As an African American teenager growing up in the late ’50s and early ’60s there weren’t a lot of job opportunities, let alone careers, he said.

“We are talking about a period where the U.S. is still segregated – one of the work options was construction, working on roads, and perhaps working in supermarkets,” Myrick said.

The 1959 I.C. Norcom High School graduate who was at the top of his class wanted more for himself. He wanted to support himself financially and quench his thirst for knowledge.

He did just that and then some.

He served as ambassador to two African countries, supported the end of apartheid in South Africa and worked with the late Nelson Mandela. But none of those accomplishments went to his head, friends say. He is down-to-earth, supportive of others’ aspirations and never forgets Portsmouth.

“People love him; I mean you can’t help but love him,” said longtime friend and retired Army Col. Calvin H. Sydnor III of Hampton.

For about 15 years, Myrick and his wife, Marie-Pierre Mbaye-Myrick, have hosted a Thanksgiving Day celebration in Portsmouth that lasted for about three hours, was free to attend and paid for by the couple. The program started at former public housing complex Jeffry Wilson, where Myrick lived during much of high school, and was designed “for people who ordinarily might not have had opportunity to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving meal with family and friends in a non-threatening environment,” he said.

The Thanksgiving Day program that Myrick and his wife ran actually began while he served abroad in the U.S. Foreign Service. In South Africa, he used it as an opportunity to bring people together who might otherwise not have met due to apartheid. In Liberia, it was an opportunity to serve around 400 young people who came from environments of violence, extreme poverty and disease, he said.

William Alexander, a Norfolk State University history professor and longtime friend, said Myrick’s desire to help stems from his life experiences.

“A lot of it comes from his sort of impoverished background here in Portsmouth,” Alexander said. “He had to work hard, and he had a lot of problems when he was growing up.”

Myrick bloomed in the military and in the Foreign Service, Alexander said.

He joined the Army right out of high school despite having a scholarship to Virginia State College (now University) in Petersburg. He didn’t take the scholarship opportunity because although it covered a lot, it didn’t cover everything, Myrick said. He feared not having enough money to visit family and friends in Portsmouth if he went.

He served in the Army for about 20 years, was commissioned as a second lieutenant and rose through the ranks, he said. He earned the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals for heroism in combat, two Bronze Star Medals for meritorious service in a combat zone and the Purple Heart.

Myrick joined the Foreign Service in 1980. He served as a diplomat in South Africa in 1990 when Mandela — who he calls the type of person who comes on the world scene once every century — was released from prison and in 1994 when he became the president of South Africa.

He went on to serve as ambassador to Lesotho, a small country surrounded by South Africa, from 1995-1998 and as ambassador to Liberia from 1999-2002.

Myrick remembers his first swearing-in ceremony to become an ambassador. He was told he had the most non-government people show up.

“People from Portsmouth, people from the whole universe of this area organized buses and came up,” he said. “People I grew up with, people who knew me and my story, and they all came up to Washington for the swearing in. I was very touched by that.”

In fact, the city named two streets after him: Bismarck Myrick Street and Bismarck Myrick Crescent.

Now retired, his job titles include: a lecturer at Old Dominion University, a senior fellow for the Washington, D.C.-based National Defense University and a participant in the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads, a group that is dedicated to understanding global affairs.

At the World Affairs Council, he has lectured about the post-Mandela government, which he calls nonracial, nonsexist and multiparty.

“It’s important for locals to know (about South Africa) because we want to be informed, international citizens aware of important things that are happening not just in the local area but globally,” he said.

South Africa can show Americans and the world how to resolve conflicts in a peaceful way, he said. Despite “atrocious and terrifying” things happening for a half-century, human beings healed from that with a spirit of nonviolence and forgiveness, he said.

When Myrick looks back at his successes, he gives I.C. Norcom credit for providing the foundation.

“My generation of students at I.C. Norcom High was motivated and inspired by excellent teachers and mentors,” he said. “And if you applied yourself you could get a very decent education there.”

“I am very pleased to have had that opportunity,” he said.

Bio

Full Name: Bismarck Myrick

What neighborhood do you live in? Great Bridge/Hickory area of Chesapeake

Hometown: Portsmouth

Marital status: Married to Marie-Pierre Mbaye-Myrick for 16 years

Children: Attorney Bismarck Myrick, Jr., State Farm executive Wesley Todd Myrick and movie producer Allison Elizabeth Myrick Sanders

Occupation: Old Dominion University ambassador in residence and lecturer in political science and history; senior fellow for the Washington, D.C.-based National Defense University; senior fellow for the Norfolk-based Joint Forces Staff College; and member of the Board of Visitors for the National Defense University

Education: Undergraduate degree from The University of Tampa, graduate degree from Syracuse University and honorary doctorate of Spelman College

Community service: Funding a Thanksgiving Day celebration for Portsmouth families; speaking at schools and other programs; mentoring others; serving on the Advisory Committee of the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads

Church affiliation: Portsmouth’s Third Baptist Church

What do you enjoy most about what you do? I feel fulfilled when my mentoring leads to the success of others.

What do you love most about the people you work/volunteer with? I draw strength from their talent and insights. I take pride when I see them grow beyond where they started.

Who or what inspires you to do what you do? Having traveled to many parts of the world, I am appreciative and inspired by the great opportunities available to citizens of the U.S.

Hobbies: Reading about and discussing international affairs, especially African affairs; jogging; and bowling with the Tidewater Teachers Bowling League

Comfort food: I am not picky. Recently, I have developed a fondness for eating goat curry.

Of what achievements are you most proud? The honor of representing the U.S. in foreign countries is the highest achievement that I can imagine. I am particularly fortunate to have witnessed close-up and played a part in the profound political change from apartheid to democracy in South Africa during the era of Nelson Mandela.

Something you’ve done that others might not expect of you: Once a month — without fail for the past 16 years — I meet with two of my former high school classmates and friends.

The song you’re most likely to be caught singing along to: The melody of inspirational music or attempting songs from “The Sound of Music”

What is your personal motto? Focus on the high ground.

The most memorable words of wisdom you received and from whom: Emanuel Myrick, my grandfather. His words and actions projected the wisdom that all human beings have value and deserve to be treated with decency, kindness and respect, regardless of their socioeconomic condition.

Johanna Somers is the editor of Bridges, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com

Many of its schools are rated well: Greatschools.org gives Western Branch High School a 7 out of 10, Jolliff Middle a 6, Western Branch Middle a 6, and Edwin W. Chittum Elementary a 7.

Some of the neighborhoods are wooded, giving the area, which is a hop, skip and a toll away from Norfolk, a country feel.

The area’s Chesapeake Square mall is positioned for a serious face-lift now that it’s under new ownership.

I discovered the above thanks to my house-hunting escapades that I mentioned last week. Western Branch was on the list of areas I was considering.

But beyond that, I’m at a bit of a loss.

That’s why I’m writing this column. I’m writing to ask those of you who live in Western Branch to reach out to me with story ideas. As you know we try to have stories each week from all three communities that Bridges covers: Portsmouth, Suffolk and Western Branch.

I regularly get emails about activities in Portsmouth and Suffolk, but not quite as many about the goings-on in Western Branch.

A story could be anything from a business closing or opening to a community event such as a fundraiser at a church or a volunteer activity at a nonprofit.

I’d also love to hear about what Western Branch residents are up to. Did a resident win an award for their business achievements somewhere – even if that somewhere is across the water, say in Norfolk? Or is there a former Western Branch resident who is doing well, say in Washington, D.C., who wants to share his or her story?

I’ve joined Everything Western Branch, a Facebook group for those living in the area, which thankfully has provided me with some insight. But if there are any groups in the area who aren’t aware of Bridges or my email, Bridges@pilotonline.com, please share this column with them.

And I’m not writing this column to exclude any other areas. If anyone has a story idea regarding one of the three areas that Bridges covers, feel free to share it with me over email. I can’t promise whether the suggestion will become a story, but I’d love the opportunity to hear about it.

Johanna Somers, 757-446-2478, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com

I recently started house hunting with my husband.

We bought a house.

We returned the house.

Yes, you can do that, with a little luck and a dash of insanity.

I realize this might sound like an odd introductory column, but I thought this story would be a good way for everyone to get to know my personality.

It all started with pulling out our broken, 40-year-old oven from the 1928 Hampton home we live in. The materials behind the oven, covered in old chipped paint and holes where my father-in-law had jerry-rigged electrical cords, made my hair stand on end.

Could that be asbestos? I said.

My husband, having lived nearly his entire life in the home that his great-grandfather built, wasn’t concerned. But he agreed to get it tested.

Turns out it wasn’t asbestos, but several contractors later, we had lead paint and mold issues to contend with.

Now, I’ve lived in Morocco for two-plus years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. I can take some mold, scorpions and questionable drinking water, among other things.

But with a toddler on my hands, I couldn’t just let it go.

My husband, being the fix-it guy that he is, cleaned up much of the lead paint.

The mold, that’s been a whole different animal.

We’ve had estimates from $30,000 to $40,000 just to get rid of it. That estimate doesn’t include getting a much-needed new roof, dehumidifying the crawl space and buying more air conditioning units.

With that in mind we decided to say goodbye to the 1928 home, with its hardwood floors, 9-foot ceilings, handmade French doors and cedar shake siding, all nestled on a wooded tract of land fairly far from neighbors.

We scoured various real estate sites and ultimately found an agent who in no time at all found us a home we both like, a huge feat in itself. It was a quaint, 1,100-square-foot home with a garage, decent size yard and in good elementary and middle school zones.

But the morning after we signed the contract, I awoke with a huge sense of dread.

I pulled up Google and typed in “asbestos.”

My old fears flared up again. Our new 1958 home could have asbestos in its textured paint, in the plaster or in the joint compounds of the walls.

Ugh.

I know you’re sitting there thinking I’m being quite neurotic. I probably am, but moving from a 1928 mold home to a 1958 asbestos home made my stomach turn.

Several calls later, we had our much-exhausted real estate agent send the sellers a request to release us from our contract.

They refused on the spot, only to release us a day later.

I don’t recommend my approach to life: worrying about everything and waiting to the last second to make a choice.

But I’m still happy with our decision.

For now, we’re planning to fix the roof of the moldy, yet picturesque, Hampton home. Beyond that, there isn’t enough space in this column to explain all the options we’re considering.

I hope you have enjoyed my first Bridges column. You can be assured I’ll be worrying each week over whether I’ve got the right content for you and that I’m best under pressure.

I used to cover the city of Portsmouth for The Virginian-Pilot and most recently served as a copy editor for the newspaper. I know former Bridges editor Lia Russell knew these communities inside and out, and I aspire to do the same. Please keep reading, sending story ideas and giving feedback.

Johanna Somers, 757-446-2478, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com

For me, a 33-year-old new mom, there were perks.

I was working an evening shift at the copy desk at The Virginian-Pilot and we were all starting to panic about how we would drive through Norfolk’s swampy streets.

I left early, around 8:50 p.m. My initial plan was to head east and then drive west to avoid all the low-lying roads in downtown Norfolk I would normally take to my Hampton home.

But I decided with my 5-month-old daughter at home, I shouldn’t take unnecessary risks. So, I drove to my mother’s house in Virginia Beach.

Once I arrived, armed with over-the-counter sleeping pills from CVS that I might be on the brink of becoming addicted to, a realization hit me — I’d have a good night’s sleep.

“Is this really happening?” I thought. “Shouldn’t I feel more guilty?”

This was an accidental vacation and I was going to take advantage of it.

I called my fiancé to tell him of the change of plans. I also wouldn’t be rushing home in the morning because I’d booked a wedding dress appointment in Virginia Beach. We’re getting married in May.

“You’re kidding?” he said.

“Nope,” I said.

My mother, listening in, piped up. “I left you and your younger sister with your dad when she was 9-months-old to stay at a hotel for a few days and sleep.”

I repeated the confession to my fiancé.

“You’ll never do that,” he said.

My man is a bit dramatic — even his mother says he speaks in hyperbole — so I told myself he’d get over it and told him, “I love you,” before hanging up.

My mother offered to let me sleep in her bed while she slept on the crappy mattress in the guest room.

But first, I had to pump my breasts to get whatever little bit of milk I could gather. Being a part-time working mom in the evenings means I struggle to provide enough breast milk for my daughter. Full-time, which I did for about a month, was even harder.

Sure, it cuts down on my already precious amount of sleep, but I believe it’s important.

At my mother’s — where there was no crying baby waking up at all hours — I managed to get 10 hours sleep.

This accidental vacation was a big deal.

“Now I know how much I miss sleeping,” I thought.

Anyone with a new baby knows what I mean. But just in case you don’t have one, I will spell it out: You sleep about four to seven hours a night for months and after awhile, you feel like your brain is slowly decomposing.

I once poured a bag of cereal into the cardboard box, not my bowl.

When I went to look at wedding dresses, I had two happy surprises. First, the shop was open despite the storm. And second, I found a dress. It must have been the solid night of sleep I got that gave me the clarity to decide.

When’s the next natural disaster?

Johanna Somers?, 757-446-2478, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com

Follow @JohannaSomers1 on Twitter.

Questions about race and whom to endorse for mayor have caused a rift in a predominantly white political action committee, and four of its 12 board members have quit.

People for Portsmouth’s president, Pam Kloeppel, says she wasn’t being racist at a council meeting in June when she spoke about who was being hired to run city departments. She was just stating a fact.

But Councilman Mark Whitaker, a frequent critic of the PAC and an advocate for minority hiring, implied otherwise.

It was the latest public example of the city’s racial and political divide, and Kloeppel’s presentation to the council was the last straw for at least three of the four members who have left her group.

People for Portsmouth, a PAC with more than 3,000 participants, was created in the spring of 2015 after the City Council slashed the city’s public safety budget, froze positions and raised taxes to close an $11.7 million gap.

The group had high hopes, stating it was “determined to make a positive change in local governance and leadership, beginning in 2016,” according to its website. Members wanted to remove “incompetent” leaders.

But Kloeppel’s decision to focus on race at the meeting went against the advice of some board members. She told the council that a white majority of high-level employees who had left since City Manager John Rowe was fired in April 2015 were replaced with black employees. Rowe, who is white, is now running for mayor in the November election.

“Do you have an issue with the racial makeup?” Whitaker asked Kloeppel.

“I think, for many years, many of us have been interested in the racial makeup being as much like the community as possible,” she responded.

Whitaker asked whether she had the same concern before last year, when most department heads were white in a majority-black city. Kloeppel only repeated her statistics from 2015.

But Whitaker wasn’t done: “I just find it interesting that your organization chooses to bring up race when it’s convenient, not when it’s truthful and not when there are issues of disparity that need to be addressed.”

For John Wright and two of his board colleagues, the heated exchange sealed the decision to leave People for Portsmouth, Wright said in an interview.

“That was about as racist as you could get,” he said.

Kloeppel said she presented the exact numbers the city gave her.

“And I don’t know how that can be racist because it is facts based on salary, gender and race and the change that went on,” she said.

What’s truly happening? She said former board members are trying to discredit People for Portsmouth and advocate for their preferred mayoral candidate, Shannon Glover, a black businessman.

Kloeppel wouldn’t say whom the organization plans to support, but Wright said he was 100 percent sure it would be Rowe.

Kloeppel let the board know she was going to give the speech at City Hall, Wright said, and some told her not to. She would just be opening herself up to criticism from Whitaker.

She said she was simply defending the data she had received after a Freedom of Information Act request on top-level employees who had left since the city fired Rowe, one of five candidates running against Mayor Kenny Wright. The data included 12 employees and showed a shift from 58 percent white to 33 percent. The mayor had told The Virginian-Pilot he didn’t believe the figures.

The Pilot made its own request about all top-level employees and found that half of the 18 are black, and half are white.

–––

John Wright said he and his colleagues had wanted People for Portsmouth to reach out to more residents than just “old whites.” Instead, it is “supporting the same old candidates who have given us the same old mess for years,” including Rowe.

“I just don’t think John was attentive to the needs of the corporate citizens of the city, and I think he can be painted with a lot of what’s wrong with the city now.”

Rowe did not return calls for this article.

Wright said Glover has work to do, but he doesn’t come with Rowe’s baggage.

Glover said via email that some of his opponents are “stuck in the failed practices of the past,” and that he offers a way to “move forward to heal, unite and grow our city.”

Wright and his colleagues didn’t want People for Portsmouth to be perceived as the white version of the influential Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Steering Committee, a political action committee of predominately black community leaders.

“That’s what blacks think we are,” he said.

Board Treasurer Fred Schoenfeld, who is white, said some members did think Kloeppel’s presentation was “poorly timed.” But, in his opinion, she spoke the truth, and it needed to be brought to the public’s attention.

“That’s not normal attrition,” he said of the recent hires. “There is something going on, and I think that needs to be brought out. You flip it around, everyone would be up in arms.”

Board Vice President Barbara Early was the first to leave, around the end of June, Schoenfeld said. The other three, Wright, Ross Cherry and Bill Hargrove, left in mid-July, according to a letter sent to Kloeppel. All four are white.

Early acknowledged that she left the board but wouldn’t say why. She’s still maintaining the group’s Facebook page and app because Portsmouth is “really in trouble politically.” Cherry and Hargrove did not return calls.

The letter of resignation said the organization had failed to represent “a broader spectrum of the community.”

“I don’t know why they would say that,” said board member Lee Cherry, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman who is white. “We have reached out to the black community, but it is what it is, and we are going to continue to reach out.”

Kloeppel said the organization is going to support a diverse slate of candidates, and, “We have gentlemen on our board who are black. We are doing the best we can to be inclusive.”

One of those black board members, Joe Wright, said he is concerned that the organization is mostly white. He didn’t have a problem with Kloeppel’s statements to the council because they were true, but the stats aren’t “really alarming because I have lived for years when the council and staff have been all white.”

Whitaker maintained his position Friday. He has criticized People for Portsmouth in the past for resisting “black progress” and frequently supports the mayor, who is also black.

The group’s attacks against black elected leaders, silence on white officials’ improprieties and lack of support for minority contracting and diversifying public safety show its desire to “turn back the clock and maintain the status quo,” Whitaker said via email.

“Persons with a social-justice consciousness understand that People for Portsmouth is not a novel concept, rather, it is an organization aligned with the Jim Crow philosophy of the past designed to prevent the progress of African-Americans,” he said.

Schoenfeld, the treasurer, said politicians are “throwing up the race issue as a smoke screen simply because they don’t want to face the truth.”

“The pendulum can obviously swing the other way,” he said. “And I think that is what happened.”

Another white PAC member, Marcus Gilmore, agreed.

“This new direction we are going in, it seems like racism in reverse. I am all about the most effective person.”

Johanna Somers, 757-446-2478, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com Follow @JohannaSomers1 on Twitter.

To fill 39 police officer vacancies, Chief Tonya Chapman says, the city needs to reduce the power of the panel that vets candidates.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, she said some civil service commissioners’ strict criteria, such as opposing applicants who have smoked marijuana, “made no sense.”

Circuit Court judges appoint the commission, which assists in hiring officers and firefighters. It also provides a place to file grievances.

The current hiring process requires a majority of the panel to approve background checks.

The problem is, some of the commissioners base their criteria on principles from the 1990s, Chapman said, making it challenging to hire officers from today’s population.

“The commission feels as though they should be held to that same standard, and if that’s the case, we will never hire police officers,” she said at Tuesday’s meeting.

Her statement sparked a conversation about marijuana.

“In other words, they’d all smoked a little weed,” Mayor Kenny Wright said to Chapman.

“They all smoked a little weed,” she replied, “and one of the comments were, if they smoked weed more than 10, 20 times, that means they have a drug dealer, and they can be influenced, so they shouldn’t be police officers. And that makes no sense.”

Councilman Mark Whitaker added that the city could start seeing applicants from states that have legalized marijuana. So Chapman might approve that person and the commission wouldn’t, he suggested.

Chapman said the department tries to set a “reasonable” number of times that applicants could have smoked marijuana and considers how long ago they stopped.

“Where someone experimented as a juvenile or someone had a habit, that is a decision the fire chief and I feel as though we as professionals have that authority to make, and we have the experience and the expertise along with my HR and my background investigators,” she said.

During a recent round of hiring, she said, she submitted 12 candidates to the commission, and it turned down five. “I told them, I am 39 officers down, so you keep having these high standards that no one can meet, and we will never have officers on the street.” After the meeting, she said she’s authorized to have 254 officers on the force.

The process also puts Portsmouth a month or two behind neighboring cities that don’t use a commission, said Elizabeth Gooden, the human resources director. Norfolk is the only other South Hampton Roads city that does.

Gooden said all the localities are competing for the same candidates, so time matters.

City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton said revoking the commission’s power over background checks also was key to diversifying the Police Department.

Dropping the commission and using the HR process “will address the opportunity for a broad section of individuals to be able to apply and qualify to get into the public safety arena,” she told Whitaker.

Council members Elizabeth Psimas and Bill Moody said they were in favor of getting rid of the commission, and Whitaker appeared open to that. Curtis Edmonds and Paige Cherry supported giving more authority to Chapman. Danny Meeks was absent.

Only Wright advocated against making a quick decision and said he wanted a meeting with commissioners.

The Rev. Devlaming Peace, a commissioner, said he didn’t know whether the commission should be maintained. The 77-year-old has never been in law enforcement but said he has served about 28 years on the panel. He said that they use “basic” regulations to review officers’ background checks and that their process could be improved.

Commissioner Barbara Reynolds declined to comment when asked whether the group should remain.

Pettis Patton said the council would need to hold a public hearing on the question of terminating or altering the commission, and any changes would need to be sent to the General Assembly.

After the meeting, Chapman told The Virginian-Pilot there are 17 vacancies and 22 frozen positions in the department. She said the council has agreed to unfreeze them in increments of five as she fills openings. The council froze a couple dozen positions in May 2015 as it closed an $11.7 million budget gap.

Johanna Somers, 757-446-2478, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com Follow @JohannaSomers1 on Twitter.

Despite being given a second chance to develop the property at the old Cradock High School site, Councilman Danny Meeks has again failed to pay his taxes on time.

As of Wednesday morning, he owed more than $17,000 in taxes, stormwater fees, penalties and interest, according to the city’s website. In January, The Virginian-Pilot reported that he owed more than $13,000 in taxes and fees, which he then paid.

When reached by phone Wednesday, Meeks initially said, “You can write your story. I don’t care.”

He said he won’t pay the taxes and fees until the city recalculates his stormwater fees. He argued that after his company tore down Cradock High, the amount of runoff decreased and his fees should go down accordingly.

During the conversation with The Pilot, he got frustrated again, saying, “I am going to be honest with you, I am just going to go back to being mute to you because whatever you can write, it’s like a sneaky story.”

He said he has made the stormwater point clear with the city, and Portsmouth owes him a reimbursement of $17,000 to $20,000 for all the fees he wrongly paid last year. He said he offered City Treasurer Jimmy Williams payment for his taxes only, not stormwater fees, but Williams said it didn’t work that way.

Williams said over email that payments would be applied to the oldest stormwater fees including penalties and interest and then applied to the oldest real estate taxes, penalties and interest.

City spokeswoman Dana Woodson did not return a call, and she and deputy city managers LaVoris Pace and Vincent Jones did not return questions sent via email.

Councilman Bill Moody said he thought an elected official should set an example.

“I think the expectation from people who elect us is that we stay current on our taxes,” he said.

Mayor Kenny Wright and council members Elizabeth Psimas, Mark Whitaker, Paige Cherry and Curtis Edmonds did not return calls.

Besides being delinquent on his taxes,

Meeks’ Cradock development went into default last year after his company, Cradock Properties LLC, missed project deadlines. The company failed to complete the infrastructure for a portion of the 200-home development.

Meeks’ company owns about 20 acres of the 42-acre site. The city owns the rest. The company spent about $1.8 million to demolish the school and build a rec center and sports fields at Cradock Middle.

Because he was in default, the city could have spent up to $1 million to reimburse Meeks for demolition costs.

Instead, the city and the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which facilitated the deal, gave Meeks a one-year extension in December. At the time, Meeks owed about $800 in taxes and fees. By January, that figure had grown to $13,000.

Meeks paid the taxes shortly after The Pilot began looking into the issue in January.

“You are wrong again on the taxes,” Meeks wrote to a Pilot reporter in a text afterward. “Nice try.”

Meeks’ property is now at another crossroads.

Ryan Homes, the builder that is taking on the project, has requested to go before the City Council on Sept. 13 for a vote on changes to its homebuilding application. The project initially was approved for 200 homes, but Ryan now wants to build 172 with larger lots.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the changes in July.

As far as the council’s vote, Moody said members could separate the issues of overdue taxes and the number of homes.

“I think the taxes will have to be current one way or the other,” he said. “I am confident the treasurer will make sure the taxes are current at the time of the sale.”

Johanna Somers, 757-446-2478, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com Follow @JohannaSomers1 on Twitter.

The council rule that fines members $1,500 for speaking about closed meeting information has likely cost the city more than $54,600 in legal fees, according to an email from Deputy City Manager Vincent Jones.

The fees went to the attorneys that City Council members used to defend themselves in colleague Bill Moody’s lawsuit against them.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Vice Mayor Elizabeth Psimas and Moody made motions to add a discussion of the rule to the agenda. Both motions failed.

Moody’s motion was “specifically to rescind the rule that has cost the taxpayers thus far about $55,000,” he said. Beyond the “monetary aspect of it, it’s served to divide this council needlessly.”

The $1,500 rule was created a year ago after Moody and Psimas spoke to The Virginian-Pilot about the council’s closed-door discussion of pursuing a court order to remove a Confederate monument.

The rule gave the council the power to censure or fine anyone who reveals matters discussed in a closed meeting or uses a recording device in a meeting.

In January, Moody was fined because he had posted on Facebook ahead of a December closed session that the council would discuss the monument.

Moody handed over the cash the moment he was fined and hired an attorney shortly afterward.

Council members informed Moody of his fine through a letter signed by five councilmen, including Mayor Kenny Wright.

Moody’s lawsuit went before Circuit Judge Catherine Hammond, who ruled the council violated the Freedom of Information Act in the way it fined him.

The letter informing Moody of the fine – which was distributed during a closed session and signed by five of seven council members – required a vote in front of the public, Hammond ruled in June. Voting can’t occur in closed session, or by secret ballot, Hammond wrote, citing Virginia law.

The lawsuit isn’t over yet.

Moody’s attorney, Kevin Martingayle, has been trying to reach a settlement with the attorneys representing other council members.

In an Aug. 2 letter to the attorneys, Martingayle wrote that he and Moody proposed remedies including a repeal of the rule and a $10,000 payment for Moody’s fees.

Psimas said they would try again to rescind the rule once they had all the council members in attendance. Councilman Danny Meeks was absent Tuesday.

“But this is why we have so many people running for City Council and for mayor,” she said. “The public is fed up with this nonsense of fining and, you know, hiding behind closed doors.”

Wright declined to comment when asked whether the fining rule was worth it.

Johanna Somers, 757-446-2478,

johanna.somers@pilotonline.com

Follow @JohannaSomers1 on Twitter.

The city took a bit of a risk when it asked residents to take part in naming its new public Wi-Fi system this summer.

And the internet delivered predictably.

Some must have been aiming to make City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton and her employees laugh with names like “WinternetIsComing” or “Drop it like it’s hotspot” or “It hurts when IP.”

Others added a bit of vitriol: “TidewatersArmpit” and “Laughingstock.”

Some were bent on attacking Mayor Kenny Wright, suggesting “Get-rid-of-kenny,” “THE DUMP BY KENNY” and “SupremeLeaderKennyWrightlsHungry.”

And others seemed angry at the whole idea of free Wi-Fi: “Another hand out,” “Tax Dollars At Work,” “IHopeWeArentPayingMoreForThis.”

The majority of Wi-Fi names were tame, such as “LOVE_Portsmouth,” “P-Town connect” and “The New Portsmouth WiFi.”

Of the 170-plus entries, the city is asking participants to pick from five of the most harmless names: “Portsmouth Wi-Fi,” “Portsmouth Wave,” “PortsNet,” “Portsmouth Connect” or “Portsmouth Public Access.”

The deadline is 5 p.m. on Aug. 31.

So there will be no “WiFi McWiFiFace” or “Pretty Fly for a Wifi” to log on to in the fall.

But the free Wi-Fi for City Hall will be launched by or before the end of September, Deputy City Manager LaVoris Pace said in an email. Other city buildings and facilities will come online afterward, he said.

Johanna Somers, 757-446-2478, johanna.somers@pilotonline.com Follow @JohannaSomers1 on Twitter.