CHESAPEAKE — Longtime Chesapeake City Council member Debbie Ritter will now serve as vice mayor, replacing a role previously held by the late John de Triquet who died last month.
After an hourlong special closed session held Tuesday before the regular meeting, council voted 8-1 to appoint Ritter, who was was first elected to council in 1998 and last elected in 2024. Her term expires December 2028.
Fellow longtime council member Ella Ward was the lone vote against the appointment.
Ritter serves on several city and regional boards and committees, including the council’s audit committee, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, and the Southside Network Authority. As vice mayor, she can preside over meetings and assume the mayor’s role in his absence.
Earlier this month, council appointed Chesapeake police captain E. R. “Jeff” Jefferies to fill the vacancy on the nine-person council. Jefferies was unsuccessful in his 2024 election bid for a council seat, but fell within the threshold to call for a recount. Tuesday’s meeting was his first sitting behind the council’s dais. He’ll serve the remainder of de Triquet’s term through December 2026.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
