Tina Vick is a candidate for Newport News Mayor. Her 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 the 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: Tina Vick
Race: Newport News Mayor
Website: Tina Vick for Mayor
Biography: Tina L. Vick was born and raised in Newport News in the Southeast Community. She was educated in the public school system and graduated from Homer L. Ferguson High School in 1980 and went on to receive her bachelor of science degree in communications in 1984 from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2011, she attended the Alpha College of Real Estate and became a licensed real estate agent. She is currently owner and principal real estate broker of Tina L. Vick Realty, LLC. Vick has a daughter and a son, Teunsha and Terrance Vick, and grandsons, Shamar, Tyree, and Tyson.
Since being elected to office in July 2008, she has led the efforts to obtain two new housing complexes in the South District: the Noland Green Apartments, 60 adaptive reuse units for mixed income families, and also the Heritage Forest, 248 newly constructed apartments.
Vick is chair of the consortium for the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. In 2008, she pushed to form a committee to employ 150 youth in Newport News with the summer youth employment funding from President Obama. She was tired of the future site of MLK Plaza sign in her district, and encouraged council to build the plaza. It was completed in 2010. Also in 2010, Vick was the lead advocate for summer jobs for low-income youth in her district. During the summer job program, 1,500 youth, ages 16 to 24, were employed through the Summer Training and Employment Program.
She has truly worked to serve the citizens in her district. Vick has worked to bring the first Walmart to her district, a district that has for years been underserved and, most recently, a newly-built full grocery store to a food desert in her district. Her advocacy for investment in an underserved area has led to millions of dollars in city revenue for retail and co-working space, infrastructure improvements, including underground utilities and new streetscape designs, as well as increased economic development.
Vick is featured in publications such as Virginia’s Resource Journal, the Daily Press, MyTime Magazine for Women, the New Journal and Guide, and the Hampton Roads Voice. She recently became the founder and CEO of Girls Camp for teenage girls, ages 13 to 18, in Newport News to assist young girls in low-income neighborhoods with decision making, teen pregnancy, and drug prevention, under her non-profit, Women’s Empowerment Development, Inc.
The Honorable Councilwoman Vick was re-elected for her fourth term in office in 2020, and was voted by her colleagues to serve as the vice mayor for two terms (2016-2020). She is the author of her first book, “Growing Up Vick, the Strength and Resilience of the Vick Family.” Vick was recently featured on the national television show, “ESPN 30 for 30, Vick,” a documentary about former NFL superstar quarterback Michael Vick, who is her nephew.
Why should residents elect you to be mayor?
Newport News residents should elect me as mayor because the citizens deserve a mayor that is experienced in getting things done and can get things done. For the last 14 years, I have worked effectively with council members and the community, and in 2016 and 2018 my city council colleagues voted for me to serve as the vice mayor.
My years of experience on the city council, as well as my role as the vice mayor for four years, qualifies me to serve as the next mayor. As the vice mayor, my specific role was to attend events, meetings and conduct the council meetings in the absence of the mayor. I was very successful at completing my obligations as the vice mayor. My years of working in leadership roles in the workplace and on various boards add to my qualification to serve as mayor.
What are the top three priorities you would tackle if elected?
My top three priorities when I become mayor are increasing COVID-19 recovery efforts, reducing gun violence, and aiding small businesses.
What is the most pressing economic issue facing your community, and how would you address it?
If elected as mayor, my top priority is to continue the recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The recovery includes re-building our local economy, particularly assisting small businesses and supporting our schools and teachers with their needs. Part of the plan includes re-building and re-defining our workforce and alleviating the housing needs, the mental health needs, and the crime that has exacerbated since the pandemic. I would solve these issues by continuing the work of our recovery that I have been a part of with this current administration. As mayor, I will take the lead in working with our state and federal officials, our neighboring cities, and our citizens to recover from these unprecedented times of the COVID-19. Since I already have a seat at the table, I am familiar with what is being done and can implement more.
What are your community’s biggest infrastructure needs, and how do you plan to fulfill them?
As a current councilwoman, I have supported efforts to improve our city’s infrastructure to include the removal of unsightly electrical wiring and leaning electrical poles in what is now called our Lower Jefferson Avenue Corridor. It has now been replaced with underground wiring and updated lamp posts, which makes it attractive for development. We have also replaced aging sewer lines throughout the city as well as infrastructure improvements in Oyster Point around our Tech Center. We also have a new bike trail along Chesapeake Avenue.
How is gun violence impacting your community, and how do you plan to address gun violence?
Gun violence negatively effects our community, and as the mayor I plan to support our amazing olice chief, Steve Drew, and excellent fire chief, Jeff Johnson, who have both committed to working together to create a strategy to decrease gun violence and keep our city safe.
I also want to implement “The Mayor’s Parenting Roundtable,” which will consist of parenting professionals, mental health professionals, and mothers and fathers, to find solutions to keep guns out of the hands of young people. So many recent stories have shown youth as young as 13 years old who possessed guns and were out as late as 2am. As a leader, this shows me that our parents need help.
Recently, residents were given a 48-hour notice to vacate the Seaview Lofts after its owner failed to fix a myriad of serious issues reflected in failed city code inspections. How would you tackle such housing issues going forward?
First and foremost, this situation with Seaview Lofts was sadly a lose-lose for everyone involved. It’s unfortunate that an apartment complex was allowed to get in such disrepair. Our current rules are more reactive to issues; however, as the mayor I plan to work with our city manager, city attorney, and codes to create a proactive plan to have five-year inspection on every apartment building throughout the city.
Do you have a plan to address parking and traffic near Newport News Shipbuilding?
As mayor, I plan to work with the shipyard executives, the U.S. Navy, the Newport News Development Department, and interested business owners to access if the creation of more high-rise parking lots is feasible.
