Good Afternoon!

August was a month of learning and exploring.  While only on council for a couple of weeks, I have been approached with a variety of issues, opportunities and ideas on how to keep the momentum for Norfolk strong.  I took advantage of the August recess for Norfolk City Council, which means there was only one council meeting on August 28 for the month of August, by meeting with city department leadership and learning about the function and scope of  various departments. I met with Development, Finance, Budget, Planning, Public Works, Resilience, Recreation Park and Open Space, and IT.  Future meetings include Police, Marketing/Communications and Neighborhoods.  I am very impressed with our city leadership and their passion for doing the right thing and being solution-oriented.

I spoke at the Lambert’s Point Civic League, Downtown Norfolk Council Board Meeting, and the Downtown Norfolk Civic League.  I attended the Monticello Village Park Clean Up night, National Night Out in Broad Creek and Lambert’s Point, ODU State of the City address and attended the Norfolk Neighborhood Fest this past Saturday at Lafayette Park.  I truly enjoy seeing my fellow Norfolk residents out and about and seeing how much they care for their community.

I have worked on many constituent issues in Ward 2 and throughout the city, which has been rewarding. I appreciate that my fellow Ward 2 friends, neighbors and businesses feel they can call, text, email, or literally see me running and ask for a matter to be addressed.  There are many issues that can be quickly resolved and others will take ordinance changes or process changes  that will take longer.  These matters have helped me see the inner-working of the city from the resident and business view.

We saw both sides of our family over two August weekends with fun family weddings. My nieces and nephews are a lot of fun to be around but they go much later into the night than we do!  Grady, my 10 month old puppy, has boundless energy and believes I am a fun chew toy at 5:30am.  We need to get through this new morning phase quickly.

I wish you a safe and fun Labor Day weekend.  I wish all families and students the best as they begin a new school year.

See fun pictures below!

Cheers!