According to The Virginian-Pilot, the Portsmouth City Council will interview four candidates for the vacant position of mayor. The interviews will be conducted in council chambers Monday at 7pm and the session will be televised on the city’s channel 48.
The four candidates are current Vice Mayor Charles Whitehurst, current council member Elizabeth Psimas, former Vice Mayor Bernard Griffin and Bishop Curtis Edmonds. The candidates will be interviewed by the four council members who are not seeking the appointment, with an expected decision to be made at Tuesday’s council meeting. The appointee will serve only until the special election November 2.
Selection of either Whitehurst or Psimas would trigger an appointment, followed by a special election, for the seat they currently occupy on council. At this point, I am not aware of any announced candidates for the November election, although if reading between the lines of today’s article is allowed, it looks like the two of them are planning to do so. I’d like to urge Portsmouth to not appoint either of them if that is their plan. Instead appoint someone who pledges not to run. Four people should not be creating essentially an incumbent to run in November.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 