Paul Battle is a candidate for Portsmouth City Council. His name will appear on the ballot on Nov. 8, 2022.
10 On Your Side reached out to all of the candidates running in this race. If you do not see a candidate listed with a profile, we did not receive one.
See who is on your ballot by viewing the candidate lists on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
Name: Paul Battle
Race: Portsmouth City Council
Biography: Paul Battle is a candidate running for re-election for Portsmouth City Council 2022.
Battle was born and raised in the city of Portsmouth and has lived here all his life.
Battle is a graduate of I. C. Norcom High School. He furthered his education and graduated with a B.S. degree in interdisciplinary studies from Norfolk State University. He is the prominent owner of Tranquility Manor Inc. Battle is licensed by the state to provide residential and day support services to individuals with intellectual disabilities. He is the proud husband of Kenyette Battle and they reside with their three beautiful daughters Jadis (15), Nadia (10), and Alora (7). He is also the father of three sons Leon, Paul III, and William. Battle is a respected figure in the community and has touched the lives of many families in the city of Portsmouth.
All in all, Battle is a well-qualified candidate, with his experiences he will continue to meet the challenges of being a City Council member. He is familiar with the history, the present, and, mostly importantly, the future and the needs of the citizens of this great city. Battle is a hardworking Portsmouth native, who loves his community and cares deeply about our city. Battle is running again to remain on City Council for four reasons: to support and fully fund Portsmouth School System; to promote economic development and ensure Portsmouth continues to be a business friendly city; to increase wages for city employees; and to ensure each community in Portsmouth is safe.
Battle has worked with the Recreation Department, Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, Behavioral Health Care Services, and Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority. During, his tenure at the city of Portsmouth he also had the privilege of creating the yearly curriculum for Parks and Recreation.
While working in the Sheriff’s Department he was a deputy and took part in community policing at with the Police Department, as well. While working with the Portsmouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority it allowed him the experience of writing the first grant for Behavioral Health Care Services. In addition, he also had the opportunity to work on the Hope 6 Grant, which dealt with the demolition and revitalization of Jeffrey Wilson and Ida Barbour. Correspondingly, he participated in the development of the Empowerment Zone Grant that provided funding for the infrastructure of Victory Crossing.
Furthermore, Battle has been afforded the experience of being a member and serving the Mount Hermon Association for over 25 years, and the president of Cavalier Manor Little League Association six years. Battle supports all youth sports in the city of Portsmouth by purchasing uniforms, equipment, trophies, and travel to state tournaments.
Why should residents elect you to City Council?
As a citizen who loves my city, I am blessed with a great variety of experience having worked with the Portsmouth Recreation Department, Portsmouth Police Department, Portsmouth Sheriff’s Department, General Services, Community Services Board, and Portsmouth Redevelopment Housing Authority that validates my commitment to this great city.
I wrote and implemented recreational curriculums that are notable achievements that still remain in the Recreation Department. While working in the Portsmouth Police Department I played a vital role in the establishment of the First Community Relations organization. I was a deputy sheriff in the Portsmouth City Jail. While working in Portsmouth General Services I ordered parts for all motorized equipment. As a member of the Community Services Board I worked in substance abuse and behavioral health services. When I worked in Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority I wrote the main Hope 6 Grant bringing $26 million to our city for revitalization of Jeffrey Wilson and Ida Barbour housing areas and assisted in writing the Drug Elimination Grant.
As an entrepreneur, I have been in business for 30 years providing services for individuals with disabilities. I am a successful businessman with a minimum of 30 employees.
What are the top three priorities you would tackle if elected?
I pledge to continue to work hard to reduce crime and gun violence in our city. I will work diligently to rid ourselves of all types of crimes. We will continue our human resources to ensure everyone has the chance to grow and prosper to be productive citizens.
Increase economic development and make it work for all citizens. I will continue to work hard to ensure that the recent acquisition of the Rivers Casino, VA Gateway expansion, wind turbine addition, and all the economic impacts on our city be directed to reducing the taxes of our citizens to pre-COVID status.
I will continue to work toward increasing the wages of all city employees to be equivalent to city employees in the surrounding cities.
What is the most pressing economic issue facing your community, and how would you address it?
Newport Housing Development is strapped with excessive taxation through land deed options. Therefore, I would work to ensure adjacent properties are sold and the note on the land options is paid off in order to eliminate these excessive tax obligations. This will release and clear the CDA fees and help to eliminate the homeowners of the HOA fees.
What are your community’s biggest infrastructure needs, and how do you plan to fulfill them?
Our biggest infrastructure need is the city’s water supply. As a City Councilman I will ensure our water supply is safe, clean and will continue to be accessible to our citizens. Since I have been on city council we have approved $30 million of improvements and have approved an additional $30 million for the upcoming year. I will continue to work hard with the city manager to obtain as much funding as we can to improve and update our water system. Infrastructure funds are available and my calculations indicate that we could possibly add as much as $800 million for additional improvements to accomplish this goal.
How is gun violence impacting your community, and how do you plan to address gun violence?
Gun violence has been a huge burden that has bought tragedy and heartbreak to all in our community. We will continue to increase police community relations and use the integration of our audio visual and mechanical equipment to give us a greater advantage of solving our crimes. We will give our police force the best possible training that is available. We will continue to keep statistics in order to make us aware of our successes and failures with the goal of constant improvement.
