Hopewell City Council votes 4-3 to terminate city manager amid procedural fight and conflict-of-interest questions

The Hopewell City Council voted 4-3 to terminate the employment of the city manager, effective immediately, and to pay severance and certain benefits pursuant to the manager's employment agreement.

The vote followed a contentious reconsideration process and a series of exchanges about whether council members had been included in earlier discussions. The motion to terminate passed with yes votes from Vice Mayor Joyner, Mayor Parton, Councilor Ellis and Councilor Day; Councilor Harris, Councilor Stokes and Councilor Holloway voted no.

Councilor Ellis moved to reconsider the council's prior decision on the city manager's employment. During debate, Councilor Harris said she had not been part of prior discussions: "I wasn't included in the discussion about this," she said, arguing that citizens had not been given an opportunity to comment. City attorney Mr. Bassett cautioned that he could not rule on whether an individual councilor had a conflict under the Conflict of Interests Act, saying, "decisions about whether a counselor has a personal interest in a contract ... are personal matters for each counselor to decide on their own." The Commonwealth's Attorney had also sent a communication urging care so the council did not violate the Conflict of Interest Act, a point raised during discussion.

Opponents of the termination said they had not received documentation showing cause and warned of civil-rights and legal claims. Supporters said they were moving forward under the terms of the employment agreement.

The council's procedural disputes earlier in the meeting included a failed motion to waive meeting rules to allow citizen communications (SB1); that motion lost on a separate roll call. After the termination vote, the council later appointed Michael Rogers as interim city manager by a separate 4-0 vote.

No additional factual findings about cause, performance evaluations, or legal determinations were announced during the meeting; councilors who said they lacked documentation repeatedly requested records or evaluations before voting.