other.
“It’s a political arena,” said former Interim City Manager Mimi Terry, who held the position before council appointed a new manager in March. “So anytime you get a new council where the majority can make the determination of who comes and goes, you put that person’s career in limbo. And so, unfortunately, Portsmouth happens to be one of those organizations or municipalities that has a revolving door as it relates to the executive level staff. But it’s not uncommon to have a severance for anybody, whether you’re in corporate America or local government.”
Terry is among the former city employees who has received multiple severance payments. Across two departures as interim city manager and deputy city manager, Terry is receiving two payouts that amount to $153,435.
In Portsmouth, city policy as of May 2023 authorizes the city manager to offer severance agreements to department heads and deputy city managers, though it’s ultimately up to the manager’s discretion. Employees who are terminated with cause, however, aren’t entitled to severance.
New Portsmouth City Manager Steven Carter said he doesn’t have any comment on the city’s past practice of granting severance agreements. But he noted comprehensive benefits packages can be a valuable tool when cities are competing for talent, especially department heads and deputy city managers.
“Therefore, I foresee this continuing to be a benefit evaluated on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
There are some limits dictated by city policy, however. Severance can’t exceed more than 12 weeks of the employee’s salary and doesn’t extend to health or retirement benefits. The source of funding from the city’s budget for the severance must be identified, and severance must be coordinated with the city attorney’s office to ensure it is only granted if the employee is terminated without cause.
Mayor Shannon Glover said high turnover and instability in leadership can affect Portsmouth’s financial standing, such as lowering the city’s credit ratings. Being good stewards of taxpayer money, he said, starts with City Council but includes city leaders dedicated to hiring competent, professional staff.
“First of all, it has to start with city leaders in the government, the mayor and council. And if you look at what has happened, we have not been consistent as a council in keeping stable leadership,” Glover said. “It affects the morale and the people that work under those leaders. And all of that trickles down to the services and what is provided and what takes place for our citizens.”
The city manager is one of several positions the City Council appoints, in addition to the city’s attorney, auditor, assessor and clerk. In those cases, the council’s personnel committee primarily handles negotiations and severance agreements.
Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke, who is on the council’s personnel committee, agreed that leadership decisions begin with a “cohesive” council working together to build consensus.
Carter’s contract stipulates that he’s entitled to a full year of salary as severance if fired without cause, which would be $255,000. Carter, who was appointed on a 4-3 vote in March, noted in April that “we have to agree that we are not adversaries.”
“I am fully aware that the vote for my appointment was not unanimous,” Carter said at the oath of office ceremony last spring. “However, I am encouraged by the commitment of all seven (council) members who have pledged to work with me to make Portsmouth all that it can be.”
Terry is one of two city leaders drawing two pots of severance money. Her most recent stint was about 14 months as interim city manager before Carter’s appointment. She was chief financial officer in 2020 and also served as interim city manager when the council terminated Angel Jones.
Former Deputy City Manager Demetrice Wright, who also served a stint as human resources director, is also drawing two severance payouts of $81,375 and $49,791 after her last departure this year. Terry said she and Wright were two of the handful of employees terminated during then-City Manager Tonya Chapman’s six-month tenure in 2022.
Terry brought Wright back in 2023 to serve as her deputy, given Wright’s background and knowledge of the city. Terry said she let Wright go after learning council was not going to hire her as the permanent city manager. Terry described the move as one meant to protect Wright from future retaliation.
Wright could not be reached for comment.
Also during Terry’s tenure, the city lost then-Deputy City Manager and Planning Director Robert Baldwin, who was entitled to $80,759 of severance after nearly a decade working for the city. Baldwin did not respond to a request for comment. Terry declined to provide details on why Baldwin parted ways with the city.
For employees without a severance agreement, city policy allows some authority to negotiate a payout when the employee is being terminated. Terry said that discretion is useful in an at-will employment state, particularly if someone is being terminated for no apparent reason.
“People didn’t really want to step into these executive level positions with the understanding that Portsmouth has a revolving door,” Terry said. “How are you going to get anything done if people don’t want to work in those positions at the thought of ‘the city manager’s gonna get fired, then I’m gonna get fired.'”
The biggest payouts have gone to former City Attorney Solomon Ashby and former City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton, who both were entitled to almost $133,500 after their nearly simultaneous departures in 2020 amid protests and controversy over criminal charges filed in the vandalism of a Confederate monument.
Amid the fallout, Patton resigned hours before she was seemingly poised to be fired and months before she was set to retire. Ashby, meanwhile, was fired.
Patton had been manager since 2015. She returned to the city this year after City Council voted to have her serve for about a month as interim city manager through the Berkley Group, a consulting firm, to help with the transition as the city awaited its new manager. The city agreed to pay Patton $210 an hour. She has since taken on an interim role with Roanoke city government with a similar arrangement through Berkley Group, according to Cardinal News.
Neither Ashby nor Patton returned calls seeking comment.
Patton also made her mark during her short stint back in Portsmouth this year by getting rid of a few city employees before Carter took the reins, with one drawing a severance as a result. Former Deputy City Manager Vernell Woods received a severance of $13,077. He previously said it was Terry who convinced him to make the move to Portsmouth after more than 30 years of city government experience in Norfolk and Newport News.
Another notable departure was Jones, who was fired in May 2022 in a divided and heated council vote. Jones was granted a severance of $103,000, but she also sued the city for wrongful termination and made other explosive allegations in a lawsuit that has since been dismissed.
Jones could not be reached for comment.
Former Police Chief Renado Prince was fired by Chapman in 2022, entitling him to $77,500 in severance. He’s since returned as assistant chief. Prince could not be reached for comment.
Because Chapman was fired with cause in January 2023, she didn’t receive any severance, though she tried. She could not be reached for comment.
Other former employees who collected severance payments over the last five years include:
Kathryn Crocker, former assistant Human Resources director, $27,319.
Thomas Stallings, former General Services director, $10,803.
Deanna Valentine, former Social Services director, $32,347.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
