Misconduct allegations lead Norfolk to part ways with city’s planning director
Norfolk’s planning director quietly separated from the city last month after a national organization for city planners revoked his credentials for what it said were ethics violations.
The city, through its spokesperson, declined to say whether Planning Director George Homewood was fired or resigned.
According to a statement from the American Institute of Certified Planners Ethics Committee, Homewood was stripped of his credentials from AICP and Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners. The committee said Homewood violated the organization’s ethics code when he harassed “professional planners who were members of the (American Planners Association) Virginia Chapter.”
Efforts to contact Homewood for comment were unsuccessful.
City spokesperson Chris Jones said Homewood’s last day for the city was Jan. 13. Jones said he could not comment further because of city policy against discussing personnel matters. An exemption to the state’s Freedom of Information Act gives government bodies the option of not sharing personnel information with the public, though they are legally free to do so.
Jones added it is not city practice to announce staff departures externally, even higher level roles.
According to Norfolk’s website, Paula Shea is serving as acting director of the planning department. At a Jan. 26 planning commission meeting, Shea said Homewood was “retiring.”
According to a letter from the AICP’s ethics committee to Homewood outlining its decision, the preliminary charge was based on allegations of sexual harassment. The Jan. 18 letter, obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, said “the vivid descriptions of (Homewood’s) sexually-oriented conversations with some of the planning professionals spoken to by the Ethics Officer clearly constitute ‘wrongful acts.’”
All of the incidents allegedly happened before Jan. 1, 2022. Most took place during meetings with other Virginia professional planners or at events the state chapter sponsored, APA’s ethics committee wrote in a statement. The statement added that “many” of these planners have withdrawn from Virginia chapter activities.
“The fact that most of these (inappropriate) conversations occurred while conducting business as a Virginia Chapter board member makes them as equally ‘wrongful’ as if they had happened in a professional workplace where a formal complaint process would have been in place,” the statement said.
The Jan. 18 letter indicates the ethics committee’s decision upheld a July determination by an ethics officer, which Homewood appealed in October. It states three people were interviewed on Homewood’s behalf, but the committee found no new evidence was offered to refute the charges.
“The appeal that you submitted provided no evidence to refute the charges outlined below, but rather focused on witnesses that could attest to your character,” the letter states.
According to a release from the organization’s Women and Planning Division Executive Committee, the group has zero tolerance for “all forms of harassment,” including violence, intimidation, inappropriate conversations, unwanted contact and misogyny.
“NO ONE should be forced to endure the viciousness and trauma of harassment in professional settings,” the statement said. “We also stand in awe of the personal and professional fortitude demonstrated by the impacted individuals. Their acts of bravery resulted in the perpetrators of this harassment being held accountable for their reprehensible choices and actions and stopped the cycle of harassment before it could impact anyone else.”
Homewood had worked for the city since August 2011. He became planning director in 2014. He also served as president of the Virginia chapter of APA.