(Fredericksburg, VA) February 10, 2025 – The resignation of Dr. Timothy Duffy as the Ward 3 representative of the City Council, effective January 1, 2025, initiated a process to fill the vacancy for the remaining year of his four-year term. The City Charter, Section 7, provides that the City Council appoint a new member under these circumstances. City Council requested applications from interested citizens, which were received through January 15th. City Council met in closed session to review the applications, and to interview four of the applicants.
The Mayor and the City Council wish to thank all of the following applicants for their interest in serving the City as a member of Council: Scott Cole, Jesus Dominguez, Susanna Finn, Eugene Gormley, Thomas Johnson, Matthew Kelly, Avery LaBelle, Evan Lawson, Shawn McDonald, John Simpson, Laura Matter, Rene Rodriguez, Pamela Scruggs, and Shaliek Tarpley. The Council is truly grateful for the significant interest these citizens have shown in serving the City of Fredericksburg.
To protect the privacy of these citizens, the City Council maintained the resumes and other personal information of applicants as closed meeting materials exempt from disclosure pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-2705.1(5). Section 7 of the City Charter (last amended in 2021) applies as to interim appointments and does not require the disclosure of submitted documents. (Although Virginia Code Section 24.2-228(A) states that resumes and other submittals received as part of an interim appointment are subject public inspection, this provision is not applicable to the City because Virginia Code Section 24.2-225 excludes localities subject to charter provisions that separately govern interim appointments.) The option to exclude candidate applications and resumes from disclosure is further supported by the “personnel information” exemption to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act provided at Virginia Code Section 2.2-3705.1(1) which the FOIA Advisory Council opined applies as to appointees to vacancies on a governing body at https://foiacouncil.dls.virginia.gov/ops/04/AO_23_04.htm).
A link to the City Charter is here: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/charters/fredericksburg/
The City Council plans to approve and announce the replacement as soon as Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30pm at the regular Council Meeting. In case of inclement weather, the meeting will be rescheduled later in the week (but no later than the February 15th deadline).
There will be a City Council election this fall for the four members that represent Wards, on November 4, 2025, for new terms that will begin on January 1, 2026.