The Fredericksburg City Council unanimously selected its newest member at a special session last Thursday, choosing Susanna Finn to fill the Ward 3 seat vacated by Dr. Tim Duffy after he announced his retirement late last year.
Finn (shown below, middle, at her swearing in last Thursday) is in her first term on the city’s Planning Commission and currently serves as its Chair. The City Council appointed her to that seat in late 2022. A City of Fredericksburg press release after last Thursday’s session touts her decade of experience in urban planning and background in historical preservation at the University of Mary Washington.
Because Councilman Duffy’s resignation occurred with less than two years left in his term, the council was able to avoid a special election and select his replacement with a majority vote. The city, which announced the open application process for Duffy’s replacement on December 27th, had 45 days to fill the seat for hard deadline of February 15th. Thursday’s special session occurred on February 13th.
Fourteen applicants submitted resumes to council for consideration as the replacement for the Ward 3 seat and serve until this November’s election.
Those who submitted resumes for consideration were 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. At least two individuals who submitted their names for consideration, Rene Rodriguez and Matthew Kelly, have ran for Council in the past. Kelly served in one of the council’s two at-large seats for 12 years.
Along with Finn, three other candidates were selected for follow-up interviews with council; Scott Cole, Thomas Johnson and Pamela Scruggs. Those interviews were held in a special closed work session on February 4th at the Fredericksburg Police Station. That meeting, which was not open to the public, lasted from 1:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
The interview questions, answers, selection criteria and the members of council who were present for that closed session has not been made publicly available, with the city citing the privacy of the applicants.
In emails obtained by hyperbole, citizen requests under the Freedom of Information Act were rebuffed, with Fredericksburg City Attorney Kelley Lackey stating that the records are exempt from public disclosure under the personnel records exemption.
At last Thursdays special session, Fredericksburg Mayor Kerry Devine, who serves as one of the council’s seven seats, referred to the appointment process as “unfamiliar,” but said that the closed session interviews on February 4th at the Fredericksburg Police Station were “thorough.”
“We’ve learned from and listened to the concerns. And while I know that this process was conducted with integrity and the best interest of our beloved city, we hear you,” Devine added during Thursday’s special session after the body unanimously voted to appoint Finn.
Mayor Devine then announced that resumes for all 14 candidates were available for review at the clerk’s office at Fredericksburg’s City Hall, echoing an announcement on the City of Fredericksburg’s Facebook page approximately 45 minutes earlier before Thursday’s special session. That announcement cited the public’s interest for the decision to make the names and resumes available.
That sudden about-face may have also been spurred along by a petition for an injunction and writ of mandamus filed by Fredericksburg Ward 3 resident Eugene Gormley, whom was one of the 14 original candidates.
Gormley, who is represented by Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, PC, is calling for the court to order the council to end its closed session meetings with regards to the replacement for its Ward 3 seat, while also demanding it release the documents about how it rendered its decision for Finn’s appointment. Gormley’s suit seeks the names and applications of all 14 candidates, in addition to “eight pages of handwritten notes” and “two pages of interview questions,” from the February 4th special session, in reference to a letter written to Gormley by the Clerk of Council Tanya Lacey regarding the documents produced therein.
Among his points, Gormley filing argues that the city is using a privacy provision normally reserved for protecting performance evaluations, disciplinary records, and other personal details of city employees rather than allow the citizens of Ward 3 to properly scrutinize what will be the elected representation.
Gormley’s injunction, which is also seeking his attorney’s fees, is dated February 12th and filed on the 13th. His hearing will be held Wednesday, February 19th at 2:00 PM at in Fredericksburg’s Circuit Court.
