MEET THE CANDIDATES Virginia Beach City Council
All week, The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press are publishing Q&As to help you better get to know the candidates on the ballot Nov. 3. Find for special coverage of all the races at and dailypress.com.
Five of the 11 City Council seats, including the mayor, will be on the ballot in November.
Incumbents for all seats are seeking reelection. The positions are nonpartisan and residents can vote in all races.
The Virginian-Pilot asked the candidates about their background, their priorities and views on important issues facing our city and nation.
CENTERVILLE DISTRICT
Sabrina Wooten
Age: 45
Occupation: Adjunct professor
Previous public office: City Council representative for Centerville District, 2018-present Education: Master’s degrees in public administration and business management, Regent University
What would be your top priority if elected and how will you implement it?
One of the most important concerns is the response to COVID-19. It is important to continually review the facts and the data to ensure proper guidelines are in place to ensure the safety of our residents. Also, public safety is vitally important to the residents of Virginia Beach. As a former police chaplain, I am committed to working with community stakeholders, police officers and residents to ensure that our citizens feel safe.
What should the council do going forward to assist people and businesses in need during the pandemic? Please explain. I am an advocate for local businesses. For instance, I hosted an Ignite Business Series Seminar twice this year to educate business owners regarding opportunities within the city of Virginia Beach to sustain their businesses. Specifically, the seminar “Small Business Recovery,” offered assistance to local businesses in the following areas: business resources, encouragement for business owners, tips on reinventing your business and resilience in challenging times.
Do you believe there are racial inequities in our society? What policies and police reforms would you advocate for, if any? Yes. Civil unrest all over the nation signifies that there is a gap between citizens and the police department. Experts report that a clear solution to addressing this gap is by developing a citizens review panel. Furthermore, the General Assembly is in the process of considering passage of legislation that will require localities to develop a citizens review panel to address this matter.
Associate’s degree in applied sciences, John Tyler Community College in Chester
What should the council do going forward to assist people and businesses in need during the pandemic? While the rest of council worked hard on things like tax relief and grant programs to help those who really have been hurting economically during the pandemic, my opponent asked council to approve thousands of dollars for her personal Zoom event hiring expensive speakers and highlighting her during her reelection. Council wisely rejected her idea, because real pandemic relief is helping businesses reopen and hire and making sure schools can reopen safely.
Do you believe there are racial inequities in our society? What policies and police reforms would you advocate for, if any? I’m an African American business owner, and my message to young people is this: lots of things in life are unfair. Some people won’t like your color, your gender or how you talk. But the system must be fair to reach your fullest potential, and the harder you work, the fairer things will be. I’m a strong supporter of the police, and they have an exceptional record in Virginia Beach. greatest risk to the longevity of our region and we must be proactive. I co-sponsored alternate city budgets that better prioritized funding solutions to recurrent flooding, without raising taxes or fees, by responsibly allocating debt and letting some expensive development projects take a back seat.
What should the council do going forward to assist people and businesses in need during the pandemic? This year, I supported a city budget that was flexible enough to support our city with excellent services but was lean enough to reflect the hard budgetary decisions residents were making with their own households. I advocated for no tax or fee increases, tax relief for residents and businesses, and I pushed to restore $7.7 million of previously cut funding for our schools.
Do you believe there are racial inequities in our society? What policies and police reforms would you advocate for, if any? I believe inequalities still exist — but we can improve upon them by engaging our community and building bridges of trust to rekindle our unity. We are fortunate to have a highly-skilled, professional police force who keep our city one of the safest in the U.S. and with very low rates of incidents. They should remain fully funded. I believe we should also revamp our civilian review board to provide additional transparency and accountability and continue funding body cameras that protect both officers and residents. ginia Beach we can be, and my record shows that I am an advocate for inclusion, openness, transparency and fairness. I supported the city’s disparity study and fought to fully fund its recommendations. We should work together to improve police/community relations. I am a strong supporter of our excellent police force, and raising salaries was one of my first votes as a councilman. impact beyond 2020. We need to focus resources to help with opening new businesses and get things on an economic growth track again. I supported tax relief and extended deadlines without penalties and interest to make sure businesses could stay afloat. My program of waiving business, professional, and occupational license taxes for new businesses should help bring new businesses into Virginia Beach.
Do you believe there are racial inequities in our society? What policies and police reforms would you advocate for, if any? There are many inequities in society; economically, socially, educationally and also by race and gender. Our police are among the best in the nation with a high level of training and use of force is rare. We need to invest more in police and be fully staffed with officers of all backgrounds. I have supported funding for body cameras and support openness and transparency as well as more community-based policing.
Brandon Hutchins
Age: 39
Occupation: Healthcare administration
Previous public office: None
Education: Bachelor’s degree in health care administration, ECPI University
What would be your top priority if elected and how will you implement it?
Retention of our workforce, our younger generations and our veterans. For this to happen, we need to compare Virginia Beach to other cities of our size that are successfully retaining and attracting new talent. They likely have a robust transit system, diverse culture and community and affordable housing. I would work with other localities in Hampton Roads to ensure these efforts, especially transit and housing, are done effectively at the regional level.
Absolutely. Policies should be focused on leveling the playing field by advocating for affordable housing, effectively implementing solutions from the disparity study, working effectively with our regional, state and federal partners, and encouraging an open dialogue in our communities. In terms of police reform, I would advocate for a citizen review panel that has subpoena and investigative powers. Transparency is at the center of trust.
Nadine Paniccia
Age: 57
Occupation: VP sales and marketing
Previous public office: None
Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism, Utica College of Syracuse
What should the council do going forward to assist people and businesses in need during the pandemic? I would propose an umbrella public/private partnership to assist small businesses that are struggling due to COVID-19 and to encourage new business development. Programs that may include waiving fees, tax breaks or incentives and entertainment tax forgiveness to create meaningful public/private outcomes that benefit the entire community, and not just one sector, will strengthen the backbone of our city: small business. Do you believe there are racial inequities in our society? What policies and police reforms would you advocate for, if any? Racial inequities are woven into the fabric of our country. VBPD is one of the finest forces in the country. Unfortunately, it is understaffed, underpaid, undersupported and working from an outdated set of principles. Restructuring how the force is incentivized and rewarding positive community outcomes will go a long way toward recruiting and retaining more officers to serve and protect our citizens.