Virginia Beach registrar expects November election to be busy, and other takeaways from this week’s council meeting

Virginia Beach — The Virginia Beach Council met Tuesday night at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

Here are three takeaways from the meeting.

Busy election expected

The leader of the Virginia Beach elections office said she expects the November 2020 election will be the busiest the city has encountered.

The city will begin offering absentee voting by mail and in person on Sept. 18, but Virginia Beach General Registrar Donna Patterson said she still expects many voters to choose to vote on Election Day. She said her office is preparing to mail out 40,000 ballots.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed is 5 p.m. Oct. 23.

“We have had more interest in this election than I have ever seen,” she told the city council Tuesday.

Patterson said the city had 312,170 registered voters as of Aug. 18, compared with 309,553 during the last presidential election. She expects the number to continue to climb until the Oct. 13 registration deadline.

In-person absentee voting will be conducted at the Voter Registrar Office at the Municipal Center and at four newly established satellite locations: Bayside Recreation Center, 4500 First Court Road; Great Neck Recreation Center, 2521 Shorehaven Drive; Seatack Recreation Center, 141 S. Birdneck Road; and the Kempsville Treasurer’ s Office, 5340 Fairfield Shopping Center.

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On Tuesday, the council voted to change three other polling locations. The sites did not want to serve as polling locations this year due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Here are the precinct changes:

Voters who have cast ballots at Kempsville Church of Christ will now vote next door at Point O’View Elementary School, 5400 Parliament Drive.
The Stratford Chase precinct was previously at Community United Methodist Church. It will now be located at Kempsville Area Library, 832 Kempsville Road.
The Cromwell precinct was previously at Salem United Methodist Church. It will be Landstown High School, 2051 Concert Drive.

Improving the Resort Area

The City Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to establish a resort management office at the Oceanfront, which will be responsible for overseeing infrastructure improvements and creating a safe and friendly atmosphere in the area. The vote was intended to show the council supports the Resort Advisory Commission’s request for more attention at the Oceanfront after the group’s chair shared a presentation with the council last month in which she condemned gun violence, crumbling sidewalks and the growing number of vacant storefronts. The group would like to see more police monitoring Atlantic Avenue and for the city to support a community policing effort known as “friendship patrols.”

The council directed the city manager to use existing financial resources and full time staff to implement the plan. If unable, the council said the manager should ask for more funds by mid-October.

Changes to term limits for members of city boards

City board and commission members can now serve beyond their traditional term limits — if the council wants. The council voted 11-0 on Tuesday to amend the city code to allow re-appointments beyond the term limits.

The council is responsible for appointing members to boards and commissions. The majority of city boards are volunteer positions.

Alissa Skelton, 757-995-9043, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com.