VIRGINIA BEACH

Mayor Meyera Oberndorf defended her style and record Thursday in an effort to hang on to the job she's had for 20 years.

The three other candidates running for mayor this election season have blamed Oberndorf for a leadership void in Virginia Beach.

Oberndorf told audiences at two forums that as mayor she has been an "ambassador," traveling to Germany and Israel to lure businesses to Virginia Beach. She said she also helps set policy and tries to support and nurture community groups.

"Even if we're the largest city in the commonwealth, we have a small-town heart," said Obern-dorf, who is known for reading to classrooms and attending ribbon cuttings.

Will Sessoms, a bank president and the former vice mayor, said that if he is elected to the top post, "it might be a touch different."

At a roundtable Thursday at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Sessoms argued that too many important issues have been delegated to other council members.

The mayor needs to be the city's representative on boards such as the transportation authority and should always have been the primary contact with the Navy, he said.

When the federal government considered moving Oceana Naval Air Station out of Virginia Beach in 2005, two junior councilmen were liaisons to the Navy, Sessoms said.

"You can't tell me it wouldn't have been better for her to be there when the issues came up," Sessoms said.

Oberndorf said she met with Navy officials at every opportunity to try and protect Oceana. She is now the liaison to military groups, but she said that the mayor needs to delegate and allow other council members to participate.

At a forum Thursday night at Bayside High School, former Navy SEAL Scott Taylor argued that he would be better suited for the mayor's job because as a newcomer he would bring fresh ideas.

Taylor also said he has the time to devote to attending board meetings and reaching out to the community.

At the earlier forum, Taylor attacked Sessoms for missing some forums and said he should resign from TowneBank if elected.

"I disagree with Will that he has the time to be mayor," Taylor said.

People shouldn't be excluded from being mayor because they have a full-time job or aren't independently wealthy, Sessoms said.

He acknowledged that he wouldn't be able to accept every invitation to read at a school or throw out the first pitch at all youth baseball games. If elected mayor, his priorities would be to attend events and board meetings that involve economic development, transportation and Oceana, Sessoms said.

John Moss, a former councilman who is also running for mayor, said Virginia Beach's charter doesn't encourage a strong-mayor form of government. But the mayor needs to build consensus and go into the community and advocate for issues, such as spending more money on roads. That's been lacking, Moss said.

"Leadership takes risk," he said.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com