PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Portsmouth City Council has voted to approve Steven Carter as the new city manager.
Carter was approved in a 4-3 vote at a salary of $255,000. His first day is April 22.
According to a profile shared with council members, Carter has served as the city manager of Albany, Georgia since December 2020. His biography on Albany's website states he has decades of experience in information technology (IT) and strategic leadership.
"First on the table is learning Portsmouth and my board," Carter told 13News Now. "I don't want to change anything until I know what needs to be changed."
After Dr. Lydia Pettis-Patton stepped down from the role in 2020, city leaders hired Angel Jones in 2021. Then, the city council fired Jones a year later, and they soon replaced her with the city's ex-police chief Tanya Chapman, who was fired in January 2023.
Interim City Manager Mimi Terry has held the job for a year.
Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke admits she wanted to skip a national search to hire Terry last year. She changed her mind after city leaders agreed to pay a firm more than $60,000 to find candidates, which came down to Carter, Terry, and one other person.
"This is the result," she said. "So how do you turn a blind eye to two other candidates who outweigh the current interim?"
Burke said Carter's background in IT can be helpful as the city works to provide internet access to marginalized communities. But Mayor Shannon Glover, who voted against the hiring, said he still has questions for the newcomer.
"It’s an unknown, and there are many unanswered questions for Mr. Carter when he gets here," Glover said.
Glover doesn't think Terry got a fair look from his colleagues, and he said he wanted to stick with Terry for stability. But he's committed to working with Carter to achieve what's best for the city because "the goal is to make our city better in the long run."
"I want to see him be fair and equitable in his decision making, keep an open line of communication, and reach out to city council to get a vision from the city council, and we need to support each other," said Glover. "I can't expect Mr. Carter to be successful without our support, and I wholeheartedly expect to do that.”
Terry won't be the city manager moving forward. The city agreed to pay a firm managed by Pettis-Patton more than $200 per hour to provide interim city manager services.