PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Portsmouth Sheriff and hundreds of office staff are speaking out against treatment against them.
They’re asking to be included in the list of city departments receiving funding from the federal CARES Act.
Sheriff's Office staffers announced they have a petition with signatures on it already.
On Friday, nearly 200 people in the Portsmouth Sheriff’s office stood in frustration on the front steps of Portsmouth City Hall.
“This is just a slap in the face. We don’t feel appreciated,” said Ellis.
They’re calling for the city to include their department on the list of city departments receiving money from the federal CARES Act.
Lieutenant Pamela Ellis said their department does many things, from working in courthouses to operating the jails during the pandemic.
“We have had deputies that have caught this virus. And have been extremely sick and it's very heart-wrenching and it’s hard to watch our employees go through this,” Ellis said.
Sheriff Michael Moore said they have had COVID cases, but no big "outbreak" in the jail, because they work hard to keep it clean. That doesn’t mean his employees don’t face more risks now and shouldn't receive CARES Act money.
“All we want is a reason why,” said Moore.
He said he reached out to city leaders who responded by saying that Sheriff’s Office employees' responsibilities aren’t different than before the pandemic.
Sheriff Moore said it’s the opposite. They are doing more, by taking in the homeless population who were left with nowhere to go since March.
“It’s unconscionable that we were neglected the way we were,” said Moore.
Moore said other city departments like the police, sanitation and the parks and rec departments are on the list to receive CARES Act funding.
“I’m not trying to take anything from them. I’m just trying to say that our group of employees should’ve been included,” said Moore.
13News Now reached out to the city manager’s office and to city councilmembers. We heard back from Councilman Shannon Glover. He said city council approved a resolution, from the City Manager like usual, to accept $8 million dollars in CARES Act funding for COVID-19 relief.
Then later, someone in the city manager’s office determined exactly who it would go to. The city council doesn’t have to approve what the city manager does in her day-to-day operation.
However, in this situation, Glover said he wants a better system in place to decide on who CARES Act funding goes to.
