HAMPTON — Concerns about crime were front and center for Hampton City Council hopefuls at the Olde Wythe Neighborhood Association candidate forum on Tuesday night at Armstrong Elementary School.
Candidates’ answers to questions about rising crime rates fell into two overarching categories: community involvement and funding police.
Promises to fund whatever the Hampton Police Division needs to get the job done were plentiful, though few council candidates delved into where that money would come from. Many also said people need to reach out to their neighbors and get to know what local police are up to.
“We (need to) expand our neighborhood watch programs. We can fund our police department with great staff … but what we need to fight crime is community engagement,” said Jimmy Gray, a former fire chief and assistant city manager with the city of Hampton who is running in a special election for a two-year term on the council.
Several candidates pointed to police staffing as major contributor to issues with rising crime and challenges for the Hampton Police Division.
The department has 283 officers as of a February report from Police Chief Terry Sult, 13 short of full staffing, with a swath of impending retirments on the way.
“It’s almost like a bag with a hole in it,” said mayoral challenger and current councilman Donnie Tuck.
Tuck advocated using the savings from those unpaid salaries to try to give current officers some incentive to stay, to combat the departures that come from salary compression after a period when pay increases were few and far between.
Mayor George Wallace, who is running to keep his seat, said the most significant thing a mayor could do to help combat problems in the community is to encourage cooperation.
“Bring all the assets and people together,” Wallace said. “One of the strengths I have is I’m a unifier.”
He cited efforts like the $60 million Riverdale redevelopment as evidence that the city is working to address the problems of the community from many angles and fired back at critics he said were claiming he was in denial about the condition of the city.
“No, I’m not in denial. I’m recognizing that we have issues but I’m also recognizing that we’re addressing them,” Wallace said.
Edwin Boone, who is running against Gray for the abbreviated term, took aim at the current council members.
“You’re going to hear a lot of rhetoric about what we can do — when you approach the current council members, ask them why it hasn’t been done already,” Boone said. “We’re the ones who hold the burden for the choices of the current council members.”
Boone insisted that spending money investing in the people of Hampton, not the big capital projects, is the key to fighting the issues that plague the city.
“Once you give citizens that dignity and respect in life, you get rid of that grime and crime,” he said.
Council candidates Linda Curtis, Shree Green, Billy Hobbs, Jim Nieder and Chris Snead were also in attendance, as were the candidates for this year’s Hampton School Board races.
City elections will be held on May 3.
Murphy can be reached by phone at 757-247-4760.