Portsmouth mayor apologizes; council seeks resignation

PORTSMOUTH

Six City Council members on Tuesday night voted to ask Mayor James W. Holley to retire - a nonbinding gesture that showed deep political damage from the mayor's latest controversy, stemming from his use of a city assistant for personal tasks.

Holley cast the sole vote against the motion.

The vote came even after Holley apologized to Portsmouth residents during a City Council session for the recent "distraction" caused by the controversy. In a speech before the council's vote, he insisted he would not resign.

"I'm not walking away from anything," Holley said, referring to an editorial in The Virginian-Pilot on Tuesday that called for him to step down. "I'm a statesman. I'll be here when the place goes down - I'm going down with it. When it goes up, I'm going up with it. All of that is predicated upon whether you want to keep me or not."

During a closed session before the public portion of the meeting, council members talked with the mayor about resigning, and he declined, according to Councilman Steve Heretick. He said Vice Mayor Bill Moody Jr. led the discussion. Heretick also said it ended quickly.

Holley, 82, took several minutes at a regularly scheduled meeting to say that he didn't want "the records to show that I deterred us coming together as a family." (Text of his statement or video.)

He pointed out that voters have recourse if they want to remove him from office, apparently referring to the possibility of a recall.

Holley knows that process well. In 1987, he became the first mayor in Virginia to be recalled - after being implicated in a hate-mail campaign.

After that, he worked to mend fences and was re-elected mayor in 1996.

The mayor has come under fire since The Pilot reported last week that the council fined him $2,500 for allegations of a pattern of mistreating his assistants and asking them to perform personal tasks for him.

"You did not acknowledge that you had done anything wrong and you did not show any intent to change your conduct," the council wrote in a letter admonishing the mayor.

The issue came to light after Holley's most recent assistant wrote a list of 44 personal tasks he asked her to do. Among them were: calling T.J. Maxx stores searching for wooden shoe trees, canceling his subscription to Playboy magazine and searching for "a taser gun, geese repellant for his home use," ordering tummy-control T-shirts and making calls and online inquiries for "turkey neck" cream. She also said he threatened to fire her if she did not do the tasks. The mayor has denied that.

Without referring specifically to the assistant's allegations, Holley said it was "probably a bad, bad decision that I made. I've been forgiven before, so I look forward to your forgiveness again."

Some residents spoke out during the meeting. Portsmouth resident James Dyson asked Holley to consider his decision not to resign, saying a recall would cost the city money. He told the mayor that a "silent majority out there" does not approve of some of his actions.

Even before the public meeting, Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas confirmed that she would like Holley to resign.

"His behavior has created too much of an embarrassment and a distraction to governing the city," Psimas said.

It was Moody who introduced a motion calling for the mayor to announce, and the council to accept, his immediate retirement from city service.

Moody read a statement from the council that said "recent events together with sustained questions of judgment" raise issues about Holley's leadership. "We have much left to accomplish and we must have the focus, the consistency and stability with which to move forward as a united community," it said. "Sadly, it is no longer possible under the mayor's leadership for reasons which have become clear to the entire community."

Moody said later the council has been notified that Holley's former assistant had retained a law firm regarding issues stemming from her city employment.

There will be a news conference for the media tomorrow at 2 p.m., said Marc Scriven, an attorney at Scriven Law Offices. Scriven said Holley’s former assistant is keeping her options open, but hopes to be able to resolve her issues with city management confidentially.

Afterward, Holley declined to comment on the calls for his resignation.

Heretick said the council drafted its statement after Holley "said he would apologize and didn't."

"This isn't a distraction from city business; it's a disgrace," Heretick said.

"The reality is we can't remove him from office, but we can say to him and the community that his leadership is no longer effective," Councilman Doug Smith said.

The controversy is only the mayor's most recent.

Last year, some were upset when Holley described the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center as a "white hotel" during public debate on the proposal by companies tied to Sen. Louise Lucas to build another hotel and conference center. He apologized.

In the spring of 2008, Holley won his fifth term as mayor, by 202 votes.

Pilot writer Janie Bryant contributed to this report.

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