Portsmouth mayor's former assistant seeks amends

PORTSMOUTH

Mayor James Holley's former secretary is seeking compensation for abuse she has received from the city, her attorney said Thursday.

She "received substantial harm, because she was abused, treated improperly" Marcus Scriven said Thursday at a news conference in his Virginia Beach office.

Scriven said he has approached the City Council about finding a way to "make her whole and put her back to the status quo."

Scriven did not name his client, but city documents and officials have identified her as Lorraine Stokes. He would not go into specifics about what she is seeking, aside from continued employment.

"She respects the mayor for what he has done," Scriven said. "She respects what he has represented for the area in the past. And she's making no judgment about him today and what his future should be as mayor."

Holley, 82, has faced scrutiny since The Virginian-Pilot reported last week that the council fined him $2,500 following allegations of a pattern of mistreating his assistants and asking them to perform personal tasks for him.

Stokes wrote a letter to her supervisor that listed 44 personal tasks that she said he asked her to perform. They included calling T.J. Maxx stores to search for wooden shoe trees, canceling his subscription to Playboy magazine and searching for "a taser gun, geese repellent for his home use."

She also said he called her a "nobody" and threatened to fire her if she did not do the tasks. The mayor has denied that.

Scriven said Stokes never intended for Holley to be fined or asked to resign.

Stokes did not attend the news conference. Her father, retired minister James Hailes, and two brothers, Carl and Larry Hailes, did attend the conference, but did not speak.

Scriven said his client is dealing with the trauma of abuse and of her complaint being made public. He described her as a mother and grandmother who never intended to start a public fight with the mayor.

"She's not a public figure, she didn't try to be a public figure," he said. "She's not a politician, she didn't try to be a politician.

"She tried to be a citizen and employee of the city of Portsmouth and for some reason, she's now thrust onto the front pages of the media, on TV."

Scriven said his client was trying to help, not attack anyone, by submitting her memo confidentially to the City Clerk after earlier complaints had not resulted in any change.

She thought things might get better rather than worse, Scriven said.

"But we know what happened," he said.

She wanted to keep working for Holley, Scriven said, and learned that she had been reassigned after documents were provided to the media.

"My client doesn't know what that new position would be," Scriven said. "That was done during her absence, without her consent, without her knowledge."

Scriven said his client had already been out of the office for what he described as a legitimate purpose before the news broke, and has been on leave since.

Councilman Steve Heretick said Thursday that "she didn't do this. This wasn't a political assassination for her."

He said council members got involved only after earlier efforts to resolve the situation were unsuccessful.

Council members confronted the mayor about Stokes' list and Heretick said that Holley wanted to fire her. After that, he said, "we couldn't walk away from it."

"In some ways, I think she's become the catalyst for a much larger discussion," Heretick said.

The councilman said he has always had a high regard for Stokes, her attitude and the job she does.

Heretick said public officials face a different type of accountability.

"Conduct like this by an elected public official, if not newsworthy, is at least noteworthy," he said.

He said he doesn't see any issue with Stokes getting a similar job with the same responsibilities and salary.

"I hope we find her a better boss."

Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com