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Mayor Jones indicated that he wanted to ensure a convenient start time for citizens since Work
Sessions would soon be televised. Councilman Long shared that he was flexible with the start time.
Vice Mayor Bethany questioned whether work sessions could be held on a different day. By consensus
of City Council, there was no desire to have work sessions on a different day. Vice Mayor Bethany
shared that he was flexible, as long as the City was being intentional about the time in order to
maximize every minute.
Mayor Jones indicated that the City Council was still attempting to figure out how to operate internally
regarding the operating budget and Comprehensive Improvement Plans (CIP). The CIP was the vision
for the entire City. The City Council had a retreat held Saturday, January 14, 2023, but due to the
Richneck Elementary School situation, a full City Council Retreat was not held. He believed as City
Council began to review the CIP process that a retreat was necessary, in order to codify internally how
City Council communicated. City Manager Rohlf replied once the FY 2024 Operating Budget was
adopted at the Tuesday, May 9, 2023 City Council Regular Meeting, the financial managers could
provide an overview on debt services and the impact on the operating budget, enabling City Council
to move forward in planning a Retreat, (perhaps in June 2023).
Councilman Eley requested an updated copy of the report of Newport News Public Schools conditions
of the buildings. He recalled reviewing a report for Warwick High School (WHS), and hoped to get in
front of the problems rather than the closure of WHS, like what happened with Huntington Middle
School. City Manager Rohlf replied that report was in the process of being revised. She reminded that
Councilman Long was on that committee. Councilman Eley indicated that would be great information
to have for the retreat.
Mayor Jones shared that on Monday, April 10, 2023, the Newport News Police Department hosted a
C.A.R.E. (Community, Awareness, Reconnection and Education) Walk in the community and would
highly recommend that City Council take advantage of participating as it was a great opportunity to
meet the citizens.
Mayor Jones indicated that Thursday, April 20, 2023, marked his 100 days in office. He shared the he
would be in Washington D.C. celebrating former Mayor McKinley Price who served as the past
president of the African American Mayors Association. In honor of the 100 days together, he provided
each Councilmember with a paperback book entitled “The Statesman” by Plato, as it was important to
understand what it was to be a good leader in politics. He advised that he signed the cover page with
a note which stated “Thanks – It had been a good 100 days and looked forward to the next three and
one-half years.”
City Manager Rohlf advised that due to the hard work of many staff members, the City received a $5
million Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI) supplemental funding to continue the great work being
done in the Southeast community.
Councilwoman Vick shared that she had an opportunity to speak as a panelist on Monday, April 10,
2023, at Christopher Newport University (CNU) during the 2023 Hampton Roads Social Justice
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