A public servant

Re “Virginia Beach needs more from city leadership” (Other Views, April 6): I consider myself a friend of former Virginia Beach police officer and former U.S. Marshal Bobby Mathieson, but he was off-base in his recent op-ed that criticized the leadership of Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer in the wake of the March 26 shootings at the Oceanfront.

As a former member of the House of Delegates, Mathieson surely knows that mayors in Virginia have no authority over the functioning of a city on a day-today basis. To keep corruption out of and professionalism in the system, Virginia was a national leader in instituting the council-manager form of government. The elected officials hire the city manager. He (or she) is the CEO, choosing department heads and following policy and a budget set by the part-time mayor and council.

Although his powers are limited, the mayor can appoint citizen task forces, which is exactly what Dyer did in February, announcing the IDEA Commission (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility). Perhaps Mathieson can offer the panel, chaired by former Councilwoman Amelia Ross-Hammond, his experience and insights into the identification of “root causes and deliverable solutions.”

In my opinion, Dyer is as hardworking a public servant as Virginia Beach has ever had, and no mayor has dealt with as many crises as he has in the nearly 29 months he has been in that thankless position, including May 31, 2019; COVID-19; and the George Floyd-inspired protests. March 26 has created yet another one. Avoiding the next tragedy demands all of our best thoughts and actions, not just the mayor’s.

Joel Rubin, Virginia Beach