The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Meyera Oberndorf’s two-decade reign as mayor came to an end Tuesday.
At a press conference in Virginia Beach on Wednesday afternoon, Oberndorf conceded the race to challenger Will Sessoms.
With all but the absentee ballots counted, Oberndorf was down 10,000 votes to Will Sessoms. Oberndorf said earlier in the morning that she wanted all the votes counted.
City elections officials counted the votes through the night and with 94 of 95 precincts reporting this morning, results indicated voters had ushered her out in favor of bank president Will Sessoms, who amassed a record-breaking war chest and used it to offset Oberndorf’s almost universal name recognition. Absentee ballots will be counted today.
“I’m humbled by the numbers,” Sessoms said during a celebration at Chester’s Upper Deck Restaurant at the Oceanfront. “I’ve had a lot of hard work from a lot of friends who have stepped up, and you’re seeing the results of that tonight.”
Oberndorf, who started her political career as a member of the library board, sat quietly in a corner of Guadalajara Restaurant at Town Center as poll workers and her husband, Roger, gave her results as they were sporadically updated.
During the campaign, Sessoms, a former vice mayor, emphasized his business background and convinced voters that the city needed new leadership.
He raised about $603,000 to Oberndorf’s $85,000. Sessoms used his seven-fold edge to buy a slew of television advertisements and blanket the city with campaign signs. Sessoms gathered significant support from the business community.
Candidate John Moss, a former member of the City Council, leader of the Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance and a critic of the city’s fiscal policies, tried to appeal to conservatives. He pushed for reduced spending and lower residential taxes.
Scott Taylor, a former Navy SEAL making his first bid for office, targeted new voters and those with ties to the military.
Over the course of the past two months, the candidates attended dozens of forums and debated issues, such as taxes, economic development, light rail and education.
The move of the election from May to November brought in an avalanche of new voters and raised new concerns. Political activists and candidates predicted it would be difficult to keep party politics out of local races when local ballots are shared with national and state partisan campaigns.
Pilot writer Shawn Day contributed to this report.
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com
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VB polices efforts are defiantly racially motivated . Do your homework it’s obvious to anyone with a brain. They can’t or don’t arrest the minorities who break the law because they have to keep their numbers in line with the population. They have been operating under a consent decree Dept of Justice because of discrimination..Instead they harass, intimidate, call them terrible names and anything else they feel like that will discourage their presence at the oceanfront. The City doesn’t allow events they would attend..Denys licenses to businesses if the owner applying is black or if they are going to attract black patrons and close the establishments they frequent. They turn off or cover up there police cameras and beat them……I’m not a minority But I see it all the time..It’s wrong and disgusting…One day it could be you and you’ll deserve it for not standing up for others
Meyera Rolling Over
Meyera you will always be Ambassader of our City. You don’t need Sessoms and Spore’s Permission…
If you let them Bully and Exploit the people of our City with tactics like the Phony fliers…
You are as guilty as them and there self serving politics….
The integrity you’ve displayed representing the people and 20 years of hard work will be for nothing…I will boo you at every event and opportunity.
Don’t roll over for the good ole boys after 20 years…Not if you want to be a true pioneer…Neither party will claim him and are City deserves to know the truth and be represented….
The System Works
You say that we are..."taxed at property values far above what they are worth." The fact is, we were taxed on values that were supported by the market, otherwise, the values would not have gone that high. An independent consultant studied our process and found that the Assessor got the values right. If you challenged your assessment, that is the safety valve open to any citizen who thinks in their case the system was inequitable. That's how the system is supposed to work. Now, of course, values are flat or in some cases, decreasing, but the remarkable fact is that in most subdivisions at the Beach, sales values are holding fairly steady meaning the residential tax base will likely still increase, but clearly not at the rate it had increased in the last six or seven years. Our current system is balanced, fair, and equitable. All classes of real property pay exactly the same rate; that is, $0.89 per $100 of assessed value. The system works.
Let him do your loan but Mayor?
King of the jungle do you read the paper or just spread your knowledge…Meyra is a democrat and was criticized publicly for supporting Obama by republican Sessoms. Who said he supported McCain up to and on Election Day while the flyers where being distributed. They where lies and didn’t have the proper disclosures...Sessoms stated they were paid for by an anonymous donor…I’m not a Meyera fan or a Moss fan. But this man lacks morals and integrity…Look at the flyer yourself and if you’re not disgusted. Let him do your next loan and just sign it no need to read it. He’s trustworthy It’s just legal mumbo jumbo. Bait & Switch why would we expect less from a banker … …http://hamptonroads.com/node/486773 He did not win Fair and Square like you say..And should not be allowed to represent the people he exploited.
It's About Time
C'mon folks....she should have left years ago. I have watched this city go entirely "tourist" since she came about. More taxes for us, poor city management, and the raping of our beautiful city's trees are only parts of the big problem.Thanks for your service, but I am glad you are gone.
As far as Mr. Moss is concerned..I voted for him. He stands for the abuse we are all under for being taxed at property values far above what they are worth. Dispute your property value assessments...the monkeys in that office are in a dreamland and you can win. They have NO idea what your property is worth. I challenged them and won.
Good job, Mrs. Oberndorf!
I will never forget the 18 years we lived under Mrs. Oberndorf's tenure here--she was the city cheerleader but so very much more. The person who compared her to Sessoms as a homemaker to a banker must not know Mrs. Oberndorf, first of all, and must have all kinds of issues with his wife and/or mother secondly. Whatever background made her the way she is, Mrs. Oberndorf is made of great stuff!
I will support Mr. Sessoms as my mayor but keep my antennae up for further dirty tricks. Mrs. Oberndorf herself was an Obama supporter, but she didn't have flyers made to try to imply a connection between them. Anyone who hit the mainly black precincts with such flyers about Mr. Sessoms is a racist because that person assumed the blacks at the precincts would not see through the ruse. I would feel mightily used if I were a black person who received a flyer like that--Mr. Sessoms would never receive my vote again (if he got it this time).
Sessoms is not a MAN...
Mike, I agree on most points. It's not a Tax problem its an assessment problem. I do think Taylor's plan to drop the tax rate until the assessments line up is something that should be looked into. The assessments run about 18 months behind. As to kingofjungle's comments, the problem is Will LIED. He is a republican, he attacked Myra for supporting Obama. His paid workers in Sessoms shirts handed out a fliers that suggested he and Obama were working together. I talked to the workers handing them out first hand and they said they were being paid by the Sessoms Camp. Why didn't Will hand them out at the ocean front? Why did they only go to black voting centers? I really feel it was a shady and dirty move by the Sessoms camp. Be a man and stick to your values. Will Sessoms proved he is not a man. Should it go to court? I am not sure. Should we remind the voters and Republican party about this when possible? YES!!! Should Obama's camp know about it and take legal action if they wish? YES!!! However that's Sessoms issue, not a council issue. Let's be happy MEN like Davis got in to help move this city in the direction we all know it can go. Just keep an eye on Will!
I am a life long resident of
I am a life long resident of Virginia Beach- and everyone that I personally talk to has been ready for her to be out of office 10 years ago.
On another note, she has been there 20 years, thank you for your service and time, but its time for a change.
New mayor
Congratulations! I am hoping you can make a difference.
EMS
Now that Myera is out of there, can VaBeach finally get a paid EMS service? A city with 450,000 people should not have to rely on volunteers, not with all of the taxes you pay. Much smaller cities, ones as small as Franklin, have paid EMS service, so why can't VaBeach??
The citizens deserve it.