Jul
I have been involved with the City of Portsmouth for over four years now. As a Police Officer you are involved in many situations where people say things that are rude, impolite, hateful, abusive and obscene but what I heard at the Portsmouth City Council meeting on the night of the 22nd just left me in awe. Below is a short excerpt courtesy of Portsmouth TV Station WAVY-10.
This is not the image Portsmouth needs. Perhaps it’s time for Mayor Holley to consider retirement. Society in general no longer tolerates that type of perspective. The Mayor has had a turbulent time lately. Back in February he drove his 2006 City of Portsmouth Black Chevy Impala into the side of an HRT bus causing over $9000 damage to the bus. Below is the video from the inside of the bus as Mayor Holley hit the bus.
The three video’s above are courtesy of HRT. Below you will find links to pictures of the damage to the bus and Mayor Holley’s City of Portsmouth 2006 black Chevy Impala. The accident happened on a Sunday afternoon in Newport News about 4:44pm in broad daylight. Newport News Police were nice enough to provide me with a copy of the Impala Tow slip. The vehicle was severely damaged and could not be driven. It’s interesting to note that the Newport News Police Tow Slip lists a bunch of golf gear in the vehicle. I would guess that perhaps the Mayor was out for a round or two of golf on that leisurely afternoon. If you listen to the audio from Newport News Police Dispatch Channel you will hear the Officer that was handling the accident make a request of dispatch about 2 minutes into the recording asking for the Chief of Police for Portsmouth to call her. Gee kinda curious what that was about, did former Chief Long respond to Newport News and smooth things over with the locals? Below are the various records and recordings I obtained that documented various things about the incident. Take a look, listen and draw your own conclusions. I think that Mayor Holley is a perfect example of the problems plaguing the City of Portsmouth Government. Will the citizens of Portsmouth tolerate this type of person as their top elected official? I surely hope not, but they are the ones that need to take a stand and force positive change on Portsmouth City Government.
1) Newport News Police South Dispatch Channel - Listen closely at a little past two minutes into the audio when the Officer requests Portsmouth Chief of Police (Former Chief Ed Long) call her on her cellphone.
2) Newport News Police Vehicle Tow Slip - Mayor Holley’s City of Portsmouth 2006 Black Chevy Impala was damaged severely requiring NNPD to have the vehicle towed. Noted on the tow slip is a number of golfing items. Could this trip to Newport News been a golf outing?
3) Virginia Uniform Summons issued to Mayor James Holley - Copy of the Virginia Uniform Summons issued by Newport News Police Officer J. Pennington for “Fail to Obey Traffic Signal” when he ran the Red Light and struck the side of the HRT bus.
4) Virginia Court Record showing the disposition of Mayor James Holley’s Traffic Ticket - Court Document that shows his infraction was dismissed after paying $61 and returning to Newport News Court on July 18th 2008.
5) Incident Photo’s of Portsmouth Mayor James Holley’s crash into the side of an HRT bus (Large file 7 megs) - Various photo’s taken of the crash scene showing the damage to Mayor Holley’s City of Portsmouth 2006 Black Chevy Impala and the HRT bus.
6) Photo’s taken the day after HRT Bus 1906 was hit by Portsmouth Mayor James Holley - Photo’s taken of HRT Bus 1906 the day after the incident where Portsmouth Mayor James Holley hit the bus broadside. Photo’s were taken by Bryant Damage Appraisers & Ins. Investigations.
7) HRT Bus Driver Accident Report detailing the incident where Portsmouth Mayor James Holley crashed into his bus. - HRT Employee’s Accident Report that details the information provided by HRT Driver Renardo Benjamin that documents events involving Portsmouth Mayor James Holley crashing into the side of the HRT bus in Newport News.
8 ) HRT Supervisor John King’s “HRT Supervisor’s Report of Occurrence” - Report produced by HRT Supervisor John King that documents the events involving an HRT bus being hit by Portsmouth Mayor James Holley in Newport News.
9) HRT Supervisor’s Accident Diagram - Hand drawn diagram by HRT Supervisor John King showing the vehicle dynamics of the crash in Newport News when Portsmouth Mayor James Holley crashed into the side of the HRT Bus.
10) Capstone ISG Damage Appraisal Letter HRT Bus 1906 - Letter from Capstone ISG to HRT that documents $9,351.92 damage to HRT Bus 1906 hit by Portsmouth Mayor James Holley while driving a City of Portsmouth 2006 Black Chevy Impala.
11) Bryant Damage Appraisers, Inc Damage/Cost Breakdown for HRT Bus 1906 - Letter from Bryant Damage Appraisers, Inc detailing the $9,300 damage to HRT Bus 1906 that was struck by Portsmouth Mayor James Holley’s City of Portsmouth 2006 Black Chevy Impala.
12) HRT Bus 1906 Interior Video Still Images of Mayor James Holley crashing into the side of the HRT Bus (Large file 11 Megs) - Several still images extracted from HRT Bus 1906 Video camera’s on the interior of the bus.
13) Copy of the $9,300 Check the City of Portsmouth paid HRT for damage caused by Mayor James Holley’s Crash into the side of the bus - City of Portsmouth Check for $9,351.92 for payment to HRT for damage cause by Mayor James Holley when he crashed his City of Portsmouth 2006 Black Chevy Impala into the broadside of HRT Bus 1906.
Is it time for change in Portsmouth?
