Clergyman appointed to Portsmouth City Council

PORTSMOUTH

The City Council chose Bishop Curtis E. Edmonds Sr. on Tuesday to take former Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas' vacant seat, giving him a year long appointment to the city's seven-member governing body after a brief selection process.

Council members and Mayor Kenny Wright, who was elected last week, had discussed the decision in a closed meeting Monday night. They did not conduct public interviews as other cities have done recently, and at the beginning of their regular meeting Tuesday they were ready to appoint Edmonds by a 6-0 vote.

Edmonds immediately took the oath of office, spoke to the audience and took his seat with the other members. "I believe that the city of Portsmouth is going to blossom to be one of the great shining stars, like it's never been seen before," he told the crowd. "To God be the glory for this council."

Edmonds, a Portsmouth native, has been a pastor at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church since 1992. He helped build the congregation there from a few hundred members to more than 2,000, created more than 40 ministries and led St. Mark into a new multi million-dollar church and banquet facility, called The Edmonds Center, the church website says.

His council appointment will last until a special election Nov. 8, 2011. Chief Circuit Judge James C. Hawks set the date last week, passing up more expensive alternatives to hold it this winter or early next spring.

Edmonds, 61, said he did not know if he would run to keep the seat. He has never run for public office before but said he was interested in the position because of the opportunity it provided to address problems in the city.

"Sometimes you can't change a system from the outside," he said.

Psimas was in the middle of her second four-year term when she decided to give up her seat to run for mayor. The mayoral race was itself a special election, held to fill the office that James W. Holley III vacated when voters recalled him this summer.

Wright defeated Psimas and four others last week. He gets to serve the last 20 months of Holley's term.

The winner of the special election for Psimas' seat will serve until the end of her term, June 30, 2012.

Psimas said she didn't see herself going through all the planning and expense of campaigning for the special election with such a short term at stake. She said she would be more interested if the city moves local elections from May to November before then, because that change would likely extend the term for several months.

Otherwise, she said she would likely wait until the next regular election for the seat - if she decides to run.

The city councils in Norfolk and Virginia Beach both publicly interviewed candidates for appointments when they had vacancies to fill this year. Portsmouth City Council members also publicly interviewed finalists for an interim mayoral appointment this summer after initially saying the process would be closed.

Edmonds will have a vote in the city's budget discussions next spring, among other decisions. He has three degrees, including a bachelor's in sociology from Norfolk State University and a doctor of ministry from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

He graduated from I.C. Norcom High School and served in Vietnam during four years with the Air Force. He worked at Norfolk Naval Shipyard while beginning his ministry and earning his degrees and raised two sons with his wife, Evelyn.

Dave Forster, (757) 446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com