Until about a year and a half ago, Chesapeake’s city council members seemed to get along just fine.
Votes on the governing body, which has a 7-2 Republican majority, almost always were unanimous. In fact, a review conducted by The Virginian-Pilot in November 2020 showed that in the previous two years, 94% of the council’s votes had been undivided.
All that began to change in the spring of 2021. That’s when a majority of council members refused to go along with a plan backed by Mayor Rick West to move City Council elections to odd-numbered years to align with state races, rather than the crowded federal contests.
The proposal, however, would have cut five council members’ terms short by about six months and given them just a few months to prepare for their next election. It was voted down 5-4, with all members whose terms would have been affected voting against it.
About six months later, the group’s harmony took another hit when the lawmakers clashed over how to fill a vacancy when Councilman Matt Hamel was elected commonwealth’s attorney.
Now, with 13 candidates vying for the five council seats up for election this year, the division has become even more pronounced.
While the election is nonpartisan, the majority of the City Council identifies as Republican and the fissures have divided longtime allies — and Republicans across Chesapeake — into two distinct political factions. Both sides have spoken out against council candidates favored by the opposing side as they fight for control of the governing body — with the battle lines on full display last month when a seemingly unrelated lawsuit was filed against one candidate.
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The lawsuit at the center of the dissension was filed against a GOP candidate supported by one side of the party, with the other side quickly speaking out against her.
Candidate Amanda Newins was sued in Chesapeake Circuit Court by her great aunt, who accused Newins of mistreating her and her husband, stealing tens of thousands of dollars from them, and improperly obtaining the deed to their house. Chesapeake police later confirmed they’re investigating the claims.
Newins, a local attorney and former prosecutor for the city, has denied any wrongdoing. Chesapeake Republican Party Chairman Nicholas Proffitt called into question the timing of the lawsuit. Proffitt also noted that an attorney involved in the case, Brad Brickhouse, is an ally of one of Newins’ political opponents — incumbent Councilwoman Susan Vitale.
The Virginian-Pilot was unable to reach Newins’ great aunt, Shirley B. Davis, for comment. But an attorney who represents her, Ashley Horbal, has said politics had nothing to do with the court filing, and that Davis just wants her home, possessions and money returned.
The lawsuit was filed Sept. 13, less than two months before Election Day. It’s already caused a seismic shift in the city’s political landscape. Within a week, a dozen prominent Chesapeake Republicans announced they no longer supported Newins. Among them was former Chesapeake mayor and Clerk of the Circuit Court Alan Krasnoff; Hamel, the newly elected commonwealth’s attorney; council members Steve Best, Don Carey and Robert Ike; the sheriff; treasurer; and five members of the school board.
Newins responded by saying the group had never supported her, and pointed to 20 other top Republicans who are still on her side. Among them is former Congressman Randy Forbes, state Sen. John Cosgrove, state Del. Jay Leftwich, the mayor, vice mayor, Councilwoman Debbie Ritter, the commissioner of the revenue, and three school board members. The group has argued Newins should be considered “innocent until proven guilty” of the claims against her.
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Stoking the flames even further: Some of Newins’ supporters learned Krasnoff — who served as mayor of Chesapeake from 2008 until he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court in 2017 — delivered a copy of the lawsuit, with some of the attached medical records, to Vice Mayor John de Triquet’s medical office a few days after it was filed. The two had worked closely together for many years on the council.
Krasnoff told The Pilot he took the information to de Triquet because he wanted to ensure the vice mayor was aware of the serious accusations Newins faced. The medical records were listed as sealed in the court file, but hadn’t been marked that way by a judge, he said. Davis’ attorneys said they never meant for them to be sealed.
“I was concerned he was being misled about the allegations of elder abuse,” Krasnoff said of his reason for taking the information to the vice mayor. “Dr. de Triquet told me he appreciated me sharing the information.”
The vice mayor, however, said once he saw medical records pertaining to Newins’ great uncle had been included, he immediately mailed the documents back to Krasnoff’s office, along with a letter stating his reasons for returning them. A doctor, de Triquet said he didn’t think it was appropriate to be looking at medical records that hadn’t been specifically sent to him.
When the packet from the vice mayor arrived at Circuit Court, it was stamped by a clerk, added to the file for the Newins’ case, and then later removed. Krasnoff said the information didn’t belong in the file and that’s why it was taken out. de Triquet said he never intended for it to be placed there, and described it as a personal letter to Krasnoff.
Newins’ supporters have argued the removal was a violation of a state law, which makes it illegal for a clerk to “fraudulently make a false entry, or erase, alter, secrete or destroy any record.” Some have called on Krasnoff to resign over the ordeal.
“This is the danger of putting political people in charge of professional offices,” said Dawn Matheson, a leader in the Chesapeake Republican party. “The offices soon start being run politically instead of professionally and they lose the trust of the people living in the community they are supposed to serve.”
Three lawyers and a former clerk of the Circuit Court contacted by The Pilot, however, said there was nothing illegal or improper with the letter being taken out.
“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” former Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Bryant said. “It never should have been a part of the file in the first place.”
Former Newport News Clerk of the Court Gary Anderson said it’s not unusual for a clerk to mistakenly add a document to a court file, and then remove it once it becomes clear it doesn’t belong there.
“Something like that should have never been put in the file,” Anderson said. Taking it out was the appropriate thing to do, he said.
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The drama surrounding this year’s City Council election hasn’t been limited to the controversy surrounding Newins’ candidacy.
When hundreds gathered for a local GOP meeting in January to select candidates to endorse, the group chose not to back two council incumbents who’d angered many in the party with the way the appointment for Hamel’s replacement was handled in November 2021, Matheson said.
The incumbents were Vitale and Steve Best, who’d been elected in 2018. Best, the city’s former fire chief, decided not to seek reelection. Vitale chose to stay in despite losing her party’s support.
Best and Vitale had been among the five-person majority that voted to appoint Democrat Dwight Parker, who’d previously served on council and was the next highest vote-getter in the last election, to fill Hamel’s seat.
The choice rankled three council members and many in the local GOP. They argued proper procedure hadn’t been followed and the group should have taken time to interview interested candidates first. And while the council is supposed to be nonpartisan, some believed the seat should have gone to a Republican since a Republican council member was being replaced.
West, de Triquet, and Ritter sought instead to appoint Tanya Gould, a Republican who’d recently lost her race for state delegate. But the move failed, and Parker was chosen. West called for a special meeting shortly after that to determine whether the vote was legal. City Attorney Jacob Stroman said it was.
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Just a few years before, the council had voted unanimously to have Parker fill an opening that became available when Krasnoff was elected clerk. Parker had been the next highest vote-getter in the previous election that time, too, and it was the reason given for appointing him.
Despite the loss of her party’s endorsement, Vitale, a former Navy intelligence officer who now works as a managing director for Microsoft, has far outpaced other candidates when it comes to campaign donations. As of this week, she’d collected $91,598 in donations. The next highest amount was gathered by Newins, who had $57,179, with $6,000 of that coming from a personal loan.
And while Vitale continues to take part in local Republican events, she’s been the subject of attacks on social media from members of her own party. When she posted the phrase, “Integrity first, integrity always,” on her Facebook page last month, 83 comments were published in response — some positive, some negative. Among those taking swipes at her were West, and Shirley Forbes, wife of the former congressman.
“As far as a handful of people sniping on social media, I think people see it for what it is, and voters deserve better,” Vitale said when asked about the comments.
The vice mayor — a Republican who’s been on council for 28 years and is seeking another term in this year’s election — said he’s disappointed with the way his colleagues and fellow party members have attacked each other.
“The environment has changed,” de Triquet said. “I would never impugn the integrity of another council member. Can I disagree with them — sometimes forcefully — and get angry with them? Sure I do. And that’s where I leave it.”
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
