PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Portsmouth’s new city manager will have to wait to start working.
Former Portsmouth Police Chief Tonya Chapman, now the new city manager, was expected to start Tuesday, June 28, however, her start date has been pushed back.
The reason for the delay is the unfinished background check on Chapman, according to Portsmouth City Council members.
In a 4-3 vote Tuesday evening, city council assigned Chapman’s start date to June 30.
City council voted to appoint Chapman to be the next city manager on June 14, two weeks after a previous attempt to appoint her failed.
Chapman will receive the same yearly pay as the former city manager: $200,000.
Chapman’s appointment follows the ousting of the previous city manager, Angel Jones. Jones was fired by a close 4-3 City Council vote after a contentious exchange between council members on May 24. Members voting to fire her included Vice Mayor De’Andre Barnes, Councilman Paul Battle, Dr. Mark Whitaker, and Councilman Christopher Woodard.
Her tenure with the city was fraught with challenges and controversy before resigning as chief in 2019 after three years of leading the force. Chapman was then appointed as Chair of the Virginia Parole Board by former Gov. Ralph Northam. Controversy also followed her there.
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