Virginia Beach City Council Is Recruiting Citizens to Sit on Key Oversight Boards

​The Virginia Beach City Council is actively recruiting volunteers for three important boards – the Flood Prevention Bond Referendum Oversight Board, the Independent Citizen Review Board, and the Stormwater Appeals Board.

These three boards are advisory City-Council-appointed agencies. Interested Citizens may apply to serve by completing a confidential resume form for the City's Talent Bank. This bank of confidential resumes affords City Council Members the opportunity to select representatives from a list of qualified Virginia Beach residents.

Flood Prevention Bond Referendum Oversight Board:

The Flood Prevention Bond Referendum Oversight Board will supervise and report on the progress of the Flood Protection Program. This group will provide the City Council with regular public briefings every two months addressing the 21 projects included in Phase 1 and progress reports on work to eliminate the backlog in the maintenance of the City's legacy ditches, canals and ponds. The board will consist of seven members. Five members shall have professional or educational experience in finance, engineering, landscape architecture, environmental sciences, and/or contracting/project management. The remaining two members are not required to have such professional or educational experience.

Independent Citizen Review Board:

In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that granted localities the option to establish a law-enforcement civilian oversight body and to empower the oversight body with certain duties, subject to policies and procedures established by the governing body for the performance of those duties. Virginia Beach City Council established a Citizen Review Panel Task Force to determine the best way to restructure the City's current Investigation Review Panel into an Independent Citizen Review Board and provide recommendations regarding proposed duties as well as required policies and procedures. The Task Force presented their recommendations to City Council on Sept. 7, 2021, and on Nov. 16, 2021, the Virginia Beach City Council unanimously voted to accept the 11-member task force's recommendations.

The Independent Citizen Review Board will have 13 members, two are to be non-voting members with law enforcement experience. Members appointed must be eligible to vote, reside in the City and reflect the demographic, racial, gender/gender identity and socioeconomic makeup of the City, with two members appointed who are under the age of 40 and chosen on the basis of expertise and experience in fields relevant to the performance of the Board's duties.

Disqualifiers: None shall be City employees or their immediate family members, public office holder or candidate, a current employee of any law enforcement agency, convicted felon (some exceptions) a person convicted of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, sex offense, domestic assault, or offenses involving children as victims or gun violations, currently or previously subject to a protective order, less than honorable discharge from the military, multiple DUI convictions within 10 years, any pending criminal charges/adjudication, outstanding judgments, pending litigation against the City or law enforcement officer by the appointee or immediate family member.

Once new board members have been identified and trained, the City Council will consider a resolution to dissolve and replace the current Investigation Review Panel.

Stormwater Appeals Board:

The Stormwater Appeals Board is the appeal authority designated by the City Council to hear appeals from any permit applicant or permittee, or person subject to Ordinance requirements, aggrieved by an action of the City taken in regard to the Ordinance. The board will be comprised of five citizen members and two alternates. Three members shall have professional or educational experience in civil engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, environmental sciences, earth or soil sciences, natural resources, chemistry or other commensurate professional or educational background. The City Attorney or his representative shall serve as legal counsel and Public Works and Planning Department will provide support staff.

Meeting schedules for these boards have not yet been determined. Positions are open until filled.

For more information, visit https://clerk.virginiabeach.gov/appointed-agencies/currently-recruiting. To apply, complete the appropriate application and submit the completed application package to the City Clerk's Office.

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